Grand Coulee Dam: The Intersection of Modernity and Indigenous Cultures

FAIN: BH-250789-16

Eastern Washington University (Cheney, WA 99004-1619)
Dorothy Zeisler-Vralsted (Project Director: February 2016 to May 2018)

Two one-week workshops for seventy-two schoolteachers on the construction and impact of the Grand Coulee Dam.

Eastern Washington University, in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair of Environmental History, the Colville Tribal Museum, the Kettle Falls Historical Center, and the Grand Coulee Dam Visitor's Center, is proposing two one-week workshops for teachers of grades 6-12. The workshops, "The Grand Coulee Dam: The Intersection of Modernity and Indigenous Cultures," offer a close examination of modernization and its impact upon the indigenous peoples in the first half of the 20th Century. This examination will be accomplished through a case study of the construction of Grand Coulee Dam and its subsequent effects upon eastern Washington tribes. Building upon the case study will be examples of modernization in the global context offering content in several disciplines. The project will be directed by Dr. Dorothy Zeisler-Vralsted, EWU Professor of Government, and Dr. David Pietz, UNESCO Chair, who are responsible for recruitment, selection, and workshop logistics and curriculum.

Associated Products

The Mythology of Place (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: The Mythology of Place
Author: Jennifer Moriarty
Abstract: The instructor, Ms. Moriarty, has students prepare a research paper or video game that addresses the following: Students choose a place they feel connected to (their home, a place with family history, a place they want to visit, etc). Students research the mythology and stories of that place Students discuss how to implement myth in a culturally respectful and accurate way Contact cultural expert (i.e. tribal leader, author, museum staff, etc) Class group discussion of ramifications Students compose a paper outlining the myth, its history, and the outcomes of discussion Students create a game design document and/or a game bringing the myth to life The goal of the exercise is to determine how video games can be used to preserve the stories of a place, and educate and inform others about the stories and myths of the cultures of that place?
Year: 2017
Primary URL: http:/https://docs.google.com/document/d/12HgBx1LNOR6YGiLPZ_tm7_zNIAl7G1u1yHx02D82IlE/edit
Audience: K - 12

MODERNIZATION AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES—COMPETING NARRATIVES OF DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: MODERNIZATION AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES—COMPETING NARRATIVES OF DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
Author: Vandana Asthana, Dorothy Zeisler-Vralsted
Abstract: Modernization has played an important role in the evolution of man and big dams have been a symbol of modernity in developing as well as developed countries. On the one hand, they represent clean energy and economic development for the society they have also been critiqued for being the center of many political, indigenous, cultural and social conflicts. These conflicts emerge from competing interests, perception of benefits and strategies. Across the globe there are striking similarities and remarkable disparities between various dam projects. This course will focus particularly on the competing narratives of modernization and transformation within the context of a historical, policy and cultural studies approach that will help us understand the symbolic and material role the dams play in our lives as well as the interactions of dam proponents and counter proponents especially the indigenous societies across the globe whose human rights and social justice issues are at stake in these conflicts. The course explores the practices and politics of large-scale dam projects and the conflicting values, visons and relations of power that are related to them. Particularly, the course focuses on the discourses of modernity and its impact on indigenous cultures, environmental and social justice issues and water right of the tribes in the United States with special reference to the Grand Coulee Dam and across many developing societies.
Year: 2020
Audience: Undergraduate

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