I proposed my course “PHIL 2492: Indigenous Philosophy” in the fall of 2022, when I was hired for my current position at Northeastern University. I taught the course for the first time in the spring of 2024 and am teaching it again this fall. My current plan is to offer Indigenous Philosophy on a yearly basis with the hope of expanding the curriculum to include more courses on Indigenous philosophy in the future. The inspiration for the course was quite simple: I am Choctaw. There are less than twenty currently active Indigenous philosophers in the United States, and Indigenous philosophy is perhaps the least represented area in our discipline. Few departments offer courses on Indigenous philosophy—no university I have attended or taught at has offered such a course—and those that do often teach Native American religion, not philosophy, and often these courses are taught by non-Indigenous faculty. As a result, I felt a special obligation to my fellow Indigenous philosophy faculty and to my community more generally to step up to the plate, so to speak. That said, I would not have had the confidence to take this step were it not for four people who I am lucky to call friends: Shelbi Nahwilet Meissner (Luiseño & Cupeño), Joey Miller (Mvskoke), Janella Baxter (Choctaw Nation), and John Miller (Métis).
My primary goal in developing the course was to present Indigenous peoples as currently existing, rather than as artifacts of a pre-colonial world, and Indigenous philosophy as a dynamic tradition of thought that continues to grow and change in response to the present concerns of Indigenous peoples. In this way, studying Indigenous philosophy is not merely about capturing some “ancient, forgotten wisdom” but about engaging with an Indigenous present. Equally, I thought it was important to communicate the idea that Indigenous philosophy is land-based. Questions about how to live a good life, the nature of one’s obligations, or what it means to be in community with others proceed from an understanding of one as inextricably bound to a particular locality, and as being in relation to other beings with whom one shares space. To fulfill these goals, I made it so that the course readings were from exclusively contemporary sources. This is not to say that there is no value in approaching Indigenous philosophy from a historical perspective; it was just important for me that the students grapple with an Indigenous presence. I also constructed the activities and assignments with an eye to encouraging the students to see themselves in a localized way—as embroiled in settler colonial institutions but also in networks of care, the latter of which provides a ground for resistance, a source of joy, and a path toward happiness.
My favorite part of the course is the “Being Better Relatives” assignment. In this assignment, which takes place over a week, the students are first asked to reflect on what it means to be a good relative, in a general sense. From here, the students identify five relationships in their lives of varying proximity and nature. At least two of the relationships are to be with non-humans. Then, the students are asked to take one concrete action meant to benefit that relationship and reflect on the process of doing so. After five days, with each day being dedicated to a different relationship, the students then reflect on whether their conception of what it means to be a good relative changed all over the week. I also completed the assignment with the students, which was an opportunity for both community building and making good on my stated conviction that learning how to be a good relative is an important task.
In terms of what I would change about the course in the future: at present, it focuses almost exclusively on the Americas. I plan to include a greater variety of sources going forward. For instance, I will be incorporating more Māori thought into the syllabus. New Zealand provides a nice contrast case with the United States in thinking about different expressions of Indigenous sovereignty, and it is a reminder that Indigenous peoples continue to maintain a presence all over the world. In the other direction, I imagine future iterations of the course being more particularly focused on Indigenous thought in New England, to give voice to those peoples whose land Northeastern currently resides upon.
The Syllabus Showcase of the APA Blog is designed to share insights into the syllabi of philosophy educators. We include syllabi in their original, unedited format that showcase a wide variety of philosophy classes. We would love for you to be a part of this project. Please contact Series Editor, Cara S. Greene via cara.greene@coloradocollege.edu, or Editor of the Teaching Beat, Dr. Smrutipriya Pattnaik via smrutipriya23@gmail.com with potential submissions.
Getty L. Lustila
Getty L. Lustila is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. Getty specializes in early modern European philosophy and the history of ethics. He also works in contemporary Native American and Indigenous thought. Getty is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. You can read Getty’s publications here.
