Indigenous Writing in English.
ENGL 329
Trimester 1, 2006
Indigenous
Writing in English.
Class sessions
Lecture: Thursday
10 - 11.50am
Hugh Mackenzie LT002
Weekly tutorials: ** tba
Course Organisation
Lecturer/
Convener:
alice.tepungasomerville@vuw.ac.nz
4636818
(internal: 6818)
office VZ909
Tutor: ** tba
Guest
Lecturers: Maria Bargh (Maori Studies VUW),
Teresia Teaiwa (Pacific Studies VUW),
Dennis McDermott
Course Texts
- Course Notes (all of the required texts, other
that those included in the anthology skins,
are included in this reader)
- Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm & Josie
About ENGL329: Indigenous Writing in English
This course
holds the writing of Indigenous peoples at its centre. Through the creative
works (fiction, poetry, journalism and activist texts, memoir and so on) of
Indigenous people, we will explore and interrogate the concepts of Indigeneity,
comparative Indigenous studies, nation, anticolonial
resistance, decolonisation and the Urban Indigenous experience. We will also
read critical writing about global Indigenous literatures, and about
comparative inquiry. Because of our location in Aotearoa, and the Pacific, a
major focus of this course will be Maori and Pacific writing. However, we will
also read texts from Indigenous Nations that exist within the borders of
Course Aims
and Objectives
By the end of
the course, you will be able to:
- discuss with some confidence
the key features of the Indigenous Nations in each of the four
nation-states (NZ,
- articulate the
central arguments, and discuss some examples of, a ‘pan-Indigenous’ global
- critically consider
specific texts by Indigenous writers, and contextualise these texts
through an understanding of literary traditions and the politics of publication
and anthologising.
- discuss the role of
Indigenous writing that comes from, and/or engages with, urban Indigenous
communities.
Class sessions
This course is
arranged into four thematic modules:
- writing
our specificity, which focuses on specific indigenous nations
subsumed by specific nation state contexts;
- writing
our indigeneity, which considers the multiple modes of
connection between indigenous communities, including the very term
‘indigenous’;
- rewriting
ourselves, which explores genealogies of historical and
contemporary non-indigenous representations of indigenous peoples ; and
- writing ourselves, which looks at the
particular ways in which indigenous writers treat the urban indigenous
experience.
Each module
asks a set of particular questions, and also contributes to our broader
exploration of the course aims and objectives.
Obviously, you
are expected to prepare for each class session by completing all of the
relevant readings and writing assignments.
|
week/ lecture date |
tutorial topic |
lecture topic |
student writing |
|
1/ 2 March |
no tutorials |
Framing |
report #1
due 6.3 |
|
2/ 9 March |
Framing |
|
report #a |
|
3/ 16 March |
|
|
report #b |
|
4/ 23 March |
|
|
report #c |
|
5/ 30 March |
|
Indigenous
Pacific |
report #d |
|
6/ 6 April |
Indigenous
Pacific |
In-class
Anthology exercise |
group wk #2
due 24.4 |
|
|
|
mid-trimester
break |
|
|
7/ 27 April |
Anthology
exercise |
Global Indigenous |
essay #2
starter |
|
8/ 4 May |
Global
Indigenous |
‘ |
essay #2
final due 8.5 |
|
9/ 11 May |
ways of
reading |
non-Indig. representation 1 |
research
essay starter |
|
10/ 18 May |
non-Indig. repr. |
non-Indig. representation 2 |
report #5 |
|
11/ 25 May |
urban
Indigenous |
urban
Indigenous writing |
report #6 |
|
12/ 1 June |
|
wrapping up |
research
essay due 6.6 |
Week
1 (2/3) Introductions/
Framing
|
read (in class) |
Introduction
to skins |
|
watch |
Maori TV! |
|
write (due to
Lecturer Monday 6 March 5pm; sending it to me via email is fine) |
Report #1 What does
‘Indigenous’ mean? In your writing, reflect on where you got your ideas about
‘indigenous’ from. What do you bring to this class? Why does it interest you?
|
“writing our specificity”
·
What are key
aspects of the specific contexts of the Nations subsumed by
·
What is the
role of specific naming in the construction and maintenance of indigenousness?
