A unique class detailing the native cultures, migrations and accomplishments of the populations of the indigenous West is being offered next semester.à
The course, titled ‘Indigenous History and Contemporary Population of Western Hemispheres,’ or LACAS 380, will be cross-listed in the anthropology, sociology, comparative literature and geography departments. The uncommon curriculum distinguishes this class from any class to ever be offered at Binghamton University, as it will be the first to cover such a vast time frame of human history in the Western Hemisphere.
The class will be taught by Paulette Steeves, a Binghamton graduate student who is pursuing a doctorate in archaeology.
Steeves, who grew up in Lillooet, British Columbia, is Native American Cree. She is the founder of the Indigenous Student Association on campus, a Graduate Student Organization-chartered group that allows indigenous students to learn about and connect with their past. Steeves previously worked to promote the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, a federal law passed in 1990 that requires the return of Native American cultural belongings and remains to their respective people. Steeves assisted Native American tribes in the collection and reburial of human ancestral remains.
Steeves said students who choose to take this class will be ‘consumers of new knowledge and will be asked to think way outside of the box.’ She said they will be expected to expand their very own information based off what they are taught, preparing them to make their own decisions and broaden their comprehension of their past and Native Americans’ impact on this continent.
‘You can ask any student on campus where some of the first primates came from and you’ll rarely hear the Western Hemisphere,’ Steeves said. ‘This suggests that little is known about early migrations, a concept commonly thought of as one-way, which ultimately minimizes what we think this continent contributed to global history.’
Preet Kahai, a junior majoring in anthropology, answers the question of where he thinks the first primates arose.
‘In my opinion, primates probably originated on Pangaea. As the land masses gradually began to split, different populations of the ‘original primate’ species became increasingly isolated from each other and evolved to their new environments.’
Kahai also expressed his interest in the class.
‘Studying indigenous people is important because, in many cases, the indigenous population stands as a minority. Because they are a minority, their needs as an ethnic, cultural or religious group may not be sufficiently represented in their present society,’ he said.
Kahai also said he saw the benefits of the class because it could provide a new perspective on cultures.
‘This type of class is important because so much of our history is shaped around the history of the indigenous people, yet they may not get the recognition that they deserve,’ he said.
Ryan Dowden, a junior majoring in Arabic studies, also said he was interested in the course.
‘Continued in-depth research into√†indigenous peoples of the Americas is important because it is still a debated topic,’ he said. ‘It gives further support or foundation to better understand how to trace back to our genetic origins and better understand if migration of peoples was instinctual or if there was something else that existed.’ Dowden says he is interested in this course because it is a contested topic and research in this area could benefit both the student and the field of study.
While devising her own database, Steeves acquired around 600 articles that essentially contradict the time frame offered for human existence in the Western Hemisphere. This kind of information, she said, undoubtedly will alter our world view of indigenous people.
Steeves said she will never tell students what to believe, but rather encourage them to look at our past in a new light. Steeves hopes that such practices will lead BU students to inform their new world views and change future relations between indigenous people and the dominant majority of this country.