Grendel and Indigenous Readings
By Sarah Barringer
This four-day lesson plan, inspired by a lesson plan by Erik Wade, draws together Beowulf, the Dakota Access Pipeline Protest, the movie Outlander, and Jeffery Jerome Cohen’s ‘Seven Theses’ to discuss monstrosity in Beowulf. Cohen’s theses argue that monsters are a metaphor for cultural fears, especially fears about minority groups. This gives students the opportunity to discuss complex metaphors and how the idea of monstrosity is weaponized against racial and gendered minorities. Specifically, the lesson plan asks students to consider how Grendel and his relationship with the land is sympathetic toward the modern day experiences of Indigenous Peoples in the United States. Beowulf has a long history with colonization and white nation building, and scholars like Adam Miyashiro and Colette Calegari look toward Grendel and decolonial theory to explore alternate interpretations, considering how the category of ‘non-human’ is applied to Indigenous Peoples, as to Grendel, in order to justify the theft of their land and sovereignty. This four-day lesson plan, designed based on experiences in a general education classroom for non-majors, draws together fiction and current events to express the significance of storytelling and the timelessness of medieval literature.
In Maxwell Gray’s essay ‘Beowulf in Teejop,’ Gray tells the story of Stephen Haskins Carpenter, who in the late 1870s finished the first American translation of Beowulf at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which was built on sacred burial ground stolen from the Ho-Chunk people. Gray notes that Carpenter’s description of Beowulf’s burial mound, a ‘mound on a hill,’ is reminiscent of the burial mounds destroyed during Wisconsin’s colonization. He cautions against making too much of this but nonetheless notes how it allows us to ‘begin to analyze and retrace the landscape of attachments sketched here among the poem and white ‘Anglo-Saxon’ settler colonialism and related white settler research.’ In my classroom, I ask my students to do just this.
Beowulf—and medieval studies more broadly—has a long history with colonization and white nation building. Tarren Andrews provides a history of the intersection of medieval studies and Indigenous studies, noting the need to ‘defang a medievalism that sees the Middle Ages as cultural capital from an epoch of superior whiteness’ (5). I have already discussed elsewhere a pedagogical approach to Beowulf’s ties to white nationalism. Here, I ask students to turn toward Grendel’s perspective in order to consider marginalized perspectives, specifically those of Indigenous Peoples.
It seems to be the case in Beowulf that Grendel and his mother predate the building of Heorot, but Beowulf avoids this implication, just as many colonizers implied the Americas were uninhabited when they arrived. Adam Miyashiro compares Grendel with Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island who were simultaneously Othered and folded into US law. As such, in Beowulf ‘sovereign violence on marginal, monstrous bodies whose political life is rendered indeterminate’ consolidates and justify Hrothgar’s lineage and use of the land, even though the Grendelkin lived in that space first. Colette Calegari notes that, like Grendel, Indigenous Peoples have historically been labeled ‘non-human,’ so ‘colonial powers could better justify their claims to land and resources in the New World––after all, non-human animals cannot own land or govern people.’ The result is the ‘extraction of both human and material resources from the surrounding tribes.’ Similarly, Beowulf affords Grendel no sovereignty over the land or surrounding areas.
Grendel, therefore, presents opportunities to consider alternative approaches to land and ownership. Helen Young pushes back against the myth of terra nullius (nobody’s land) by tracing comparisons between medieval law and a modern Australian land sovereignty case by the Meriam people. Gregory Younging provides a useful counterpoint to the Western idea of ownership, writing, ‘Indigenous Peoples think of Creation as something that includes and sustains all living things. People are part of it and responsible for caring for it. The question of “who owns it” has no context.’
It is important in these discussions to neither imply that Indigenous Peoples are ‘medieval’ nor simply victims. Connection with the medieval implies, as Young argues, that Indigenous Peoples are uncivilized, primitive, and static. Brenna Duperron and Elizabeth Edwards in their discussion of gift culture, note how Western medieval ideas were superimposed onto Indigenous Peoples in a way that ignored their cultural traditions and implied Western culture is the standard all other cultures are measured against. Further, Calegari notes that Grendel’s ‘identity as other-than-colonizer exists solely in the context of their victimization by and conflict with colonial forces,’ and as such these lesson plans push back against the idea that Grendel is without history or culture. The purpose of these lesson plans is not to suggest that the themes in Beowulf can be transferred wholesale onto an Indigenous experience, that Indigenous Peoples should be relegated to the past, nor that Indigenous Peoples can indeed be defined by the rhetoric of colonizers. Instead, the purpose is to push back against these ideas and to emphasize that it is valuable to pluck out similarities in order to identify a specific reading that still resonates today.
