Native American Studies

Dave Beck, Chair

The Native American Studies Department at the University of Montana builds its curriculum on the foundation of three interrelated principles: sovereignty, indigeneity and community well-being. In so doing we pay close attention to the continuing role of traditional value systems, the impacts of colonization and the efforts toward decolonization within tribal communities. We define sovereignty broadly as one of the rights of all indigenous peoples, including both the political-legal foundations as provided in U.S. law and policy and self-determination more generally. Indigeneity underlies the unique holistic relationship that Native American communities have to the land and to the environment. In addition, our degree program not only intends to advance the well-being of our individual students, both native and non-native, but also to enhance the well-being of Indigenous communities across Montana, the United States and globally, by providing necessary and relevant education about those communities as well as the skills and knowledge for those working within those communities to do so effectively. Our curriculum and the foundations of faculty research are broadly cross-disciplinary with these principles at their base.

Native American Studies is an academic discipline committed to examining the contemporary and past experiences and life ways of the first Americans from their perspective. The curriculum is designed to provide a study of American Indians from a holistic and humanistic viewpoint by focusing upon their cultures, history, and contemporary life. Courses are designed for both Native American and non Native American students so they can better understand human similarities and differences, thereby leading to more effective work with and within tribal communities, through stronger knowledge bases of tribal America, and the development of better communications and cross-cultural relationships.

The Native American Studies major supports the objectives of a liberal arts education. It is interdisciplinary and provides a perspective that critically analyzes and evaluates the strengths and limitations of each contributing discipline.

Undergraduate Degrees Available

Subject Type Option Track
Language Rejuvenation & Maint Certificate of Art
Native American Studies Bachelor of Arts
Native American Studies Minor

Department Faculty

Professors

  • David Beck, Professor
  • Richmond Clow, Professor
  • Wade Davies, Professor & Co-Chair
  • S. Neyooxet Greymorning, Professor
  • Kathryn Shanley, Professor & Special Assistant to the Provost Native American and Indigenous Education

Assistant Professors

  • Theodore Van Alst, Associate Professor & Co-Chair

Adjunct Faculty

  • Heather Cahoon, Adjunct Lecturer

Lecturers

  • George Price, Lecturer

Course Descriptions

Film

  • FILM 860 - Native Americans & Cinema

    Credits: 3. Offered once each year. Same as NASX 360. Surveys the image of Native Americans in American film with an emphasis on revisionist, or breakthrough films. Ultimate focus will be on films featuring Native American writers, directors and actors.

Native American Studies

  • NASX 105H - Intro Native Amer Studies

    Credits: 3. Offered Autumn and Spring.  Survey course to acquaint the student with Native American Studies by a general overview of Indian history, culture, philosophy, religious beliefs and contemporary issues.
    Course Attributes:
    • Historical & Cultural Course
    • Indigenous and Global

  • NASX 141 - Elementary Blackfoot I

    Credits: 5. Offered autumn. An introduction to the Blackfoot language and culture. Students will learn how to write and read Blackfoot as well as how to conduct simple conversations.
    Course Attributes:
    • Foreign Language Requirement

  • NASX 142 - Elementary Blackfoot II

    Credits: 4. Offered intermittently spring.  Continuation of 141.
    Course Attributes:
    • Foreign Language Requirement

  • NASX 180 - Event Planning

    Credits: 3. Offered spring semester. This course is intended for students to learn the skills necessary to put on a large event. The course is intended as a hands-on experiential learning course. The culmination of the course will be putting on the annual Kyi-Yo contest pow-wow, the first large regional pow-wow of the year on the circuit.

  • NASX 191 - Special Topics

    Credits: 1 TO 9. (R-6) Offered intermittently.  Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics.

  • NASX 192 - Independent Study

    Credits: 1 TO 6. (R-6) Prereq., consent of instr. Selected topics on American Indians under the direct supervision of a faculty member.

  • NASX 198 - Internship

    Credits: 1 TO 6. (R-9)Offered by special arrangement.  Prereq., consent of department. Extended classroom experience which provides practical application of classroom learning during placements off campus. Prior approval must be obtained from the faculty supervisor and the Internship Services office.  A maximum of 6 credits of Internship (198, 298, 398, 498) may count toward graduation.
    Course Attributes:
    • Internships/Practicums

  • NASX 201X - Indian Cultr Exprssd Thru Lang

    Credits: 3. Offered Autumn. This course has been designed to introduce students to a non-Western perspective of the relationship that exists between Indian cultures and their languages.  Students will be exposed to various languages of American Indian peoples, and how through Native languages insight can be gained into history, traditions, and cultural life-ways of Indian peoples.
    Course Attributes:
    • Indigenous and Global

