Summer Institute in American Indian Studies at the Newberry Library
June 23 - July 18, 2003
American Indian Political Activism Before World War II
Directed by Frederick E. Hoxie
Application Deadline: March 1, 2003

Is there an American Indian political tradition? This four-week summer institute-- designed for teachers in American Indian studies programs at universities, colleges, and tribal colleges--will explore that question by investigating Native American efforts to use the legal and political institutions of the United States to defend tribal interests and promote community sovereignty. Participants will read speeches and essays by American Indian political activists along with commentaries by historians, politicians, and lawyers. The group will focus successively on the removal era, the tumultuous years of late nineteenth century reform, the “progressive era,” and the 1930s—attempting in each instance to identify distinctive Native American voices and to evaluate their critique of the majority U.S. culture and its policies. Guest speakers engaged in these issues will supplement group discussions, field trips and lectures.

The Director: Frederick E. Hoxie is Swanlund Professor of History at the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign. He is the author of A Final Promise: The Campaign to Assimilate the Indians, 1880-1920 (1984) and Parading Through History: The Making of the Crow Nation in America, 1805-1935 (1995) and has edited a number of collections including The Encyclopedia of North American Indians (1996) and Talking Back to Civilization (2001). He is a co-author of the forthcoming The People: A History of Native America. A former director of the McNickle Center, Hoxie has also served as an expert witness and historical consultant for a number of tribes and educational organizations.

The Institute: Institute participants will meet several mornings per week for four weeks to discuss a common set of readings as well as other larger issues related to the teaching and scholarship of American Indian studies. The balance of the time will permit participants to work on independent research projects that can be primary research, curriculum development, and/or bibliography. Participants will present the results of their research to the group during the last week of the summer institute.

Eligibility: This summer institute is open to faculty who teach American Indian studies in colleges and universities in North America. Currently-enrolled, full-time graduate students are not eligible. Faculty at tribal colleges are especially encouraged to apply.

Fifteen participants chosen will receive $2,000 each for housing and per diem, and will be reimbursed up to $1,000 for economy travel expenses to and from the Newberry Library. Each will also receive a book and photocopying allowance.

The Newberry Library: Founded in 1887, The Newberry Library is an independent research library in the humanities, free and open to the public. Its collections concern the civilizations of Western Europe and the Americas from the late Middle Ages to the early twentieth century. The Newberry has two unequaled collections of print and non-print materials on the histories, cultures, and literatures of American Indian peoples. The Ayer collection, the largest in the library, is not only one of the best collections of general Americana in the United States but also one of the finest collections of American Indian material in the world. The smaller Graff collection of Western Americana focuses on the trans-Mississippi West in the nineteenth century.

Applications: Applications may be requested by mail, email, phone, or downloaded from our web site.

Applications are due March 1, 2003

The institute is sponsored by the Lannan Foundation, the Newberry Library, and the McNickle Center Visiting Committee.