Week
2 (9/3) Aotearoa New
|
read |
Grace,
Grace-Smith, Ihimaera and Komene
from skins Ramsden,
Potiki, Mita from TAM2
(handouts) |
|
watch |
Mauri,
Te Rua, Tama Tu, The
Little Things, Two Cars One Night, Tama Tu |
|
write (due in
lecture) |
Report #a Reflect on
something from the world around you this week that pertains to the issue of
Maori rights/ position as tangata whenua. |
Week
3 (16/3)
guest: Dennis McDermott
|
read |
Frankland,
Laughton, Lucashenko, Morgan, Pascoe and Wright
from skins Ooodgeroo.
“Aboriginal Charter of Rights.” Reconciliation:
Essays on Australian Reconciliation. Michelle Grattan (ed). Boori Monty
Pryor. “Breaking the Cycle.” Reconciliation:
Essays on Australian Reconciliation. Michelle Grattan (ed). Martin Nakata. “Better.” Blacklines:
contemporary critical writing by Indigenous Australians. Michele Grossman
(ed). Helen Lockyer. “Fragments from Life.” Reconciliation: Essays on Australian Reconciliation.
Michelle Grattan (ed). Jack Davis. “black life.” Fresh cuttings: a Celebration of fiction
and poetry from UQP’s Black Writing Series. Sue
Abbey & Sandra Phillips (eds). St Lucis, Qld: Melissa Lucashenko. “I Am Not My Life.” untreated: poems by black writers.
Josie Douglas (ed). Melissa Lucashenko. “You are the Fringes.” untreated: poems by black writers.
Josie Douglas (ed). Graeme Dixon. “Darryl.” untreated:
poems by black writers. Josie Douglas (ed). Janice Slater. “The March.” Reconciliation:
Essays on Australian Reconciliation. Michelle Grattan (ed). Marcia Langton. “Aboriginal art and film: the politics of
representation.” Blacklines: contemporary critical writing by
Indigenous Australians. Michele Grossman (ed). |
|
watch |
Radiance,
Rabbit Proof Fence |
|
write (due in
lecture) |
Report #b Talk to
someone who has been to |
Week
4 (23/3)
|
read |
Alexie,
Blaeser, Bruchac, Erdrich, Hogan, Campbell, Ipellie,
King and Van Camp from skins Joy Harjo. “Perhaps the World Ends Here.” Reinventing the Enemy’s Language:
Contemporary Native Women’s Writing of Chrystos. “I have
not signed a treaty with the United States Government.” Border Texts: Cultural Vine DeLoria, Jr.
“Indian Humour.” Nothing but the Truth:
an Anthology of Native American Literature. John Purdy & James Ruppert (eds). Fred Bigjim. “Ballet in Nila NorthSun. “99 things to do before you die.” Reinventing the Enemy’s Language:
Contemporary Native Women’s Writing of Nila NorthSun. “red flags yellow
flags.” Returning the Gift: Poetry and
Prose from the First North American Native Writers’ Festival. Joseph Bruchac (ed). Nila NorthSun. “stupid questions.” Returning the Gift: Poetry and Prose from
the First North American Native Writers’ Festival. Joseph Bruchac (ed). Nora Marks Dauenhauer. “How to Make Good
Baked Salmon from the River.” Reinventing
the Enemy’s Language: Contemporary Native Women’s Writing of Janet Campbell Hale. “The Only Good Indian.” Reinventing the Enemy’s Language: Contemporary Native Women’s Writing
of Diane Glancy. “Genealogy.” Returning the Gift: Poetry and Prose from
the First North American Native Writers’ Festival. Joseph Bruchac (ed). Elise Paschen. “Two Standards.” Returning the Gift: Poetry and Prose from
the First North American Native Writers’ Festival. Joseph Bruchac (ed). Gail Tremblay. “After the Invasion.” Reinventing the Enemy’s Language: Contemporary Native Women’s Writing
of Leslie Marmon Silko. “Language and
Literature from a Leslie Marmon Silko. “(Untitled).” Nothing but the Truth: an Anthology of
Native American Literature. John Purdy & James Ruppert
(eds). |
|
watch |
Smoke
Signals, The Business of Fancydancing , Dance Me
Outside |
|
write (due in
lecture) |
Report #c Write a
personal response to one of the texts from the readings for this week. |
Week
5 (30/3) Indigenous Pacific
guest: Dr Teresia
Teaiwa
|
read |
Caroline Sinavaiana-Gabbard. “introduction: a kind of genealogy.” Alchemies of Distance. Karlo Mila.