  • NASX 210X - Native Amer Sports & Games

    Credits: 3. Offered Autumn or Spring.  Explores Native American sports and games, both traditional and modern.  Through classroom learning and actual play, students gain an understanding of how play and competition have been vital to Native communities.
    Course Attributes:
    • Indigenous and Global

  • NASX 231X - Indig World View Perspectives

    Credits: 3. Offered Spring.  Same as ANTY 231X.   Examination of Indigenous belief systems, with regard to world views, religious ceremonies, cultural ways and the impact that Anglo-European culture has had upon these systems.  Focus on Indigenous peoples of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States
    Course Attributes:
    • Indigenous and Global

  • NASX 235X - Oral/Written Trads Native Amer

    Credits: 3. Offered Autumn and Spring.  Analysis of the oral traditions of Native Americans including an introduction to the literary works of early leading American Indian writers.
    Course Attributes:
    • Literary & Artistic Stds Crse
    • Writing Course-Intermediate
    • Indigenous and Global

  • NASX 239X - Nat North Amer History & Art

    Credits: 3. Focus on Native North American history through art and material culture and its relationship to American Indian tribally specific aesthetics, cosmologies, worldviews and life-ways, historic uses and the contemporary Indian artistic experience.
    Course Attributes:
    • Literary & Artistic Stds Crse
    • Indigenous and Global

  • NASX 260X - Indig Community Developmnt

    Credits: 3. Offered intermittently. This course introduces the student to concepts in indigenous/rural sustainable community development in the countries of North America in broad historical and cultural frameworks.
    Course Attributes:
    • Indigenous and Global

  • NASX 280 - NA Studies Rsrch Theors/Mthds

    Credits: 3. Offered Autumn.  Prereq., NAS major or minor.  Introduction to the Research materials pertaining to the study of American Indian peoples and cultures.  Emphasis on current research trends and writing.
    Course Attributes:
    • Writing Course-Intermediate

  • NASX 291 - Special Topics

    Credits: 1 TO 6. (R-9) Offered intermittently.  Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics.

  • NASX 292 - Independent Study

    Credits: 1 TO 6. (R 6) Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses or one time offerings of current topics.

  • NASX 303E - Ecol Persp in Nat Amer Trad

    Credits: 3. Offered Autumn and Spring.  An examination of Native American environmental ethics and tribal and historical and contemporary use of physical environmental resources.
    Course Attributes:
    • Ethical & Human Values Course
    • American and European

  • NASX 304E - Native American Beliefs/Philos

    Credits: 3. Offered Autumn and Spring.   A study of selected ethical systems; origins, world views; religious beliefs and the way they have been affected by western civilization.
    Course Attributes:
    • Ethical & Human Values Course
    • Indigenous and Global

  • NASX 306X - Contemp Global Iss Indg People

    Credits: 3. Offered Autumn. An examination of the major issues that affect the contemporary experiences of Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, and other global communities.
    Course Attributes:
    • Indigenous and Global

  • NASX 340 - Native American Lit

    Credits: 3. Offered Autumn.  Prereq., three credits of lower-division LIT courses and NASX 105H or 235X. Same as LIT 305. Selected readings from Native American Literature and criticism with emphasis on the literatures after the Native American literary Renaissance.  A minimum of three genres covered and three culture areas.

  • NASX 351 - Traditional Eco Knowledge

    Credits: 3. ?Offered summer. This course is one unit of the four unit (12 credit) summer semester program: “Wild Rockies Summer Semester.”  Description: This course will explore the traditional ecological perspectives of the Salish, Kootenai, Blackfeet and Tlingit people, as well as how these perspectives relate to Western concepts of ecology.  Through field-based activities, lectures by tribal elders, and personal exploration, students will come to a heightened understanding of the still vital cultural perspectives and practices of modern American Indians, particularly in the Rockies of Montana and Canada.

  • NASX 352 - Montana’s Indians/Land

    Credits: 3. Offered autumn. This course is one unit of the four unit (12 credit) fall semester program: “Montana Afoot & Afloat: Human/Land Relations.”  Description: This course gives students a greater understanding of Indian people’s traditional relationships with the land in Montana, and an understanding of how and why those relationships may have changed.  Extensive time will be spent on the Fort Belknap, Northern Cheyenne and Crow Reservations where the class will meet with tribal elders and learning will have an emphasis on environmental and tribal/land relationships.

  • NASX 354X - Indians of MT since Rsrvtn Era

    Credits: 3. Offered Autumn. Same as HSTA 354.  Examination of the history of Montana Indians since the establishment of the reservations, contemporary conditions, and issues among both reservation and non-reservation Indian communities in the state.  Special attention given to social and economic conditions, treaty rights, tribal sovereignty, and legal issues.
    Course Attributes:
    • Indigenous and Global

  • NASX 360 - Native Amer and Cinema

    Credits: 3. Offered Autumn or Spring.  Same as ENFM 344. Surveys the image of Native Americans in American film with an emphasis on "revisionist," or "breakthrough" films.  Ultimate focus will be on films featuring Native American writers, directors and actors.