The lesson plan I offer builds toward a discussion of indigeneity in Beowulf, but also speaks more broadly about Grendel as an ‘othered’ identity. It is meant as an introduction to Indigenous studies, rather than a deep-dive. Inspired by Erik Wade’s lesson plan, which draws together Beowulf, the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the movie Outlander, I add three of Jeffery Jerome Cohen’s ‘Seven Theses’ to discuss monstrosity. I teach these lesson plans in general education courses to undergraduate non-majors, alongside a series of lesson plans on ‘othered’ identities. For more advanced English classes, the material could be condensed, trimmed, or supplemented. For example, I use a summary of Cohen’s ‘Seven Theses,’ while an English class for majors could easily use the original essay. These are 50-minute lesson plans, designed to be taught over the course of one or two weeks, but I also provide Further Reading for those who wish to supplement these lesson plans or discuss the Dakota Access Pipeline Protest in more detail.
Broadly, Cohen’s theses help students explore complex metaphors and how the idea of monstrosity is weaponized against racial and gendered in general and Indigenous Peoples in specific. I find the discussion of Indigenous Peoples helpful for two reasons. First, Grendel’s relationship with sovereignty, violence, and the land speaks to the Indigenous experience of dominant cultures justifying violent removal of land and sovereignty with rhetoric of primitiveness, savageness, and inferior race. These ideas are present especially in the portrayal of Grendel’s land as uninhabitable swampland, Grendel as unjustifiably violent, Grendel’s lack of a culture, and Grendel’s very limited backstory as the descendant of Cain. Second, my students are primarily white —70% of students at the University of Iowa identify as white—with limited exposure discussions of indigeneity and the experience of living under settler colonialism, and these discussions illuminate how dominant cultures justify violence against minorities.
Day 1: Monsters as Metaphors
Homework: Homework can include Beowulf lines 1-299. I use Maria Dahvana Headley’s translation because the language is accessible to many students, but Headley’s translation has been criticized for how it engages with racial politics.
Purpose: Today’s class introduces Cohen’s first thesis. The first thesis teaches students that monsters are metaphors and that those metaphors represent common cultural fears. This thesis gets students to start thinking about what monsters represent and what larger societal contexts influence how monsters are created. The class defines key terms and gives students several opportunities to understand and contextualize the thesis in the modern day.
Define ‘Monster’ (10 minutes)
Instructions:
On your own, spend 5 minutes reflecting on and responding to these questions:
What are you afraid of? What scares you?
What aspects of everyday life stress you out or make you anxious?
What aspects of society scare you, stress you out, or make you anxious?
What’s the most scared you’ve ever been?
What sorts of things keep you up at night?
What sorts of horror movies frighten you?
Use these ideas to draw the scariest monster you can think of on a post-it and write a quick definition for ‘monster.’
In small groups, share your post-it monsters and discuss similarities and differences between them.
As a large group, we’ll discuss some of the similarities and differences. I’ll also ask a few students to share their monsters, so we can talk about what makes them monstrous. I’ll write some key traits up on the board.
Here’s some definitions from Oxford English Dictionary to consider as well:
‘A mythical creature which is part animal and part human, or combines elements of two or more animal forms, and is frequently of great size and ferocious appearance.’
‘A creature of huge size’
‘A person of repulsively unnatural character, or exhibiting such extreme cruelty or wickedness as to appear inhuman’
‘An ugly or misshapen person, animal, or thing.’
Together, we’ll come up with a definition of ‘monster.’
Monster as Metaphor (5 minutes)
Instructions: If using a summary of Cohen’s theses, read the summary here. If students are reading the original, more time can be dedicated to this section to ask for student summaries and questions.
‘Vampire’ by Olivia Rodrigo (20 minutes)
Instructions: After listening to Rodrigo's ‘Vampire,’ we will answer two questions, discussing for 2-3 minutes in small groups and then together in a large group:
Referring to specific lyrics, how is the vampire described? (see Appendix A for examples)
What is the ‘vampire’ a metaphor for?
Grendel (15 minutes)
Instructions: Now let’s consider Grendel as a metaphor. We will read lines 101-127 together. What does this passage tell us about Grendel, including what he looks like and how he behaves? How can we interpret these physical features metaphorically?
Then, in pairs, find other moments in the text that describe Grendel and share them with the group.
