American Indian Studies Program

American Indian Studies Program
Name	American Indian Studies Program
Established	Varied by institution
Type	Academic program
Focus	Indigenous studies
Location	United States

American Indian Studies Program

An academic program dedicated to the study of Indigenous peoples of North America, their histories, cultures, languages, and contemporary issues. The program integrates perspectives from Native nations, tribal governments, legal cases, cultural works, landmark treaties, and interdisciplinary scholarship to train students, scholars, and community leaders. It engages with tribal colleges, federal agencies, museums, archives, and cultural centers to support language revitalization, legal advocacy, and cultural preservation.

History

Programs emerged amid the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s alongside institutions and events such as American Indian Movement, Occupation of Alcatraz (1969–1971), Wounded Knee Incident (1973), Trail of Broken Treaties (1972), Red Power movement, and activism at campuses like University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University, University of New Mexico, University of Arizona, and University of Minnesota. Influences include legal milestones like Marshall Trilogy, Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975, and court decisions such as Worcester v. Georgia, United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians, Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe, and McGirt v. Oklahoma. Cultural and scholarly foundations drew on the work of scholars and leaders associated with National Congress of American Indians, Association on American Indian Affairs, First Americans Museum, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Booth-Greywolf, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and tribal institutions including Navajo Nation, Cherokee Nation, Sioux Tribes, Lakota Nation, Choctaw Nation, Chippewa (Ojibwe), and Iroquois Confederacy.

Academic Programs and Curriculum

Curricula typically combine courses in language like Navajo language, Ojibwe language, Cherokee language, and Lakota language with survey courses on history featuring topics such as Indian Removal Act, Trail of Tears, Sand Creek Massacre, Battle of Little Bighorn, and Massacre at Wounded Knee (1890). Programs offer classes on literature that include works by N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko, Louise Erdrich, Sherman Alexie, Joy Harjo, Simon J. Ortiz, and Linda Hogan, and on law and policy covering Indian Child Welfare Act, Indian Religious Freedom Act, Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Interdisciplinary offerings intersect with museums and archives such as American Philosophical Society, Library of Congress, Newberry Library, Peabody Museum, and National Archives, and feature methods grounded in oral history linked to projects like Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and cultural heritage management tied to Historic Preservation Act.

Research and Scholarship

Faculty and graduate students produce scholarship engaging with authors, jurists, and theorists including Vine Deloria Jr., Paula Gunn Allen, Gerald Vizenor, Philip J. Deloria, Audra Simpson, Bonnie D. Nelson, Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark, K. Tsianina Lomawaima, and P. Jane Hafen. Research topics include sovereignty debates informed by Johnson v. M'Intosh, Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, Doctrine of Discovery, and comparative analyses referencing Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868), Treaty of Greenville (1795), and Treaty of Medicine Lodge (1867). Scholarship appears in journals and presses connected to American Indian Quarterly, Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) Journal, University of Minnesota Press, University of Arizona Press, Oxford University Press, and institutions like School for Advanced Research.

Community Engagement and Partnerships

Programs maintain partnerships with tribal colleges such as Diné College, Sinte Gleska University, Sitting Bull College, Turtle Mountain Community College, and Chief Dull Knife College; cultural centers including Autry Museum of the American West, Heard Museum, Eiteljorg Museum, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, and The Heard Museum; and advocacy organizations like Native American Rights Fund, American Indian Policy Institute, First Nations Development Institute, Indian Law Resource Center, and Native American Heritage Association. Community-based projects collaborate with federal entities such as National Park Service, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, and Bureau of Indian Education on language revitalization, land stewardship, repatriation under Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and youth initiatives tied to programs like Tribal Colleges and Universities Program.

Administration and Faculty

Programs are administered within colleges and schools including College of Arts and Sciences, School of Social Work, School of Law, School of Education, and School of Public Health at universities such as University of California, Los Angeles, University of Washington, Yale University, Columbia University, and Stanford University. Faculty appointments often bring scholars affiliated with organizations like Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, American Anthropological Association, Modern Language Association, American Historical Association, and research centers such as Tsehai Publishers and Center for Indigenous Law, Politics, and Policy. Visiting lecturers and fellows may include leaders from Tribal Supreme Courts, cultural practitioners linked to National Museum of the American Indian, and legal scholars from Harvard Law School and Yale Law School.

Notable Alumni and Contributions

Alumni contribute as tribal leaders, artists, jurists, and scholars including figures associated with Winona LaDuke, Deb Haaland, Haaland family, Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Wilma Mankiller, John Herrington (astronaut), Ada Deer, Elouise Cobell, Chester Nez, Susan La Flesche Picotte, Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Mark Trahant, N. Scott Momaday (alumnus), Louise Erdrich (alumna), Joy Harjo (alumna), and activists connected to Idle No More. Graduates have influenced landmark litigation such as McGirt v. Oklahoma and policy initiatives like implementation of Indian Child Welfare Act, leadership roles in Bureau of Indian Affairs, elected office in bodies such as United States Congress, and cultural revitalization projects at institutions like Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and tribal museums nationwide.

Category:Native American studies programs