“Beyond Blackbirder Legacies.” Dream
Fish Floating. Karlo Mila. “On
Joining Caroline Sinavaiana-Gabbard. “Sa Nafanua.” Alchemies
of Distance. David Welchman Gegeo.
“Cultural Rupture and Indigeneity: The Challenge of (Re)visioning
‘Place’ in the Pacific.” The
Contemporary Pacific 13 (2): 2001: 491-507 Haunani-Kay Trask. “Introduction.” From a Native Daughter. Haunani-Kay Trask. “Sisters.” Reinventing
the Enemy’s Language: Contemporary Native Women’s Writing of Haunani-Kay Trask. “Writing in Captivity: Poetry in a Time of
Decolonization.” Inside Out: Literature,
Cultural Politics and Identity in the New Pacific. Vilsoni
Hereniko & Rob Wilson (eds).
Laura Marie Torres Souder. “Island Metamorphosis: |
|
watch |
The Land Has
Eyes, **Hawaiian – kava etc |
|
write (due in
lecture) |
Report #d How does the
Indigenous Pacific fit into the framework ‘Indigenous?’ Imagine that Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm and Josie
Douglass have asked you whether texts from the Indigenous Pacific should have
been included in their anthology skins.
Keeping in mind the texts you have read for this week, write them a
reply. |
Week
6 (6/4) In-class
Anthology exercise
|
discuss/ write (Both group
and individual writing due Monday 24 April.) |
This
compulsory class session will be spent working on the Group Work 2
assignment. You need to
bring with you the text you want to include in your group’s anthology (see
detailed description of assignment for more information). |
>Mid trimester break<
“writing our indigeneity”
·
What are the
tensions, limitations and possibilities in the various definitions of
indigenousness?
·
For what
purposes, and by whom, is the umbrella term “Indigenous’ mobilised?
Week
7 (27/4) Global
Indigenous
guest: Dr Maria Bargh
|
read |
Haunani-Kay Trask. “Returning the Gift.” Returning the Gift: Poetry and Prose from the First North American
Native Writers’ Festival. Joseph Bruchac (ed). Jace Weaver.
“Indigenousness and Indigeneity.” A
Companion to Postcolonial Studies. Henry Schwarz & Sangeeta Ray (eds). Andre Beteille. “The Idea of Indigenous
People.” Current Anthropology 39
(2) April 1998: 187-191 Kanalu Young. “An
Interdisciplinary Study of the Term ‘Hawaiian.’” Hawaiian Journal of Law and Politics 1 (Summer): 2004: 23-45 Maria Degabriele. “Native.” SPAN (Journal of the South Pacific
Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies) 37: 1993: np Taiaiake Gerald
Alfred. “A Note on Terminology.” Peace
Power Righteousness: an Indigenous Manifesto. Don Milla,
Ont.: Oxford University Press, 1999: xxv-xxvi Denise Groves. “To What Extent is Contemporary Aboriginal Identity
Political?” Reconciliation: Essays on
Australian Reconciliation. Michelle Grattan (ed). joannemariebarker
& Teresia Teaiwa
“Native InFormation.” Inscriptions 7. Ronald Niezen. “A New Global Phenomenon?” The Origins of Indigenism:
Human Rights and the Politics of Identity. Drew Hayden Taylor. “Oh, Just Call Me an Indian.” Returning the Gift: Poetry and Prose from the First North American
Native Writers’ Festival. Joseph Bruchac (ed). Mudrooroo. “Our Indigenality.” Us
Mob: History, Culture Struggle: An Introduction to Indigenous Michael Dodson. “The end in the beginning: re(de)fining
Aboriginality.” Blacklines: contemporary critical writing by
Indigenous Australians. Michele Grossman (ed). |
|
watch |
Te Rua |
|
write (due in
lecture) |
Essay # 2 starter Your mark
for essay #2 (‘Writing our Indigeneity’) is made up of 15% for the final
essay and 5% for this ‘starter.’ Write between
1 and 2 pages of your own thoughts, responding to the readings for this week.
