Indigenous Peoples and the Environment

ENVIR ST/AMER IND 306
6-week session | May 28–July 7
3 credits

Online course

Instructor

Course Description

Native Nations and Indigenous peoples have longstanding relationships to, and responsibilities toward, ancestral homelands and non-human relatives — water, soil, plants, and animals. What mainstream conservation science calls resources are known as relatives in Native Science traditions.

Revitalization of Indigenous languages and cultures is at the center of environmental stewardship, community education, policymaking and activism. Diverse outlooks on identities, worldviews, and governance demonstrate the complexities of Indigenous environmentalism.

This course highlights Native American perspectives, conservation practices, and policy environments through consideration of U.S. and international communities and issues. Native American experiences shed light on historic and ongoing issues of sustainability and sovereignty, and demonstrate connections to global Indigenous environmental issues and strategies.

Course fulfills the ethnic studies requirement.