Finally, what is Grendel a metaphor for? In future lessons, we will be considering a very specific analogue, but here we want to consider the value of multiple interpretations, so let’s find a variety of answers.
Students may think about him as a metaphor for the wilderness, dangerous wild animals, violence, greed, strangers, outlaws, immigrants, Indigenous Peoples, minority religions, or people of color.
Day 2: Monsters as Category Crisis
Homework: Beowulf lines 300-701. More advanced classes can also read Tim Flight’s Introduction to Basilisks and Beowulf.
Purpose: Today’s class introduces Cohen’s third thesis on category crisis, as well as other characteristics that make up a monster. In addition to Cohen’s ‘category crisis,’ the class also considers ‘excess’ and ‘taboo breaking.’
Thesis III: The Monster Is the Harbinger of Category Crisis (5 minutes)
Instructions: If using a summary of Cohen’s theses, read the summary here. If students are reading the original, more time can be dedicated to this section to ask for student summaries and questions.
Cynocephali (10 minutes)
Instructions: In the 14th century, the pseudonymous John Mandeville wrote The Travels of Sir John Mandeville. The Travels includes a mix of historical figures and fantastical creatures. Medieval authors had a particularly difficult time categorizing the cynocephali, dog-headed men, so they provide a great opportunity to consider their characterization, Write categories, taboos, excess, and other on the board and fill them out as students provide answers for what categories and taboos the Cynocephali break and what excess they exhibit.
Grendel (20 minutes)
Instructions: In small groups, find your own passages about Grendel and write what you find on the board. It’s okay if you’re not sure which category to put it in. We’ll discuss the value of placing it in different categories. Notice if any of these traits lead us back to the metaphors we’ve already mentioned.
Example responses:
Categories: Human/Animal (howling, owls)
Taboo: Kin-killing (cursed under the line of Cain the kin-killer), Stealthy killing (shadow-stalked; he struck, seized thirty dreaming men; silent skill)
Excess: Excessive violence and murder
Other: Sympathy for the devil (Unlucky, fucked by Fate), Hrothgar vs. Grendel, competing kingdoms (ruling the wild), Lonesomeness (in comparison with Beowulf and Hrothgar’s community)
Day 3: Monsters and the Gates of Difference (Part 1)
Homework: Beowulf lines 702-1254
Purpose: Today’s class introduces Cohen’s fourth thesis, which asks students to consider how real-life groups are ‘Othered’ by being turned into monsters. The class gives students several opportunities to understand and contextualize the thesis in the modern day and draws explicit parallels to Indigenous Peoples.
Grendel (10 minutes)
Instructions: In groups of 3-4:
Find one passage that describes the space or land that Hrothgar occupies, or his relationship to it. Find one passage that describes the space or land that Grendel occupies, or his relationship to it.
Draw an image of what you think these places look like.
As a group, we’ll discuss:
What is the difference between the land, spaces, and places these characters occupy? How are they described differently?
What are the implications of how these things are used?
How does the concept of ‘ownership’ impact these characters relationship with these places?
In order to complicate the concept of ownership, let’s also consider Article 31 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: ‘Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, as well as the manifestations of their sciences, technologies and cultures, including human and genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties of fauna and flora, oral traditions, literatures, designs, sports and traditional games and visual and performing arts. They also have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their intellectual property over such cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions.’
Thesis IV: The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference (5 minutes)[1]
Instructions: If using a summary of Cohen’s theses, read the summary here. If students are reading the original, more time can be dedicated to this section to ask for student summaries and questions.
Find Examples (5 minutes)
Instructions: In small groups, find a specific example of a minority group being portrayed as monstrous to justify violence against them. Keep in mind things we’ve talked about: comparison to animals, breaking categories, excess, breaking taboos.
This can be a modern or historic example.
This can be an historical event, legislation, caricature, etc.
Students mentioned the Christian statement that Jews murdered Christ, various caricatures of people, the description of Indigenous Peoples as savages, and the characterization of Black men as violent.
Dakota Access Pipeline Protest (10 minutes)
Introduction: Having considered Grendel’s relationship with the land and ownership, this mini-lecture draws explicit parallels to Indigenous Peoples. This parallel is meant to emphasize how Indigenous protestors were dehumanized in order to justify violence against their land and discredit their right to it. It is also an opportunity to emphasize Indigenous Peoples not simply as victims, as Grendel is often also characterized as, but as active individuals with a rich culture and history. It is incredibly important not to use this comparison to wrap back around to calling Indigenous Peoples monstrous or ‘medieval.’ The purpose is to humanize Grendel, not dehumanize Indigenous Peoples. This section can also expand into a longer discussion of the protest and the rhetoric that surrounded it. Under ‘Further Reading,’ I have provided additional articles about the protest and the surrounding rhetoric.
