Introduction

Hi I’m Adin Simon. I am a first year student. I have a passion for history, anthropology, and archaeology. Unfortunately, I have a very limited range of historical knowledge. While I know a fair bit about certain eras and places in history– my knowledge of Indigenous history (among other fields of historical study) is lacking. I look forward to expanding my range of knowledge by exploring the long and complex topic that is Indigenous history. My experience hitherto with Indigenous history in the public schools was essentially non-existent. However, I worked at the Evanston Mitchell Museum of the American Indian and worked to preserve Indigenous artifacts at my town’s Historical Society. Furthermore, I have conducted ‘research’ (if you can call it that at our age) on a few Indigenous historical figures such as Metacomet of Pokanoket of the Wampanoag people and Charles Curtis of the Kaw Nation. 

In this class I hope to go into detail on the nuance and complexity of people in history. Often Indigenous groups are written off as homogenous while other groups like Europeans are not. But, of course, the Indigenous story has as many sides as there are people who lived through it. I also hope to use this class to question preconceived notions. Flag waving may have its place, but to truly be a good citizen one must understand the evils of America, especially when related to the systemic murder and mistreatment of those who lived in America before Columbus. I hope to learn, more specially, about historical figures like Hannah Duston, Sequoyah, Sacagewea, and more. I also hope to learn more about the Dakota War. Finally, I hope to learn about the change in historiographical beliefs on Indigenous history.