When American Indian/Native American studies (AI/NAS) programs began to emerge in the halls of academia during the late 1960s and early 1970s, some who served as faculty and staff questioned whether they would be one-generation phenomena. Would the programs survive, would they continue to draw students, and could they make an impact on…

The academic field of Native American/American Indian studies (NAS/AIS) has been and largely remains a product of political forces at the national level and now at the tribal level. The very recognition of American Indians as a unique group by the U.S. government is a political statement of survival. In this article, the author revisits the…

Begun in 1994, the Native American Studies program at the University of Oklahoma is an interdisciplinary B.A. program with a liberal arts orientation and strong emphasis on contemporary American Indian policy. Program strengths include the number and diversity of the faculty involved, the four Native languages taught, connections to tribal…

A review of the history of American Indian studies in the college curriculum traces the political, demographic, academic, and social changes affecting American Indian roles. The recent revival of native American studies and the emergence of graduation requirements in ethnic studies are seen as both beneficial and risky. (MSE)

The first Native American studies programs, created in the rising political consciousness of the late 1960s and early 1970s, arose from a rejection of traditional curricula and challenged stereotypes of Indians and their history. During the 1980s, Native studies programs became vehicles to recruit and retain American Indian students, reflecting…