See a full timeline here
Kelly Hayes, a Menominee author, organizer, movement educator and photographer, wrote an article summarizing her discussions with protestors and offering guidelines for how to talk about Standing Rock. (See Appendix C for further examples.)
The Gates of Difference (10 minutes)
Instructions: Based on Beowulf, we will consider parallels between the protest and Grendel’s situation. It is important to note that although some medieval people may have recognized the idea of one group killing and taking the land of another, the Indigenous reading we are making today is not one medieval people would have made. Our understanding of Indigenous Peoples right now is culturally specific and very different from any medieval understanding.
The Other: How does the text portray Grendel as the Other? What monstrous qualities does the text tell us Grendel has? How have these traits been (mis)applied to Indigenous Peoples?
Us vs. Them: How does the text imply that Grendel is ‘not like us’? How does it create us (Beowulf, Hrothgar, their men) and them (Grendel)? How have people today used these ideas to create an Us vs. Them mentality in relation to Indigenous Peoples?
Students note Grendel’s excessive violence (l.143-92). Students also note how Grendel is described as everyone’s enemy (l.163) and that Beowulf is sent by God (l.381). I also like to compare Beowulf’s bravery with Grendel’s cowardice (l.760-2). This creates the idea of bravery as a white trait while cowardice is a trait of the Other. This is also a good place to discuss terminology. This can include the misuse by colonizers of the terms primitive, savage, and uncivilized to refer to Indigenous Peoples. It can also include a discussion of the term Indigenous Peoples and names of specific Indigenous nations. Gregory Younging’s Elements of Indigenous Style provides a helpful discussion of the history and use of these terms.
Protest: What similarities are there between the events and details of the Dakota Access Pipeline Protest and Beowulf? How does land play a role in Grendel’s depiction?
Day 4: Monsters and the Gates of Difference (Part 2)
Homework: Beowulf lines 1255-1644
Purpose: Today’s class continues the discussion of Cohen’s fourth thesis and introduces how interpretation can be aided by fictionalization and adaptation. Calegari notes that in Beowulf, ‘the speaker of the poem makes no reference to the embodied culture of the Grendelkin.’ Point of view strongly impacts our ability to empathize with a character. By taking a character’s point of view and giving them backstory and motivation, it is easier to understand their behavior and rationale.
Point of View (10 minutes)
Instructions:
On their own, or in groups of 2-4, students find at least one line that we might consider as being from either Grendel’s perspective or Grendel’s mother’s perspective.
Lines students found include 120, 164, 711, 761, 803-8, and 820-3. I found it was helpful after a couple of minutes to ask students to shout out some lines they found to help students who are struggling to find anything.
Write an inner monologue of at least 5 sentences from your character’s perspective. Consider especially motivation and history. You’re welcome to add backstory if you’d like.
Students noted that this activity emphasized how lonely, sad, and hurt Grendel is. They said it seemed like he was forsaken and had a lot of self-loathing. They also said it made him more sympathetic. Students often very quickly understand Grendel’s mother’s grief over the loss of her son and they notice how her and Hrothgar’s desire for revenge are similar.
As a group, we’ll share some of these motives and consider what is gained by adding this perspective that is otherwise ignored.
Thesis IV: The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference (5 minutes)
Instructions: If using a summary of Cohen’s theses, read the summary here. If students are reading the original, more time can be dedicated to this section to ask for student summaries and questions. In the second day of this thesis, I emphasize the idea that dominant groups tell monstrous stories about minorities in order to justify violence against minorities. This makes the dominant group look like heroes who have defeated monsters.
Examples (5 minutes)
Instructions: In small groups, find a specific example of a violent act perpetrated against a group who has been portrayed as monstrous.
This can be a modern or historic example.
This can be a legal, social, or physical violence, but it does not have to be.
Examples can include Jim Crow laws, internment and concentration camps, the Holocaust, the murder of George Floyd, and murders committed by ICE.
Adaptations (30 minutes)
Instructions: I provide a definition of colonization, a brief summary of the movie Outlander, and then I show a clip of 1:06:49–1:11:07. In Outlander, Kainan—the Beowulf character—crash lands his spaceship in 700s Scandinavia. He is captured and taken to King Hrothgar, where he joins them in a fight against the Moorwen—the Grendel character. In this clip, Kainan explains how his people colonized a planet by killing its local fauna and flora, including the Moorwen. Beowulf’s people then set up a colony there, which is eventually attacked by the surviving Moorwen.
