Course Description

In this lecture, we will survey the historical background and current policies of indigenous issues in the Pacific Rim.
What comes to your mind when you hear the word ‘indigenous peoples’? Peoples who are separated from modern civilization, living together with nature? Indigenous peoples are ordinary Americans, Canadians, Australians, Japanese etc. What distinguishes them from others are the historical relations between their ancestors and nation states. They are descendants of peoples whose homeland became settler colonies of Western empires, or predecessors of current governments. We will find many similarities as well as diversities of indigenous issues of the region.