ais 320 essay assignment

UE: TUESDAY, November 19 (by midnight via Canvas)

Format: 2½–3 pages, 1” margins, double-spaced, 10-12 pt font. Please do not add a cover sheet. Simply include your name, course number (AIS 320), and Essay 1 at the top of the page (either centered or adjusted left).

Also, no secondary sources are required. You need only refer to the reading assignments (and lectures, when appropriate). However, whenever you cite or quote from your textbook, The American Indian Intellectual Tradition, please state the page number in parentheses at the end of your citation or quotation. For example, “William Apess brings up the issue of a disputed deed to Marshpee land, which he makes the central part of his argument to the Massachusetts General Court that the state is responsible for redressing the Marshpee’s grievance against Phineas Fish (64-65).” Furthermore, whenever making a direct quote from the book, quotations should be brief, a sentence or two at a time. Please avoid using lengthy block quotes.

Instructions: Referring to the chapters assigned in God Is Red by Vine Deloria Jr, namely chapters 1-8, 13, 15-16, answering the following questions.

In chapter 1, what does the confrontation between the student archeologists and the American Indian Movement at Welch, Minnesota teach you about the different ways in which the western intellectual tradition thinks about the Indigenous past differently from how the same past is regarded by the local American Indian population?

In chapter 3, why does Deloria think that Christianity, even when represented by progressive religious leaders like Martin Luther King Jr, is incapable of addressing the social and political crises afflicting America as of the late 1960s/early 1970s? Your answer should include at least one clear example from the chapter.

In chapters 4-8, Deloria explains the differences between Christianity as a time-based religion and American Indians as practicing space-based traditions. Drawing examples from the middle chapters of God Is Red, explain what Deloria meant by this distinction. You should use at least two examples for each. (You do not need to reference all five chapters here.)

In chapters 15-16, what would you say is the connection between the historic spread of Christianity that Deloria covers in chapter 16 with the examples of modern American Christianity in chapter 15? You need only use a couple of examples.

[NB: I am aware that the above questions do not cover all of the chapters assigned from this book.]