Overview and Details: At the beginning of the course, we participated in the “Land Mapping” exercise to become familiar with whose ancestral lands our hometowns and our SDSU campus occupy. We learned more about the importance of land acknowledgement as a first step in not only digging deeper into US History from an American Indian perspective, but also becoming more aware of local history as well as the continued presence and relationship with lands that Native Nations have today. As we moved through our course materials, we saw the effects of colonization throughout US history as well as the ways Native Nations have actively resisted. For our final project, we will bring our course “full circle” by investigating modern decolonization efforts through the ways Native Nations are exercising their sovereignty, protecting their homelands, revitalizing their cultures, and pushing against myths and erasure. You will create a “Case Study” by selecting an example of modern-day decolonization efforts and analyze it through the lens of our course materials.
Learning Goals: Through this project, we will experience firsthand how the past shapes the present as we create interesting, personally meaningful research projects based on one specific example of modern-day decolonization. We will apply historical thinking, engage with multiple perspectives and think critically about how historical narratives are created, reflect on our own experiences along the way, and showcase what we have learned throughout the course. By working together in groups, we will build more classroom community and connection while we learn more about ongoing decolonization efforts of Native Nations today.
You will select 1 modern day example of decolonization to investigate.
along with an annotated bibliography will be submitted to complete the assignment.
1) Describe the example of modern-day decolonization you selected
2) Provide thorough historical context: what the example of decolonization is in response to, the Native Nation’s unique history, how the decolonization efforts emerged, etc.
3) Connect to specific events/examples from the history we’ve learned for support/historical context
4) Analyze and connect to at least 3 specific module materials (lectures, readings, videos, etc) covered within Modules 1-6
5) Analyze and connect your findings to at least 3 of our key terms covered within Modules 1-6
6) Connect to the theme of “Danger of a Single Story.”
7) Explain how the example you selected is an act of “decolonization.” Reflect on the significance of the modern-day example you selected based on what we’ve learned throughout the course and how it shows the ways Native Nations are exercising their sovereignty, protecting their homelands, revitalizing their cultures, and/or pushing against myths and erasure
8) Lastly, create an MLA formatted annotated bibliography showcasing the research you and/or your group participated in.
Please use the following prompt based on the criteria above as inspiration to guide your project/research:
Describe the example you selected as if explaining it to someone who is completely unfamiliar. Then provide historical context for the example you selected: what the example of decolonization is in response to, what is the Native Nation’s unique history, how did these decolonization efforts emerge, etc. How is your case study an example of decolonization? After, be sure to further contextualize the example you selected based on what we learned throughout our course. How does your example connect to or build off of the history we learned from specific Module materials (lectures, readings, videos, etc)? How does your example connect to at least 3 key terms we’ve covered? How does it connect our course theme of the “Danger of a Single Story”? What is the significance of a closer examination of the example you selected in context of our course materials? Lastly, how does the example you selected show the ways Native Nations are exercising their sovereignty, protecting their homelands, revitalizing their cultures, and/or pushing against myths and erasure?
Key Terms: context, historical thinking, colonization, decolonization, firsting and lasting, doctrine of discovery, manifest destiny, assimilation, environmental justice, self-determination, sovereignty
My chosen topic is The standing rock protest