Application (10 minutes)
Instructions: Using the ideas present in Outlander:
How does the text justify violence against Grendel and his mother? How does the text portray Beowulf as heroic?
Students note how Grendel and his mother are not ‘using the land properly’ by creating cities. They also point to the lineage of Cain (l.110) and the idea of being the ‘wrong type of Christianity.’ I find it is helpful here to talk about how the name “Saracen” came from Sarah and Ishmel and mirrors this idea of coming from the ‘wrong lineage of Christianity.’ I also like to read lines 1433–7 because they describe a group of monsters and emphasize how killing monsters is simply a way to control the group. Grendel’s violence takes the form of a story in l.272–6. Beowulf’s heroics are repeated as epic stories at l.871 and l.957–79.
How does this adaptation change or enhance our understanding of Beowulf?
How does this adaptation change or enhance our understanding of how different characters interact with the space and place they live in?
What is the value of this interpretation?
Wrap-Up (5 minutes)
By the end of these four days, students should have a more complicated understanding of how the idea of being part of a society that is considered civilized, cultured, and brave is used to justify colonizing land. Conversely, students will be able to explain how accusations of being uncivilized, uncultured, and excessively violent are used to justify the idea that the colonized land was either unoccupied or being improperly used—and thus it was the colonizer’s right to take it. In Beowulf, this is done in part by giving Grendel no backstory, history, culture, or interiority. These lesson plans combat this by asking students to provide backstory and drawing parallels with Indigenous Peoples, specifically, at a moment when Indigenous Peoples were fighting for their history, their safety, their rights, and their sovereignty.
Author Bio:
Sarah Barringer is a graduate student at the University of Iowa. Her dissertation, "Transmasculine Narratives in Medieval Literature," argues that transmasculine characters in medieval literature allowed medieval audiences to imagine a gender that comprised both feminine and masculine elements. She teaches general education in literature courses at the University of Iowa on monstrosity and identity.
Further Reading
Miranda Green and Michael Standaert, ‘“Weird” Newspaper Shows up in North Dakota Mailboxes Attacking Dakota Access Protests as Greenpeace Trial Looms,’ Floodlight News, November 1, 2024, https://floodlightnews.org/weird-newspaper-shows-up-in-north-dakota/ (February 12, 2026).
Hayley Johnson, ‘#NoDAPL: Social Media, Empowerment, and Civic Participation at#NoDAPL: Social Media, Empowerment, and Civic Participation at Standing Rock,’ Library Trends 66.2 (2017): 155-75. https://repository.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1028&context=libraries_pubs. (February 10, 2026).
‘Native Nations Rally in Support of Standing Rock Sioux,’ Indian Country Today Media Network, August 23, 2016, https://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/08/23/native-nations-rally-support-standing-rock-sioux-165554 (February 9, 2026).
Tim Stelloh, Molly Roecker, Chiara A Sottile, and Daniel A. Medina, ‘Dakota Pipeline: Protesters Soaked with Water in Freezing Temperatures,’ NBC News, November 20, 2016, https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/dakota-pipeline-protests/dakota-pipeline-protesters-authorities-clash-temperatures-drop-n68658 (February 12, 2026).
Appendix A: ‘Vampire’ by Olivia Rodrigo
The most common answer in my classes for what the vampire is a metaphor for is ‘ex-boyfriend.’ Some specific adjectives students may use are manipulative, lying, and abusive. I point out that right now there is a lot of conversation about abusive partners, so this is a common cultural fear.
‘You only come out at night’
Vampires only come out at night. Metaphorically, this implies something sinister, as nighttime is often associated with suspicious or illegal activities. It also implies he is rarely available.
‘As you sunk your teeth into me, oh/Bloodsucker, famefucker/Bleedin' me dry, like a goddamn vampire’
Bloodsucking is of course the quintessential vampire trait. Metaphorically, he has his hooks in her and her life. Unable to escape him, he is draining her – of her confidence, her energy, her self-assurance, etc.
‘What a mesmerizing, paralyzing, fucked-up little thrill’
Vampires are often associated with the ability to supernaturally mesmerize their prey, impairing their ability to think or act. Metaphorically, the boyfriend is so charming, charismatic, or simply so good a liar that Rodrigo’s judgement is impaired. She’s unable to see his more abusive elements and is metaphorically paralyzed, unable to rectify the situation or even potentially realize the situation is harmful.
