Anthropology 209 
Dr. Judkins
Fall 2012
SUNY Geneseo

 

 

IROQUOIS CULTURE AND SOCIETY

 

This course involves study of the social organization and world-view of the various Northern Iroquoian groups, with special emphasis on the Seneca-Iroquois of western New York State during the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries.  Particular attention is paid to the position of Iroquois culture in the Northeastern Woodlands, as well as to its adaptability and persistence.  The cultural vitality and contributions of the Iroquois people are central themes.  Special attention is given to world-view, knowledge and intellectual accomplishments of the Iroquois people.

 

 

TEXTS:

Jesse Cornplanter [Seneca], Legends of the Longhouse

Russell A. Judkins (ed.), Morgan’s League of the Iroquois [Morgan & ES Parker - Seneca]

James Seaver, A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison [adopted Seneca]

Annemarie Shimony, Conservatism Among the Iroquois at the Six Nations 

Anthony F. C. Wallace, Death and Rebirth of the Seneca

 

 

REQUIREMENTS:

 

*Midterm + Final Exam: each = 50% of the Final Grade; essay format

*A substantial project or paper may be submitted in place of one of the exams.  All such

papers /projects must be approved by the instructor before Mid-semester and

each: (1) must be presented in class, as well as (2) be submitted in written, poster

PowerPoint, video, or other appropriate form during the final week of class.

 

 

OFFICE HOURS AND CONSULTATION:

 

Sturges 15

Tues & Thurs: 11:30-1:00; Wed: 11:12:30 (by appt. only on Wed.)

Phone: 245-5433

e-mail: judkins@geneseo.edu

 

LIBRARY RESEARCH NOTE:

 

Milne Library has a very useful Iroquois collection, housed in the Genesee Valley

Room, access to which is gained through the Reference Desk.  Interlibrary loan

requests must be made well ahead of deadline needs; plan accordingly. 

 

 

 

FINAL EXAM DATE: Tuesday, December 18, Noon-3:00 PM

COURSE OUTLINE

 

 

Weeks 1 & 2 (Aug 28-Sept 6)

 

1. History, the Media and Popular Culture: Placing the Iroquois within Western Frames-of-Reference

 

Historical Images: Indian Captives literature; “Savagery” in literature

Current Issues and Controversies: media images of the Iroquois; gaming;

tax-free gas & cigarettes; relations with New York State

 

READINGS: Seaver, A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison

VIDEO: POV Series: The Salamanca Lease (Seneca)

 

 

Weeks 3 - 5 (Sept 11-27)

 

2. Myth-Truth Cycles: Placing the Iroquois in Native American Frames-of-Reference

Iroquois Myth Cycles

- anthropological concepts: Culture vs. Society

- myth, ritual & symbol:

meaning and experience in Iroquois life and universe

- myth & folklore as cultural guides; myth as cultural truth

- A.C. Parker’s “Axiomatic Iroquoian Cultural Themes”

- essential pattern and summary of the Iroquois grand myth cycle

 

Iroquois Creation and Cosmological Myths

- Seneca Creation Myth: “The Myth of the Earth-Grasper”

- Bare Hill and the myths of autochthonous origin

READINGS: Cornplanter, Legends of the Longhouse

 

        

Weeks 6 - 8 (Oct 2-18)

 

3. Fundamental/Traditional Patterns of Iroquois Social Structure and Organization

 

Confederacy - Peacemanker -Deganiweda Myth

 

Horticultural Systems: fundamental logic, pattern, and organization

Kinship, Lineage, and Descent: rules, structures and organizational systems

Moiety Organization and Social Solidarity

Political Processes: pervasiveness of factionalism and alliance processes

Origins and Prevalence of Confederacies in the Northeast

Nature of Confederacy of the Five Nations Iroquois

Structure: change and continuity/adaptation and process

Function: change and continuity/adaptation and process

READINGS: Judkins, Morgan’s League of the Iroquois.  (Intro - Book II)

VIDEO: “The Longhouse People” National Film Board of Canada

 

Week 9 (Oct 23, 25)

 

 

4. Morgan, Ethnography, Material Culture, and Maps

 

Morgan - Parker and the invention of ethnography

Morgan and the invention of Material Culture studies: Iroquois collections

Mapping Iroquoia - New York State

READINGS: Judkins, Morgan’s League of the Iroquois.  (Book III & map)

           Elisabeth Tooker (handout)

 

 

Midterm Exam: Tuesday, October 30

 

 

Weeks 10 & 11 (10/30-11/8)

 

5. Handsome Lake Myth and Revitalization: Cultural Renewal and Social Transformation

 

Iroquois League or Confederacy in the American Revolution

Revitalization Movements: social and cultural adaptation

Handsome Lake and the Longhouse Religion

Religious myth, ritual & symbols and cultural renewal

- Persistence of axiomatic Iroquois cultural themes, images,

knowledge, realities and interpretations of reality

“Explanation” by non-Iroquois: AFC Wallace and the problem of

             “explaining” the Iroquois world by “explaining it away”

Seneca communities of the Genesee Valley 1750 - 1825

 

READINGS: Frank Speck, Midwinter Rites of the Cayuga Longhouse

VIDEO: “Oren Lyons the Faithkeeper” (PBS)

 

Weeks 12-14 (Nov 13 - 29)

 

6. Myths --–> Prophecies of Final Times, Final Renewals & Restorations: Completion of the Cycle

 

 

READINGS: Williams, Big Medicine from Six Nations

“Shining Serpents” literature + “Myth of the Earth Grasper” (handouts)