AIS/HSTAA 332, Winter 2010
American Indian History since 1840

TOWN MEETING INSTRUCTIONS

Instructions for First Town Meeting

The Nature of the Forum and the Issues

 

Imagine that the year is 1900. On February 4, the Indian Rights Association will host a public forum to air diverse perspectives on Indian boarding schools, which have proliferated in the United States during the past twenty years.

 

Panelists will address three issues: the wisdom or advisability of the schools' declared mission, whether the schools are accomplishing that mission, and whether and how the schools can be improved so as to serve appropriate purposes.

 

There will be four panels of speakers: a group of people who have been administrators in the Office of Indian Affairs or boarding school staff, a group of former Indian boarding school students, a group of Indian parents and community leaders, and a group of non-Indians who are critical of the schools.

 

After all the panels have presented their positions on the issues and responded briefly to each other's arguments, audience members will have an opportunity to question the speakers and comment on the positions presented.

 

Assignments

 

The names of people on each panel appear on the attached page. All other members of the class will be in the audience for this town meeting.

 

In class on Wednesday, February 3, panelists will meet in their respective groups to formulate their positions on the issues and plan their presentations, which should be seven minutes long, maximum. Each group should allow for a diversity of views within the group. Each group should also try to anticipate the arguments that other panels will make. Meanwhile, audience members will also meet in small groups (indicated on the attached sheet) where they should discuss what they are likely to hear from the four panels and consider possible questions to ask at the forum.

 

On the day of the forum, each panelist must submit a concise written argument reflecting the views that a person in his or her role would have had on the three issues above. That argument should not be longer than 500 words, and it must draw all supporting or illustrative information from Education for Extinction, citing pages where the information appears.

 

On the day of the forum, each member of the audience will submit four written questions -- one for each of the four panel groups. After each question, the writer must explain the reason for the question by referring to and citing material in Education for Extinction that prompted it.

 

 

OIA and boarding school staff:

 

Casey Anderson

Peter Beasley

Nathan Briley

Michael Chavez

 

Former boarding school students:

 

Mike Chen

Erin Corwine

Hollis Crapo

Elizabeth Dorshkind

 

Indian parents and community leaders:

 

Seth Gilliland

Chengcheng Hao

Andrew Gobin

Thomas Ing

 

White critics:

 

Miles Kizer

Makenna O'Meara

Serena Park

 


Audience Group 1:

 

Elliot Partin

Sasha Penn-Roco

Eric Peterson

Margaux Trappey

 

Audience Group 2:

 

Megan Rae

Maria Rapoza

Jenica Rhee

Kimberly Richardson

 

Audience Group 3:

 

Jennifer Pierson

Katie Ross

Punchet Sangnil

 

Audience Group 4:

 

Kanwar Singh

Melissa Strom Legoh

Isaiah Thomas

Molly Thompson


Instructions for Second Town Meeting

The Nature of the Forum and the Issues

 

The year is 1964. The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is about to hold its annual convention, and some delegates want the organization to take a position on the desirability of Indians' special relationship with the U.S. government. NCAI leaders have organized a forum where delegates can discuss the pros and cons of that historically defined relationship. The forum will take place Tuesday, February 23.

 

Forum planners have identified four common positions on the subject in controversy. Each position will be presented by a panel of three or four persons. After all the presentations, audience members will have an opportunity to comment and ask questions. The four positions are:

 

1.       History shows that we cannot trust the federal government to act in Indians' interest.

 

2.       History shows that we cannot protect Indian interests without federal government help.

 

3.       NCAI should be working above all to free Indians from the oppressive "colonial" oversight of the federal government.

 

3.       NCAI should be working above all to ensure that the federal government will honor its special responsibility to Indians.

 

Assignments

 

The names of people on each panel appear at the end of these instructions under numbers that correspond to the positions stated above. Audience members are also assigned to small discussion groups.

 

In class on Monday, February 22, panelists will meet in their respective groups to plan their presentations, which should be seven minutes long, maximum. Each group should also anticipate arguments that other panels will make and prepare to comment on those arguments. Meanwhile, audience members will also meet in their small groups, where they will discuss what they are likely to hear from each of the four panels and consider possible questions or arguments to raise at the forum.

 

On the day of the forum, each panelist must submit a concise written argument for the position assigned to his or her group--an argument that a well-informed Indian would likely make in support of that position as of early 1964. This argument should not be longer than 500 words.

 

The writer must draw supporting or illustrative information from readings and lectures in the course. All material since week 3 may be relevant, as well as Blood Struggle (through Chapter 5 only) and other readings through week 8.

 


On the day of the forum, each member of the audience will submit four written questions--one for each of the four panel groups. The writer must indicate the reason for each question by referring explicitly to material in readings and lectures that prompted the question. Lectures and readings from week 3 through week 8 (Blood Struggle through Chapter 5 only) should be considered.

 

 

Position # 1:                                                                

 

Elliot Partin                                                            

Sasha Penn-Roco                                                   

Eric Peterson                                                         

Margaux Trappey                                                   

 

Position # 2:                                                                

 

Megan Rae   

Maria Rapoza

Jenica Rhee

Kimberly Richardson

 

Position # 3:

 

Jennifer Pierson

Katie Ross

Punchet Sangnil

 

Position # 4:

 

Kanwar Singh

Melissa Strom Legoh

Isaiah Thomas

Molly Thompson

 


Audience Group 1:

 

Casey Anderson

Peter Beasley

Nathan Briley

Michael Chavez

 

Audience Group 2:

 

Mike Chen

Erin Corwine

Hollis Crapo

Elisabeth Dorshkind

 

Audience Group 3:

                                                         

Seth Gilliland

Chengcheng Hao

Andrew Gobin

Thomas Ing

 

Audience Group 4:

 

Miles Kizer

Makenna O'Meara

Serena Park

 

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Last modified: 2/11/2010 9:01 AM