American Indian Studies: Native Americans

“Personal Sovereignty” – demonstrate how oral tradition, “written on the page” according to Paula Gunn Allen (Spiderwoman’s Granddaughters and/or Sister Nations) is used to preserve personal sovereignty, how it does so, and why this is important.
I. Introductory Paragraph: Introduce and explain your topic, noting any particular tribes you discuss and where they are situated geographically. Introduce one major reading, including the author, that will be used in your paper, and clarify the main arguments in the reading support your own topic of interest. End the introduction with a thesis statement and mapping statement (two to three points that you will argue in your paper to prove that your thesis is true).
II. Argument Context: In one paragraph, choose one reading from "Red on Red" by Womack to explain how the social construction of… The following should reflect your thesis à this is an example:
“Pocahontas” is a racial trope. Include an explanation of the time period the social construction emerges, how “Pocahontas,” as a racial trope, is related to your paper’s topic, and what you would argue is the impact that the trope of “Pocahontas” has on [i.e. the justice served to American Indian women] the topics and points you address in your thesis.
III. Body of the Paper [multiple paragraphs]: Here, each of the points in the mapping statement are used as topic sentences. The topic sentences serve as the first sentence of a new point of analysis for these sections of the paper. Each of your body paragraphs will have at least one quotation from your required readings to illustrate the author’s actual point of view and to support the claims you make about their point.
IV. “So What?”: As a final argument, you will make one last point about the broader importance of the topic of your paper. Consider explaining how and why the topics you have covered matter to a larger audience of people. Make a few claims you believe and explain why they are true to you and support these claims with quotes from the reading.
V. Conclusion: Provide a brief synopsis of your paper’s main arguments and conclude by paraphrasing your thesis and any additional final points you wish to make. [For a quick conclusion, copy and paste your thesis, each of your (3) topic sentences/subclaims, and the main point of your “So What?” onto a document. Format those sentences as if they form a small paragraph. Rewrite the paragraph in your own words again. Copy and paste that re-written paragraph at the end of your paper as your Conclusion. Read and edit just to make sure it reads well with the rest of your paper.]
VI. Complete bibliography of readings quoted and paraphrased or referenced should be the last page of your paper.
Required Reading: Womack Intro Red on Red, D. Pomaika'i McGregor "Constructed Images of Native Hawaiians", Spiderwoman’s Granddaughters and Sister Nations