Spend at least a paragraph outlining how you will draw on this critical work
into your essay. The writing does not have to be formal, but needs to
demonstrate that you have engaged with the critical ideas presented in the
readings; be sure to name the specific texts you will treat in your essay. |
Week
8 (4/5) Discussing/
Reading Indigenous
|
read |
Chadwick Allen. “Conclusion: Declaring a Fourth World.” Blood Narrative: Indigenous Identity in
American Indian and Maori Literary and Activist Texts. Jack Davis. “the writers.” Fresh cuttings: a Celebration of fiction
and poetry from UQP’s Black Writing Series. Sue
Abbey & Sandra Phillips (eds). St Lucis, Qld: Selina Tusitala Marsh. “Theory ‘versus’ Karlo Mila. “For Sia Figiel.” Dream Fish Floating. Karlo Mila. “For
Albert Wendt (On his Birthday).” Dream
Fish Floating. Karlo Mila. “For
John Pule.”
Dream Fish Floating. Karlo Mila. “For
Alice Walker.” Dream Fish Floating. Karlo Mila. “The
Poet as Unionist.” Dream Fish Floating.
Anita Heiss. “Indigenous Discourse.” Dhuuluu-Yala: To Talk Straight: Publishing Indigenous
Literature. Emerance Baker.
“Loving Indianess: Native Women’s Storytelling as Survivance.” Atlantis
29 (2) 2005: 1-15 Kim Scott. “Disputed Territory.” Reconciliation:
Essays on Australian Reconciliation. Michelle Grattan (ed). Anita Heiss. “White and Black poetry
readings: distinct differences.” untreated:
poems by black writers. Josie Douglas (ed). |
|
watch |
|
|
write (due Monday
8 May) |
Essay # 2 final |
“rewriting ourselves”
·
What are the
genealogies of representation of Native people by/ among non-Native peoples?
·
What are the
major implications of such representations?
·
How have
Native writers engaged with these modes of representation?
·
How do some
super-contemporary representations of Indigenous peoples merge with, and differ
from, the ‘historical’ versions?
Week
9 (11/5) Genealogies
of non-Indigenous representation
|
read |
Kimberly M Blaeser. “‘Native Americans’ vs.
‘The Poets.’” Returning the Gift:
Poetry and Prose from the First North American Native Writers’ Festival. Joseph
Bruchac (ed). Karlo Mila.
“Sacred Pulu.” Dream
Fish Floating. Caroline Sinavaiana-Gabbard. “ Lisa Bellear. “Artist Unknown.” Dreaming in Urban Areas. Lisa Bellear. “Souled
Out.” Dreaming in Urban Areas. Thomas King. “You’re not the Indian I had in Mind.” The Truth about Stories: A Native
Narrative. Rayna Green. “The
Pocahontas Perplex: the Image of American Indian Women in American Culture.” Negotiators of change: historical
perspectives on Native American Women. Nancy Shoemaker (ed). Linda Tuhiwai Smith. “Colonizing
Knowledges.” Decolonizing Methodologies:
Research Methods and Indigenous Peoples. |
|
watch |
Aroha,
To Love a Maori, The Searchers, ** Sima Urale:
Velvet Dreams |
|
write (due in
lecture) |
Research essay starter Write between
1 and 2 pages about your research essay. As for the essay #2 starter, the
writing does not need to be overly formal but needs to be clear. Make sure
you name the texts on which you will focus, and show how your topic relates
to the overall themes of the course. By this
time, you should have discussed the topic with the Lecturer and finalised
your main ideas, and you should have developed a general essay plan. You also
need to show this starter to at least one other person in the class (you will
be paired in tutorials), and ask them for written feedback about your ideas. Hand in your
essay plan, your original starter, the feedback from someone else, and a
paragraph response from you to their feedback. |
Week
10 (18/5) Contemporary
non-Indigenous representation
|
read |
Current news clippings (to be
collected over the course of the semester), including ‘news’ and
advertisements Michael Yellow Bird. “Toys of Genocide, Icons of American
Imperialism.” Wicazo Sa Review Fall 2004: 33-48 Paul Chaat Smith. “The Meaning of Life.” Reservation X. Gerald McMaster (ed). Robert Eggington. “Jangga
Meenya Bomunggur (The
Smell of the White Man is Killing Us.)” Reconciliation:
Essays on Australian Reconciliation. Michelle Grattan (ed). Karlo Mila.
