Tribal Community Project

Anthr 210 – North American Indians

Edmonds Community College, Fall 2001 

Overview:

 Teams of approximately four students collaborate on the production of multimedia presentations on the cultural, historical, political, and social development of a tribal community around Puget Sound. At the end of the quarter students submit a portfolio with a written report of approximately ten pages, selected primary documents, images, and statistical data in graphic formats. Students supplement the portfolio with collaborative oral and multimedia classroom presentations throughout the quarter.   

 College Wide Abilities:

Through the collection, evaluation, and synthesis of qualitative data with special attention to changes over time this project aids students in the development of critical thinking skills. The collection, evaluation, synthesis, and graphic representation of quantitative data aid students in the development of skills in quantitative reasoning and critical thinking. Submission of a final written, oral, and multimedia report helps students in their development of oral and written communication skills. Collaboration with team members at all stages of this project this project helps students to develop skills in effective group interaction. A survey at the end of the quarter provides students with the opportunity to evaluate their own and their teammates’ contributions to the success of the project. 

Structure of Project: 

This project is organized with a different topic and assignment for each week. The weekly assignments include links to web based material (including quantitative data when needed). Example assignments for each week follow. The first assignment has no quantitative element but helps to provide a context for the overall project utilizing quantitative data and methods as needed to fulfill a larger historical examination of the ethnogenesis of specific tribal communities. The seventh assignment introduces ethnomathematic and ethnoscience topics as relevant to land claims. The eighth assignment includes the collection of quantitative data on the fishing industry as relevant to current issues in fishing rights. The ninth assignment involves the representation of census data on tribal community demographics in a graphic format.

Week One: Origins

•  Each team is responsible for selecting a tribal community from around Puget Sound. Use the Tribal Directory of the Washington State Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs and the guide to Washington State Tribal Locations for identifying tribes near Puget Sound. Team members can select from among Federally Recognized or Non-recognized tribes. Students may also find the list of links to tribal homepages at the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s Indian Circle Web Ring to be useful in assessing the online availability of information on the possible tribal communities. Edmonds Community College’s Library Catalog can help students assess the availability of written resources on our campus.

• Each team is responsible for finding an origin story from their selected tribal community. Each team is responsible for an oral presentation that answers the following critical thinking questions.

When was the story recorded?
Where did you find it?
Where (or who) did the story come from?
Who wrote the story down? Why?
What was the recorder's relationship to Native American communities?
What political, social and/or religious objectives did the originator and recorder of the story have in sharing this origin story?
What implicit messages appear in the story about human relationships with each other and with other animals?
How might the implicit messages be related to the issues raised in the first six questions?

• The following web resources may prove helpful.

 The Lushootseed Peoples of Puget Sound Country

 "Some Tales of the Puget Sound Salish"

"Mythology of Southern Puget Sound"

• The following texts on reserve at the EdCC Library can be helpful resources. 

Ella Clark, Indian Legends of the Pacific Northwest.

Johnny Moses, storyteller from the Northwest Pacific Coast (video recording, VC 10050).

Chester D. Babcock [and] Clare Applegate Babcock, Our Pacific Northwest, yesterday and today.

Vi Hilbert, Spirit of the first people.

Week Seven: Ethnogeography and Land Claims

• Each team is responsible for producing a conceptual map of the people and places of their selected tribal community. Students are encouraged to use traditional map-making techniques and styles introduced in lecture. These include the use of chronological and oral components, portraits of experience (i.e. distances represented in days of travel), performance, games, traditional numerical symbols, and traditional art motifs. In an oral presentation teams must articulate the relationship between the maps they produce and contemporary and historical land claims of their selected community.

• The following web resources on Native land claims may prove useful.

 Indian Land Areas Judicially Established, 1978

Stakes are High in Indian Land Claims

Indian Country Today

Native Net

American Indian Research and Policy Institute

Legislation and Supreme Court Watch

 The following web resources on Native map-making may prove helpful.

American Indians of the Pacific Northwest

Western Indigenous Art Network

Native Americans and the Environment: Northwest Coast

MAPS: GIS, Windows on Native Lands, Current Places, and History
The Library of Congress, Geography and Map Reading Room

The Library of Congress, Maps Collections, 1544-1999

Historical Maps of the United States, University of Texas at Austin

NativeTech: Native American Technology and Art

 Week Eight: Fishing Rights

 Each team is responsible for a quantitative and qualitative oral presentation on the fishing industry in their selected tribal community. The presentation should address specific treaties related to fishing rights, impact of legal decisions, quantitative patterns in annual harvest and available stocks, and an evaluation of the current effectiveness of the federal and state governments in meeting treaty obligations.

The following web resources may prove helpful.

 Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

Columbia River Inter-tribal Fish Commission

Northwest Indian Applied Research Institute

Pacific Salmon Foundation

Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC)

Tribes target state in salmon suit

Native Americans and the Environment: Northwest Coast

Week Nine: Contemporary Social Demographics

• Each team is responsible for collecting and representing in a graphical format demographic data (from 1990) on the number of persons living in their selected tribal community. The data should be broken down by race, sex, income, housing, and employment status. For data students should consult 1990 Census Profile for American Indian Reservations and Tribal Trust Lands. The oral presentation should evaluate the significance of the data collected for specific contemporary political and social initiatives in their selected tribal community. Particular attention should be given to the laws and government policies that have contributed to present demographics in the selected tribal community.