Syl

Time and Place: Class will meet for 75-minute periods Monday and Wednesday mornings, Rm. 19, Green Hall, on the St. Paul Campus

Course description: 3 credits, enrollment limited to 25 students, 2 textbooks required. This course is also offered to graduate and upper division students as ESPM 5001, and to Honors CFANS students as CFAN 3101H.

Readings, guest speakers, videotapes, class discussions and infrequent lectures will introduce students to the nature of the treaty rights reserved by Indians with respect to allocation of natural resources. The course will focus on cultural beliefs underlying natural resources conflicts between Native Americans and the larger society. Students will be challenged to identify manifestations of racism, human rights issues, economic and social opportunity, cultural beliefs and principles of democracy in the rhetoric surrounding treaty rights. Historical and contemporary Indian use of natural resources will be examined in parallel with the evolution of government policy and treaty case law. Case studies will focus on Midwestern issues, primarily the walleye fisheries of Mille Lacs and northern Wisconsin, and the importance of wild rice and other natural resources to indigenous peoples. Discussion and readings will include treaty issues in the Pacific Northwest and Canada. Occasional guest speakers will provide insights or perspectives in addition to those gleaned from other sources.

COURSE FORMAT and PROTOCOL--The course is student-convened with discussion leaders, rapporteurs and discussants exchanging roles in small-group discussion throughout the term. This is a web-assisted course, with all students encouraged to actively conduct library and internet research into legal and social issues related to Native American treaty rights and natural resources. Materials that students discover may be made available for class use on the class web site. Our web site consists of the "greeting page" and all of its associated links (including this page) at the address: http://fwcb.cfans.umn.edu/courses/enr3001/ and a treaty resource web site at: http://fwcb.cfans.umn.edu/courses/enr3001/Indigenous/idx.html.

There are only a few rules of conduct necessary to allow the course to run smoothly. First, this is a discussion course that depends upon oral participation in every class meeting. All speakers will be protected against personal attacks. No one is entitled to impune the integrity or broker the participation of anyone else in the classroom. Speak to issues, facts, points of disagreement, chains of logic, but, treat others and their views with the respect that you would have others extend to you. You are welcome to express personal opinions and you should seek to understand, and to share, how you have come to hold these views. As a courtesy to all participants, there will be no electronic devices actively in use in the classroom, including cell phones, iPods, laptop computers, pagers or PDA's. Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis.

WORKLOAD AND TIMELINES--Minimum expectations (C grade) can be met by the university standard of 2 hours of study out of class (per week) for each unit of credit, coupled with satisfactory completion of the three elements of evaluation identified below. Readings will average 50-75 pages per week (including web assignments). Out-of-class writing will include pre-term, mid-term and terminal essays, the latter two not to be less than three pages, the aggregate not to exceed 15 pages (double-spaced), with a minimum of seven, typed or printed (double-spaced). In-class writing will include unannounced quizzes, in-class essays, and preparation of questions (generally True-False, or Multiple Choice) about the days' activities. Every enrolled student will serve at least once as a discussion leader and (on another date) as a rapporteur. Discussion leaders will provide written questions for discussion at least two school days in advance of class meetings (to be posted on course web site), and an "abstract" on the assigned reading or video materials to be submitted no later than the discussion date. Rapporteurs will encapsulate proceedings of group discussions for web posting, and will submit them to the instructor no later than two days after the discussion takes place. Students should be prepared to participate in one Saturday field trip should the opportunity arise. Students enrolling for Upper Division/Graduate credit (course listing: ESPM 5001) and for Honors designation (CFAN 3101H) will be required to complete a term project or write an additional term paper.

STUDENT EVALUATION CRITERIA--Student evaluation will be based upon the three activities in the numbered list below, and, possibly, a quiz or examination not to exceed 20% of the overall evaluation. Opportunities for extra credit and Bonus Points will be announced irregularly during the semester.

Extra credit generally means that students who participate by preparing additional writing in response to a topic raised in class will have that writing considered in any final judgement of letter grade. For students whose evaluation is borderline between grades, "extra credit" may boost their overall evaluation up to the next letter grade.

