This course presents an "institutional" approach to Native American (specifically Lakota) society from pre-European contact to the present. It explores Lakota social institutions (political, economic, family, religious, and educational systems) prior to European contact, and examines the impact of non-Indian structures on the historical development of Lakota social institutions. This course fulfills the State of South Dakota's teacher certification requirement.

This course presents an historical analysis of Lakota/Dakota history from pre-European contact to the present. Examining the political, economic, familial, gender, and educational transformations of the Lakota/Dakota over the course of three centuries, students learn to identify both the continuities and discontinuities with Siouan culture. Such an examination introduces students to a group of people whose culture, and some would say priorities, sit outside that of the majority culture.