Critical Social Inquiry 0220 - Natives as Proletarians: First Nations Peoples as Workers Under Capitalism

From stevedore Crispus Attucks to Mohawk Ironworkers building Manhattan skyscrapers to Anishinaabe truck drivers in the Minneapolis Teamster Strike of 1934, Native people have been central at important flash points in U.S. history. However, historians and sociologist rarely portray Indigenous people as workers under capitalism, preferring to study traditional subsistence methods or contemporary social problems including structural unemployment. This course examines indigenous people as part of the working class in the United States until present. (keywords: labor, class, unions, workers, indigenous)

In/Justice Students in this course can expect to spend 6 to 9 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time.