Bonus Points will be added to the "Attendence and active participation" category of evaluation below, not to exceed half the value of that category. Bonus Points may be acquired by students who prepare content specifically for presentation on the course website. Examples include, but are not limited to, entries on the "Questions Deserve Answers" page (generally less than 200 words), participation in optional field trips, essays (see "....Terrible Shadow) or written summaries of attendance at exhibits, cultural events, museums or performances relevant to the course, and reviews of books, events, films or videos relevant to the course. All such contributions to the web site will be under the editorial control of the course instructor.

Attendance and active participation (30% of grade) in the weekly sessions is expected for all students. In-class writing and your "reading abstracts" will be included in this element of student evaluation. (Please see note above for Bonus Points)
Leading discussion and reporting (another) discussion with the class at least once (30% of grade) during the term for assigned material (readings, videos, web sites, public events). Rapporteurs will subsequently write a brief summary of the session and transmit it to the instructor for posting on the web site by Monday of the following week.
Three essays (40% of grade) documenting the student's engagement with the subject matter. The first of these will identify the student's initial sentiments, previous experience, or prior thinking about treaties or Native Americans' treaty entitlements. The second and third essays will detail how one of the invited guests, activities, videotapes, or readings in the course has influenced the writer's thinking. Both of these will be reflective essays that synthesize ideas rather than criticizing them

STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES--Students will gain insights and understanding in six distinct areas of study:

multicultural appreciation of the spiritual, recreational, commercial and subsistence uses of renewable natural resources in historical and contemporary contexts;
negotiation, implementation, abrogation and interpretation of treaties with sovereign nations;
entitlement status of Native Americans with respect to the (midwestern) treaties of 1836, 1837, 1842, 1854, and 1855;
legal resolution of treaty disputes, including jurisdictional interests, canons of construction, legal precedent, and the appeals process;
impact of treaty fisheries on contemporary fishery resources in the upper midwest; and,
methods of historical enquiry applied to ethnohistory, legal research, and evolution of government policy in Indian affairs.

KEY SUBJECT MATTER INCLUDED IN THE COURSE

Government policy - Early period, Removal, Assimilation, Termination, Self-determination. How these policies have affected the exercise of treaty rights.
Treaties - Treaties, significant court decisions, Treaties of 1836, 1837, 1842, 1854, 1855, Stevens Treaties. Perpetuity, activity, and applicability are points that should be noted.
Harvest facts - Exploration of Wisconsin experience, harvest numbers on ceded territory/ trust land, numbers of people harvesting, stocking/management programs
Effects of Culture - Worldviews, management models - how do these impact the conflict?
Legal issues - Sovereignty, treaty rights, role of the courts
Racism - Is racism a factor in the dispute? How does racism affect disputes and their resolution?

Week I -- Housekeeping and introductions -- class photo; name tents; acknowledge course website and discuss it: course format, discussion leaders' worksheet, abstracting your readings; view videotape of "sportsmen's" perspective on Mille lacs controversy; generate discussion groups; collect attendance sheet, biographical sketches.
First assignments: pre-term essay; web search assignment; "Chief Seattle's speech"

Week III -- Student-led discussion of assigned readings (Chapters 1 & 2 in Satz)

The following weeks are subject to change, depending upon the availability of guest lecturers. Additional topics that we will probably deal with (in uncertain order) include the wild rice controversy, and a possible field trip to Mille Lacs to observe spring gill-netting. Watch this page closely for changes in timing of events.

Week VI -- Effects of treaty harvest on Wisconsin walleye fisheries--G. Spangler from "Water Resources" paper.

Week VII -- Presentation/Discussion - Student-led discussion of Government Policy

Week VIII -- A brief history of Indian relations according to the Anishinaabeg.

Week IX -- Presentation/Discussion - Legal Issues: precedent, canons of construction; mid-term essay due.

Week X -- Student-led discussion of the Minnesota and Wisconsin "Trail of Tears," southeastern Indian tribe removal

Week XI -- Lessons in historical context: removal order, executive branch privilege and disputes with Supreme Court (Andrew Jackson, John Marshall, Zachary Taylor)

Week XII -- Native American guest speaker--Ojibwe use of native plants, subsistence traditions

Week XV -- Legal issues, student-led Presentation/Discussion--Outcomes of Wisconsin and Minnesota trials -- Be sure to check the "Legal Opinions" link on our class greeting page for a link to the Supreme Court decision in this case. Final essay due last day of class.

"The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota."

Treaty Rights and Natural Resources

ESPM 3001/5001