In working on the sample questions, you are encouraged to make use of all the material presented during the quarter (lectures, readings, guests, films, visual materials, and discussion) when you think about the questions and your answers..

Part I:  Thinking about the exam questions:

The questions will be divided into two groups.  Each group will ask you to consider the history of Native Americans in a different way.  As a general guideline, it is important to have specific examples that you can describe in some depth and can integrate into your answer to the question.  Indicating that you know something in passing is not the same as explaining how your example helps to validate your argument.

Group A questions will ask you to discuss one of the themes presented in the second half of the course within its historical context.  These “themes” are generally expressed by the headings of the weekly reading assignments on the syllabus (the titles of the lectures).

Group A Sample Questions  (1 on the final from at least 2 choices):

• Describe the historical basis for Native American tribal sovereignty, its relationship to the Federal Government and the Constitution, and some of the implications of this relationship for contemporary expressions of Indian self-determination?
  
• Discuss the rise of Indian gaming in California and elsewhere in Indian Country in relation to the historical context of economic choices for development on reservations.
  
• How has the history of Indian gaming altered the constitutional relationship between tribal, federal, and state governments and the exercise of tribal sovereignty?
  
• What have the recent campaigns over Propositions 68 and 72 revealed about Californian attitudes towards California Indian tribes in 2004 and when these attitudes are viewed historically?
  
• How does the history of Indian Education and writings about Indians affect the nature of Native attitudes towards who should teach and write about Indians?
  
• Discuss the historical processes that created the issues that NAGPRA has sought to address.
  
• Describe 3 examples of historical events that have led to contemporary Indian expressions of cultural sovereignty.
  
• What does the Anishinabe (Ojibwe, or Chippewa) Midewiwin ceremony show us about the power of Indigenous ways of understanding history?

Group B questions will ask you to discuss and analyze aspects of these themes in some depth and may also involve comparing and contrasting between them. 

Group B Sample Questions  (1 on the final from at least 2 choices):

• In what ways are  the rise of gaming and the rise of tribal sovereignty in California linked?
  
• Discuss the different aspects of tribal sovereignty that emerge from: 1) Indian gaming; 2) the concerns of Indian scholars (such as Champagne, Swisher, Fixico, Deloria, Gross);  and 3) the issue of repatriation under NAGPRA.
  
• Discuss the economic choices and considerations that tribes face according to Cornell and Kalt in relation to Darian-Smith’s arguments that gaming represents the only viable option for tribal economic development.
  
• Using three examples of repatriation cases or projects, illustrate the promise and problems with the NAGPRA process.
  
• How do non-Indians gain from the commoditization of Indian religions, identities, and objects?  Your analysis should go beyond profit.
  
• Compare and contrast the cultural production of tribal identity at Mashintucket (Uriarte) and the two Kwakwaka’wakw Museums on Vancouver Island (Mauze).
  
• How do Indigenous forms of knowledge challenge or alter non-Indian ways of historical thinking.

Part II:  Identifications  (2 components — definition & significance): 

There will be 5 terms to identify out of at least 10 choices.  The terms will be drawn from the terms on the lecture outlines, as well as significant terms from the readings, guest speaker, class presentations, and films. As in the midterm exam, make sure that you provide a simple definition of the term  as well as a short explanation of its significance in terms of the themes we have studied as a part of the history of Native Americans in the US.