“Eating Dark Chocolate and watching Paul Holmes’ Apology.” Dream Fish Floating. Chrystos. “Zenith
Supplies.” Returning the Gift: Poetry
and Prose from the First North American Native Writers’ Festival. Joseph Bruchac (ed). Monica Ka’imipono Ka’iwi.
“Hey, haole lady…” Whetu Moana: Contemporary Polynesian Poems in
English. Robert Sullivan, Albert Wendt & Reina Whaitiri
(eds). Haunani-Kay
Trask. “racist white
woman.” Bamboo Ridge 36
(Fall) 1988: 86-87 Chrystos. “Rude as
2:29am.” Fire Power. Romaine Moreton. “Soap is Easy.” untreated: poems by black writers.
Josie Douglas (ed). Barry Barclay. “An open letter to John Barnett from Barry Barclay.” OnFilm Feb 2003: 11, 14 |
|
watch |
NZ – the Royal Tour ( 2002
documentary) |
|
write (due in
lecture) |
Report #5 Find, and
respond to, a contemporary description/ image of Indigenous peoples. |
“writing ourselves”
·
What are
some of the key themes, preoccupations and dimensions of urban Native writing?
·
What are
some of the possibilities and limitations of reading Urban Indigenous texts
alongside non-Urban Indigenous texts?
Week
11 (25/5) Urban
Indigenous Writing
|
read |
Samuel Cruickshank: ‘urban iwi: tihei mauri ora!’
Chrystos: ‘His Beautifull Full-Blood Face’ Fred Penny
‘The Urba-rigine’ |
|
watch |
Once Were
Warriors, The Little Things, Turangawaewae, |
|
write (due in
lecture) |
Report #6 Go and sit
in a very ‘urban’ area (maybe Cuba Mall, the Porirua
shopping centre, or Queensgate), and read some of
the texts from this week. Notice how the particular urban space is
configured, and how it feels to read these texts in that space. Write about
this. |
Week 12 (1/6) Urban
Indigenous Writing/ Wrapping up.
|
read (required) |
|
|
watch |
|
|
write (due Tuesday
6 June) |
Research essay final |
Student
resources for this course
Manaaki/
PASS/ SLS/ Library/ Financial etc
Assessment:
|
Assignment |
% of final
mark |
Due date |
|
|
10 |
6, 9, 16, 23, 30 March; 18, 25 May |
|
Group work
#1 (seminar presentation) & essay
#1: ‘Writing our Specificity’ |
20 |
9, 16, 23, or 30 March |
|
Group work
#2: ‘Survival’ (an anthology exercise), with individual written component. |
10 |
24 April |
|
Essay #2:
‘Writing our Indigeneity’ |
20 |
8 May |
|
Research
essay: Essay on own research topic. |
40 |
6 June |
10% Reading reports
You are to write 6 reading reports, which have a combined weighting of
10% of your overall mark for the course.
Produce a page of writing (around 500 words) about the readings for that
week. These reports are due at the class session for that topic, or emailed to
me before the class session; late reports are not marked.
The reports are numbered 1, a, b, c, d, 5, and 6.
Write three reports out of a,
b, c and d. You do not write a report the week you present in class and hand in
essay #1: your reports 2, 3 and 4 are the three reports (from the reports
numbered a, b, c & d) for the weeks you don’t
present.
Report #1
What
does ‘Indigenous’ mean? In your writing, reflect on where you got your ideas
about ‘indigenous’ from: what do you bring to this class? Why does it interest
you?
Reports #2, #3 and #4
Report #a
Reflect
on something from the world around you this week that pertains to the issue of
Maori rights/ position as tangata whenua
Report #b
Talk
to someone who has been to
Report #c
Write
a personal response to one of the texts from the readings for this week.
Report #d
How
does the Indigenous Pacific fit into the framework ‘Indigenous?’ Imagine that Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm and Josie
Douglass have asked you whether texts from the Indigenous Pacific should have
been included in their anthology skins. Keeping
in mind the texts you have read for this week, write them a reply.
