Amind Final SG - AMIND 141 Final Exam Study Guide*Use this...

AMIND 141 Final Exam Study Guide
*Use this guide to focus your studying for the final exam*
-Review all key terms from beginning of course (Weeks 1
and 2)
Slide 1: Welcome back! This week we’ll begin discussing key terms for the course, and we’ll
also learn more about the Bering Strait Theory to begin thinking critically about US history.
Slide 2: The first key term we need to familiarize ourselves with is colonization. The term will
play an important role in how we understand United States history from an American Indian
perspective, as opposed to the mainstream portrayal of United States history. “Colonization”
describes the ongoing process of control by which a central system of power dominates the
surrounding land and its components (people, animals, land, resources, and ways of living.) We
often associate the word “colonization” with the British colonies in the 1600s, leading to the
establishment of the modern-day United States. However, our definition shows that colonization
is not only characterized by a physical presence of one country in another, the process is
ongoing. Colonization has occurred, and continues to occur, all over the world, as shown in the
map above, and we’ll be grappling with this concept throughout the course.
Slide 3: On the flip side, we’ll also be grappling with the term “decolonization,” or the undoing
of/healing from the consequences of colonization. Decolonization is the ongoing reversal of the
presence of colonization in order to regenerate Indigenous knowledge, epistemologies, cultures,
and ways of life. Once again, this does not only include the physical removal of colonialism from
a space, but it also includes removal of the remnants of colonization on personal, emotional,
community, and political levels.
Slide 4: So as we begin this history course, we need to practice approaching history in a new, or
a different, way than we may be accustomed to. The strategy that we’ll be using to reconsider
history from an American Indian perspective is through the strategy “Historical Thinking.” Using
this strategy, we’ll be thinking critically and interpreting history instead of simply memorizing
facts, dates, and names. We must understand that in order for something to become history,
usually ample evidence must be provided (multiple witnesses, documents, footage, interviews,
etc.), but evidence is often hand-selected by the person retelling the story, which means some
parts might unintentionally or intentionally be left out. With this in mind, we can begin
understanding that evidence changes and shapes what becomes what we understand as history.
This means that there is no way to discuss history without discussing power. Power determines
who tells the stories, how often, what types of stories, and who is portrayed as the “good guys” v.
the “bad guys.” So obviously throughout this course, the history we’ll be learning will often
conflict with the mainstream/popular United States narrative, and it’s important to consider as we
move forward: how does this change the ways we understand/previously understood history?