NAIS 41 Native American Literature and the Law
The Acoma Pueblo poet Simon Ortiz once noted that "because of the insistence to keep telling and creating stories, Indian life continues, and it is this resistance against loss that has made life possible." The regenerative and reaffirming force of tribal stories has been most severely tested when confronted by the overwhelming and often destructive power of federal law in Indian affairs. The complex matrix of legal and political relations between Indian tribes and the federal government thus serves as a singularly important arena to examine contested notions of national identity, sovereignty, relationships to lands and people, and concepts of justice. Students will read literary texts produced by Native authors and legal texts involving Indian tribes in an effort to understand how the Native production of stories contributes to the persistence of tribalism in contemporary Native America. Open to all classes.