Arieahn Matamonasa
Program Coordinator
(630) 942-2800, ext. 51277

Field and Interdisciplinary Studies
Room 3046
(630) 942-2356
e-mail
kleinwac@cod.edu

The program in Native American Studies achieves the following objectives using a well-rounded curriculum that covers values, contemporary issues, customs and ways of life, history, film, mythology, literature, art and spirituality.

Upon completion, students:

• Gain insight into the political, social, spiritual and economic issues that faced, and still face, Native peoples today

• Gain knowledge of the myths, legends and mythology of America’s indigenous peoples, and differentiate between those of the various nations as well as gain insight into a variety of storytelling traditions

• Gain insight into the cultural and spiritual belief systems of the First Nations

• Understand how the invasion of the Europeans affected the cultural and spiritual belief of the Native peoples and shaped their destiny

• Examine and discuss stereotypes of Native Americans and how this may have been influenced by popular film

• Discover how differences in Native American values, culture and philosophy are reflected in the literary arts

• Understand the importance of ceremony as part of the human experience, and identify the elements of effective ceremony

• Understand tribal sovereignty and the unique relationships of tribal people to federal and state governments through historical development of treaties, congressional acts and court decisions

• Understand the absoluteness of the connection and marriage of Native people to Mother Earth

• Examine the spiritual, social and economic roles of women in Native American culture, both historically and in the present, in comparison to non-Native culture

• Will survey, compare and contrast opposing theories concerning the earliest evidence of man in the Americas