‘You can't love anyone, 'cause that would mean you had a heart’
Vampires do not literally have no heart, but as undead creatures, their bodies are frequently portrayed as dead. Metaphorically, the boyfriend is ‘heartless.’
Appendix B: Cynocephali
From The Travels of Sir John Mandeville (c.1320): ‘And all the men and women of that isle have hounds’ heads, and they are called Cynocephales. And they are full reasonable and of good understanding, save that they worship an ox for their God. And also every one of them bears an ox of gold or of silver in his forehead, in token that they love well their God. And they go all naked save a little cloth, that they cover with their knees and their members. They are great folk and well-fighting. And they have a great shield that covers all the body, and a spear in their hand to fight with. And if they take any man in battle, then they eat him.
‘The king of that isle is full rich and full mighty and devout after his law. And he has about his neck 300 orient pearls, good and great and knotted, as paternosters here of amber. And as we say our Pater Noster and our Ave Maria, counting the Pater Nosters, so this king says every day devoutly 300 prayers to his God, before he eats. And he bears also about his neck an orient ruby, noble and fine, that is a foot of length and five fingers large. And, when they choose their king, they take him that ruby to bear in his hand; and so they lead him, riding all about the city. And from then on they be all obedient to him. And that ruby he bears always about his neck, for if he had not that ruby upon him men would not hold him for king. The great Khan of Cathay has greatly coveted that ruby, but he might never have it for war, or for no manner of goods. This king is so rightful and of equity in his domains, that men may go definitely throughout all his country and bear with them what them list; that no man shall rob them, and if he did, the king would right it then.’
Cynocephali
A cynocephalus. From the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493).
Categories: Human/Animal (hounds’ heads, full reasonable and of good understanding)
Taboo: worshiping idols (worship an ox for their God), lack of clothes (go all naked), cannibalism (take any man in battle, then they eat him).
Excess: excessive violence (take any man in battle, then they eat him), I also like to ask if the 300 pearls and 300 prayers are excessive or if that is actually a good excess.
Other: I like to note that humans in the medieval period were especially defined by their ability to speak reasonably, stand upright, and use their hands. For this reason, medieval scholars were especially confused about cynocephali, who do all of those things.
Appendix C: Dakota Access Pipeline
Protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline, Minneapolis, Minnesota - October 25, 2016
The purpose of the pipeline was to transfer oil from North Dakota all the way to Illinois.
After the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved the pipeline, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe sued the corps for failing to consult tribe members, violating the National Historic Preservation Act, and not ensuring ‘against destruction to culturally important sites.’ Concerns also arose about the ecological threat to the area’s water.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, who were closest to the construction, organized protests to halt construction.
The protest lasted approximately 11 months (April 2016-February 2017) before construction began.
The construction threatened cultural sites, including burial grounds and prayer sites, which were ultimately destroyed.
In addition to tear gas, rubber bullets, and other violence against protesters, arrested protesters described dehumanizing treatment and cruel conditions.
Russell Eagle Bear, a member of the Rosebud Sioux, stated: ‘They treat us like we’re not human beings.’
Caro Gonzales, a member of the Chemehuevi tribe, after arrest said she was detained in a large cage, which she described as a ‘dog kennel.’
Floris White Bull said ‘We were caged in dog kennels and sat on the floor and we were marked with numbers.’
Mekasi Camp-Horinek ‘said after he and his mother were arrested, police placed them in one of the metal enclosures together and wrote a number on his arm…there was no bedding or furniture in the cage.’
NOTES:
[1] The lesson plans for days 3 and 4 are drawn in particular from Erik Wade’s lesson plan on Beowulf. I spread this thesis over two days because I find it helps students understand better. On the first day, we focus on the idea that dominant groups tell monstrous stories, which are not true, about minority groups to make them look like monsters. This creates an explicit us vs. them mentality. I also found that students confused ‘minority’ with ‘small group.’ I emphasized three differences: 1) Minorities are comprised of a specific identity like a religious, sexual, cultural, or racial identity. For example, ‘serial killer’ is not an identity. 2) The dominant group tells monstrous stories about minority groups that are not true. This separates abusive cults from religious minorities. The cult NXIVM sexually abused women. As Cohen mentions, Jews were accused of poisoning wells during the plague, something they did not do. 3) Dominant groups use these stories as an excuse to enact violence on the group. NXIVM’s leader was prosecuted, so he could not continue to sexually abuse women, while Jews were scapegoated and their lives and property taken from them.
