This seminar class will address the American Indians' tribal
understandings and view points on gender and sexuality identities,
cultural obligations, duties and roles.  At the beginning of the
semester, the creation stories (or tribal folklores) of a couple of
tribes will be used to explore the Native cultural constructions of
human beings, maleness, femaleness, hermaphroditism, boy, girl,
woman and man's identities.  The English-language based gender terms
such as “man” and “woman” will be clarified and explicitly
dichotomized from sex, sexual and sexuality, for a better
understanding of the differences between Native gender and
sexuality.  Native narrative readings will be one of the topical
discussions within the seminar.  Multiple tribal rites of passages
of different personhood (boy, man, girl, woman, and so forth) will
be elucidated.  Western (European-American) concepts of
heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality and "tri-sexuality" will
be covered using both Western and Indigenous theories.  Toward the
end of the semester, the class will address the changed American
Indian gender roles of man, woman and "other" due to the ever-
present acculturation and assimilation of indigenous cultures.