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Student Learning Goals & Objectives
Student Learning Goals & Objectives
Recognize that to be Mexican is to also have indigenous roots.
Identify the intrinsic connections between Mexican American Studies and indigenous/native people and their struggles for true autonomy.
Understand the foundational texts as they relate to Mexican American Studies and Indigenous struggles for the repatriation of ancestral remains.
Cultivate ethnic sensitivity and elevate cultural awareness and empathy.
Foundational Texts
Foundational Texts
Essay - Mechica: Indigenous Origin of the Chicano Hybrid Identity (by Rolando J. Diaz Southeastern Oklahoma State University )
Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (by Gloria Anzaldúa)
Exterminate All The Brutes - Raoul Peck, HBO Max
Ancient Indigenous Human Remains and the Law (by Fiona Batt)
Repatriation Reader: Who Owns American Indian Remains? Paperback (by Devon A. Mihesuah)
Study Questions
Study Questions
Use the foundational texts to help guide your thought process as you answer these study questions:
What does Mexican-American Studies have in common with the struggle to repatriate indigenous remains?
How has European colonization changed the Mexican and American landscape, both culturally and geographically?
Why are ancestral remains a problem in the first place?
How does the pattern of abuses inflicted on indigenous people in the past play a role in how we treat people of color today?
What do the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, The Monroe Doctrine, and Manifest Destiny all have in common?
What is NAGPRA and why is it important?
Can you identify any Mexican-American or indigenous civil/human rights violations?
Reflective Journal Prompts
Reflective Journal Prompts
Consider the following and how they may apply to your prior learning or experience:
Have you ever been dealt injustice? How did it make you feel?
Do you have any cultural ties to a marginalized group?
Why is it so difficult for marginalized groups to achieve true autonomy? What will it take for marginalized groups to achieve autonomy? Think like a problem-solver.
If you had the authority to hold or release indigenous remains, what would you do? Justify your answer.
End-of-Cycle Project
End-of-Cycle Project
Complete both:
Write a mock proposal or petition as to why indigenous remains should be held or released from custody. This proposal/petition should be addressed as if it will be read to a committee, panel, or board. Think as if you have the opportunity to affect real legislative and policy change here.
500 word final research essay about an indigenous group who is currently fighting to reclaim their ancestral remains OR land. Identify the indigenous group and how they are fighting to reclaim ancestral remains or land.
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