Taught By:
Phillip Mendenhall
Teaching Fellow/Cultural Resources Fellow
Department of Anthropology
University of Pittsburgh
Read profile here.
Motivation to Teach Social Action:
This workshop offers an opportunity to employ direct action related to indigenous legal proceedings and community projects with six Tribal Nations in Virginia. In addition to coursework, I work as a Cultural Resource Fellow for Cultural Heritage Partners, PLLC, which takes direct action in legal land, water rights, and cultural resource protection. Recent action that has received little attention includes the Rassawek and the James River Water Authority to halt a water pipeline across sacred spaces, the Nansemond Indian Nation’s Great Dismal Swamp National Heritage Area Act, and the Indigenous Conservation Council (ICC). Successful Indigenous social action is frequent and ongoing, but it needs a larger audience to expedite years-long projects. Courses focused on direct social action have not been offered to our student body in the Anthropology Department at the University of Pittsburgh.
Course Description:
This course will review previous and existing case studies involving indigenous action events regarding land tenure, culture resource extraction, and tribal sovereignty. Cited examples will focus on the recent federal tribal recognition status of six Virginia-based tribal Nations. Ongoing social actions in this region will be integrated in the second half of the course with the intent to implement viable workshopped projects. Additional regional indigenous action case studies will be evaluated and offered as social action projects upon student area interest.