Report #5
Find,
and respond to, a contemporary description/ image of Indigenous peoples.
Report #6
Go
and sit in a very ‘urban’ area, and read some of the texts from this week.
Notice how the urban space is configured, and how it feels to read these texts
in that space. Write about this.
20% Group work #1 (seminar presentation) &
essay #1: ‘Writing our Specificity’
The
literature we are reading comes from many different Nations and nation-states,
each with a unique set of stories to tell, and a unique historical, cultural,
economic and political context. In groups, you will provide a short
presentation and lead the class in discussion about one of these places. The
presentation is to give us a bit of shared knowledge about the background of
the literature – a bit about the history of the place and the people who live
there. As a group, lead us in discussion by asking some questions about the
readings, highlighting what you found interesting and/ or significant about the
writing.
Individually,
choose one text from the context on which you present, and relate it to its
Nation and nation-state context. (1000 words) This final essay #1 is due the
day you present to the class.
Your group
presentation will account for 10% of this mark, and your essay for the other
10%.
10% Group work #2: ‘Survival’ (an anthology
exercise), with individual written component.
This
exercise will be held during class time, week 6. Of the 10% total for this
assignment, 5% will be your written report and letter, and 5% will be your
group project.
With some
colleagues, you are editing an anthology of Native writing that you have
tentatively entitled Still Ourselves;
Indigenous Peoples and Survival.
·
As a group, write the ‘blurb’ for the back
cover of the book. Explain the contexts from which the anthology collects and
why the book has been produced. Point out some of the major themes and trends a
reader of such an anthology might expect to find inside. Pay attention to the
language of dust-jacket descriptions, and try to emulate this in your blurb.
Together, choose an image for the front cover.
·
Find one text that is not collected in the
course packet, or that we have not discussed in class, that you think would be
a good addition to the book. Write a letter to your co-editors about the piece,
arguing why it is a fit/ interesting/ apt text for inclusion. Make sure you
bring the text and letter along to the in-class exercise.
o When you
hand this letter in, attach a short comment outlining your experience of this
exercise. Include your thoughts about how the editorial group responded to your
claims about the text, and pay attention to how your relationship to the text
influenced your input into the blurb and choice of image.
20% Essay
#2: ‘Writing our Indigeneity’
Drawing
on critical work about Indigeneity and Indigenous peoples, write about texts
from at least two nation-state contexts, one of which is Aotearoa-New Zealand.
(2000 words)
Your
mark for essay #2 (‘Writing our Indigeneity’) is made
up of 5% for the ‘starter,’ and 15% for the final essay.
Starter:
Write
between 1 and 2 pages of your own thoughts, responding to the readings for this
week. Spend at least a paragraph outlining how you will draw on this critical
work into your essay. The writing does not have to be formal, but needs to
demonstrate that you have engaged with the critical ideas presented in the
readings; be sure to name the specific texts you will treat in your essay.
40% Long
essay: Essay on own research topic.
Produce
an essay (4000 words) about some aspect of Indigenous Writing in English which
appeals to you. You may wish to focus on a particular text, author,
nation-state, iwi, critical claim etc. Your essay needs to demonstrate
engagement with the themes of the course, and treatment of specific texts
(critical and/or literary).
At
this level of study, there is an expectation that your essay will be well
structured, clearly expressed, and correctly referenced. Your argument should
be well supported by specific textual references.
Your
overall mark for this essay is made up of a starter (10%) and final draft
(30%).
By
the time you hand in the starter, you need to discuss your topic with the
Lecturer and finalised your main ideas. Email, phone or meet me after class to
make an appointment to discuss this essay.
Starter:
Write
between 1 and 2 pages about your research essay. As for the essay #2 starter,
the writing does not need to be overly formal but needs to be clear. Make sure
you name the texts on which you will focus, and show how your topic relates to
the overall themes of the course.
By
this time, you should have discussed the topic with the Lecturer and finalised
your main ideas, and you should have developed a general essay plan.
You
also need to show this starter to at least one other person in the class (you
will be paired in tutorials), and ask them for written feedback about your
ideas.
Hand
in your essay plan, your original starter, the feedback from someone else, and
a paragraph response from you to their feedback.