  • NASX 391 - Special Topics

    Credits: 1 TO 6. (R-9) Offered intermittently.  Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics.

  • NASX 394 - Workshop/Seminar

    Credits: 1 TO 6. (R-6) Offered intermittently. Variable topics addressing Indian law, policy and culture by visiting scholars.

  • NASX 398 - Internship

    Credits: 1 TO 6. (R-6) Offered by special arrangement.  Prereq., consent of department. Extended classroom experience which provides practical application of classroom learning during placements off campus. Prior approval must be obtained from the faculty supervisor and the Internship Services office.  A maximum of 6 credits of Internship (198, 298, 398, 498) may count toward graduation.
    Course Attributes:
    • Internships/Practicums

  • NASX 403 - Contmp Tribal Resource Issues

    Credits: 3. Offered intermittently. Acquaints students with contemporary tribal resource management and environmental policies.

  • NASX 405H - Gndr Iss in Native Amer Stdies

    Credits: 3. Offered intermittently.  Same as WS 342H.  Focus on American Indian gender relations and their cultural continuity and historical evolution. National in scope with concentration on certain tribes. Group analysis of contemporary gender issues relevant to Native American peoples.
    Course Attributes:
    • Historical & Cultural Course

  • NASX 430 - American Indian Education

    Credits: 3. Offered intermittently.  An overview of American Indian education including a look at the unique needs of Indian children.

  • NASX 464 - Hist Amer Indian Affrs to 1776

    Credits: 3. Offered Autumn. Same as HIST 464. A study of American Indian relations with Europeans and the United States from first contact to 1776.

  • NASX 465 - Hist Amer Indian Affrs 10 Cent

    Credits: 3. Offered Spring. Same as HIST 465. A study of tribal encounters and adjustments to the American nations in the nineteenth century.

  • NASX 466 - Hist of Indian Affrs from 1890

    Credits: 3. Offered Autumn. Same as HIST 466. A study of tribal encounters and adjustments to the American nation from 1890.

  • NASX 475 - Tribal Sovereignty

    Credits: 3. Offered Spring. An examination of the evolution of tribal governments from a historical and political perspective. Particular attention is devoted to the issues of tribal sovereignty and tribal-state conflicts.

  • NASX 481 - Native American Film

    Credits: 3. Offered once a year. Prereq., NASX 360 or consent of instr.

  • NASX 488 - Stds in Native Amer Autobio

    Credits: 3. Offered intermittently.  Same as LIT 429.  Prereq., LIT 300 or LIT 305/NASX 340, or consent of instr.  Study of texts that present a first-person story of Native American individual's life within historical and cultural contexts, with discussion of theories of autobiography.

  • NASX 491 - Special Topics

    Credits: 1 TO 6. (R-6) Prereq., upper-division standing and consent of instr. Selected topics on American Indians under the direct supervision of a faculty member.

  • NASX 492 - Independent Study

    Credits: 1 TO 6. (R-9) Offered by special arrangement.  Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses or one-time offerings of current topics.

  • NASX 494 - Seminar/Workshop

    Credits: 3. (R-6) Offered Spring. Prereq., NAS major or minor, 18 credits in NAS, and junior standing or higher.  Senior reading capstone course for the review of past and current literature on and by American Indians.
    Course Attributes:
    • Writing Course-Advanced

  • NASX 499 - Senior Capstone/Thesis

    Credits: 3 TO 9. (R-9) Offered by special arrangement.  Prereq., NAS major or minor, 18 credits in NAS, junior standing, and consent of instr. Independent research project in Native American Studies, supervised by a faculty member, and leading to completion of baccalaureate degree.

  • NASX 594 - Sem Native American Stds

    Credits: 1 TO 3. (R-6) Offered intermittently.  Prereq., consent of instr. A review and discussion of current research. Topics vary. Level: Graduate

  • NASX 595 - Special Topics

    Credits: 1 TO 9. (R-9) Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics. Level: Graduate
    Course Attributes:
    • Internships/Practicums

  • NASX 596 - Independent Study

    Credits: 1 TO 6. (R-6) Offered intermittently.  Prereq., graduate standing and consent of instr. Study of selected topics or problems on American Indians under the direct supervision of a faculty member. Level: Graduate
    Course Attributes:
    • Service Learning/Volunteer

  • NASX 598 - Internship

    Credits: 1 TO 6. (R-6) Offered intermittently.  Prereq., consent of department. Extended classroom experience which provides practical application of classroom learning during placements off campus. Prior approval must be obtained from the faculty supervisor and the Internship Services office. Level: Graduate
    Course Attributes:
    • Internships/Practicums