AIS 206 - Contemporary Native Americans of the Southwest

3 Credits, 3 Contact Hours
3 lecture periods 0 lab periods


Survey of Native American cultures with emphasis on peoples of the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Includes overview of Native groups in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico, environmental zones and modes of production, cultural and linguistic diversity, cultural configurations, Pan- Native American issues, and frameworks for understanding Native American culture and experience.

Information: Same as ANT 206 .
Gen-Ed: Meets AGEC - HUM or SBS and C, G; Meets CTE - A&H or SBS and C, G.

1. Inventory and differentiate Native American groups in the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico.
2. Identify major environmental zones and modes of production.
3. Describe major cultural and linguistic groups.
4. Compare and contrast major cultural configurations.
5. Describe relations between native and non-native peoples and governments.
6. Compare and contrast theoretical orientations and comparative frameworks for analysis of Native experience.

1. Overview of Native Groups in the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico

      A.  Key terms and concepts

      B.  History – overview of migration and climate change

      C.  History – overview of culture contact and colonization

      D.  History – oral tradition

      E.  Historical relationship between groups now situated in the U.S. and those now included in Mexico

II.   Environmental Zones and Modes of Production

      A.  Environmental zones

      B.  Regional patterns of subsistence (modes of production)

           1.  Hunters and foragers

           2.  Cultivators

           3.  Animal husbandry

           4.  Reservation economies

           5.  Urban dwellers

III.  Cultural and Linguistic Diversity

      A.  Pueblo groups

      B.  Athabascans

      C.  Tohono O’odham and Akimel O’odham

      D.  Yaqui, Tarahumara, Maya

      E.  Yumans, Mojave, Pai, Maricopa, Seri

      F.  Ute, Paiute, Chemehuevi

IV.  Cultural Configurations and Social Organizations

1. Kinship, domestic organization
2. Politics, leadership, stratification
3. Religion as infrastructure

V.   Pan-Native American Issues

      A.  Relations between native and non-native peoples in the United States

      B.  Relations between native and non-native peoples in Mexico

VI.  Frameworks for Understanding Native American Culture and Experience

      A.  Major theoretical orientations
      B.  Styles of ethnographic description and analysis