Write a post introducing yourself. What are your academic and other interests? What do you look forward to learning about in this course? Additionally, reflect on your experience with learning about Native American history (from other history classes, contemporary news, popular culture, etc.).
Hi, my name is Susan. I am currently majoring in History and planning to do a self-design minor relating to Library Science since I plan to attempt an archival career. My non-academic interests are gaming, reading, drawing, and DND. I’ve always been passionate about learning history, so I’m not sure if there are any specifics I would like to learn in this course. Still, if I had to choose, I think I’d like to learn about history from an indigenous perspective since I haven’t seen that often. Reflecting on the information about Indigenous peoples that I have learned from previous classes, I realize that except for one book and a few accounts often, I was given or told information about Native Americans from the perspective of the settlers; even the few positive moments I learned about weren’t documented by Indigenous peoples. The only times I learned greater details about Native American cultures and their experiences was when I actively sought the information myself and I can’t help but wonder why a crucial part of our history isn’t taught more often from all perspectives.
Hi Susan! Welcome to HIST 281! I’m glad your here and I look forward to your insights this term! We will certainly engage with lots of Indigenous produced documents this term, which will be useful as we learn about the lived experiences of Native people. As you pointed out, so many sources have been produced from colonial or settler perspectives, which has influenced historical narratives for a very long time. Learning from Indigenous-produced sources is the first step in beginning to correct that narrative.
I look forward to seeing how you engage with the course material and contribute to our discussions!