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Course begins February 17, 2026
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Live weekly sessions with the instructor from 3:30 to 5:00pm Eastern U.S. time.
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All sessions are recorded so you can watch them at your convenience.
Session 1
Introduction to the Field, Origins, and Migrations
We start by looking at the history of the field of Native American history and examine changing methodologies and paradigms that have shaped the discipline. We discuss challenges in historical reconstruction, sources used, as well as some leading figures today. Then we look at the different theories regarding the origins of humans in the Western Hemisphere.
Session 2
Farmers and Cities Part 1: Mesoamerica and the Southwestern U.S.
This week we look at the beginning of agriculture and examine urban civilizations in Mesoamerica, such as the Olmecs, Tenochtitlán, the Mayans, and the Toltecs. We look at how techniques and customs spread north and influenced the rise of urban farming civilizations in the Southwestern U.S., i.e. the Huhugam and the Ancestral Pueblo.
Session 3
Farmers and Cities Part 2: The Mississippian Culture and the Southeast
This session examines the mound-building societies to the east, and how ideas from Mexico influenced the “Mississippian Culture” in the Mississippi River valley. We also study the emergence of North America’s first true megacity, Cahokia, and other cities that formed in its wake, such as Moundville in Alabama.
Kumukwamł (Chief of the undersea mask), c. 1900 by Xi'xa'niyus (Bob Harris, Kwakwaka'wakw, c. 1870-1935).
Session 4
Subsistence and Diplomacy in the Eastern Woodlands and Great Lakes
This week we look at the diverse societies in the Eastern Woodlands, Atlantic seaboard, and Great Lakes region. Mixing various forms of subsistence, groups like the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), the
Wendats (Huron), and the Anishanaabe (Ojibwe) formed confederacies, traded and competed with each other, and developed sophisticated forms of diplomacy to navigate both trade and war.
Session 5
Hunters and Gatherers in the Great Plains and the Pacific Northwest
First we look at the pre-horse peoples of the Great Plains region, and their subsistence patterns and migrations. Then we move to the peoples of the
Pacific Northwest, sometimes called “Complex Hunter-Gatherers,” as their societies not only defied general stereotypes of hunter-gatherers, but displayed features that are usually associated with settled agricultural societies.
Session 6
The Eve of Contact
Our final session examines America before the onslaught of European colonization beginning in the late 15th century. First, we study the fall of cities in North America, and see how centralized urban societies were replaced by decentralized, more egalitarian ones. Then we look at the rise of large, powerful centralized empires in Mexico and Peru: the Aztecs and Incas.
Meet Your Instructor
Charlie Presti
Charlie Presti is an adjunct history instructor at Portland Community College in Portland, Oregon. He earned his B.A in History from the University of Wisconsin Madison, and his M.A. in History from the University of Montana in Missoula. He wrote his Masters Thesis on the historical relationship between the Blackfeet Nation and Glacier National Park, which allowed him the privilege to interview tribal members on the Blackfeet Reservation. In 2010, he was awarded a grant by the NEH for a traveling institute entitled “Native Cultures of the Pacific Northwest,” and spent a month studying with Native scholars, politicians, activists, and artists in numerous locations in Southeast Alaska and British Columbia. He presented his resulting paper, “Subsistence and Tradition in Tlingit Country,” at several academic conferences. In addition to Native American history, he regularly teaches a wide range of subjects in various modalities.
NOTE:
This course is not accredited by Charlie Presti’s employer, Portland Community College. It is for personal educational purposes only and does not result in any qualification.