I got to do a lecture on "Teaching Native American Literature" and actually taught Native American Literature this quarter...

It went well. Myself, I really like Native American Literature (big fan). It's some good reading first of all, and second of all, it's just a great way to get people talking about Native peoples. 

This quarter I was teaching Introduction to Native American Literature. We talked a lot about de-colonization, history, Federal Indian policy and Indian humor. And by the end of the quarter my students were actually laughing at my jokes, even the Star Wars ones! 

At the end of the quarter I traveled up to Northern California to do a lecture on "What is Native American Literature and How do we teach it?" 

Very carefully. Ba dum dum. 

In reality, for me, the basic concepts of Native American literature are pretty "simple" (ahem, is anything with Native peoples ever simple? How many times do I find myself saying "well that's a good question, and the answer is... complicated.") - but here goes. 

Cutcha's basic concepts of Native American Literature: 

Oral History
Setting/ Place/ Time/ Regionalism 
Humor
De-colonization
Sovereignty

And of course "here we are - we're still here - Indians are still alive - Indians are doing things - Indians are at the Red Lobster... well Indians are probably at the Cheesecake Factory, cause we got Casinos and are ROLLING in it!)*

*Disclaimer for those who haven't taken my class... not every Indian has a casino, and those Indians who do have a casino not every one of them makes any money at all. Lots of Indians are still just as poor as you, or even poorer.  There is a great diversity in Indian country - and this includes those who are rolling in the casino dough. I am not one of the casino dough Indians myself, though I am always open to being adopted by one.