Living & Arts

Student offers course on native California tribes

In print | March 19, 2009

A student-taught addition to the sociology and anthropology department’s curriculum, “Native California: The Wind in a Jar,” has brought a new perspective to Swarthmore. Started by Crystal Richardson ’09, the class is part of her effort to start a discussion about the issues facing native Californians. The course works in sections, first discussing the history and traditions of Northwestern tribes, then moving on to how these traditions affected the arrival of settlers, and finally learning about the modern-day native Californian experience. The class meets once a week for two hours, usually beginning with a film and spending the rest of the time with a discussion of readings.

“I have previous teaching experience. I taught high school before undergraduate work, for a semester doing two courses,” said Richardson. “So I’m pretty familiar. I’ve been teaching basically since fourth grade. It’s something that I’m used to.” Richardson runs her class, which is largely made up of auditing students, through open-ended discussions, which are designed to get students thinking about the issues presented. She does not dismiss questions from her students – they are lobbied back and forth, resulting in a pleasant, yet intense, classroom dynamic. At one point, Richardson joked that the extent to which many people pursue studies of Native Americans is to “buy a copy of ‘Wounded Knee,’ put it on [their] shelf, and maybe go out and get some Native American poetry.”

Over a half-full jug of apple cider and a small package of blackberries, Richardson speaks, often using her hands, of the modern native’s experience in California, and in so doing weaves her personal knowledge into the texts. “I have an extensive working knowledge of Native California; it’s something that I could talk about forever,” Richardson said. “This is a piece of my history.” Richardson also referenced several eminent scholars and leaders in the field, some of whom she has done work with. Assigned readings often segue into stories and personal thoughts, giving Crystal’s students a wealth of anecdotal evidence from an insider’s point of view.

For the students, having a teacher who knows firsthand what the material is saying is invaluable. “Crystal is great … she’s very open and honest and has a lot of personal experience to share,” said Zein Nakhoda ’12, one of the students in the class.

“I thought I was going to have to cut the course short, because with only two students that’s a lot of weight for discussion for each person,” said Richardson. “But we’ve actually been going five to fifteen minutes over every class period.” She also commented on her freedom to tailor the class material to fit the interests of the students, calling the experience “unique.”

The course is unusual in another way. Until now, as Richardson pointed out, there have been few courses of this nature at Swarthmore, with the exception of the Structure of Navajo course offered by the linguistics department. “Previously there was virtually no indigenous course material, no course of study, at Swarthmore. And this semester, not only do they have my course, but they also have the Lenape language course and the Navajo language course in linguistics. And so there are whole bunch of things that are happening, which is a first for Swarthmore,” Richardson said.

Apart from the course and the usual rigors of Swarthmore life, Richardson’s work includes organizing the upcoming Indigenous Women’s Conference, which will take place March 26-28. The conference’s focus is to “address race, place, culture, and continuity for California natives,” and it will feature ten prominent female native Californian activists. “It’s quite a time commitment, considering I have the double-thesis and the conference going on, and the course, and then … life,” said Richardson, going on quickly to add, “The students in the course are … really understanding the course material and they’re highly interested, so even though it’s just a couple students, I think it’s a completely worthwhile time endeavor.”

Nakhoda’s enthusiasm for the course’s material is clear. “The most valuable lesson has been becoming aware of the extent of ignorance and misconception around many Native American issues, such as history, the native world view, and especially current struggles,” he said. “Much of the Native American dialogue is thought to be an artifact of history, rather than addressing current legal and cultural issues.”

That Swarthmore is expanding its academic horizons to include this important area of study is something of which to take note. This newfound interest in Native American studies marks the beginning of what will hopefully be a very positive trend in the courses available to the Swarthmore student body.