Explore Ancient American History
We challenge outdated narratives and bring forward evidence of complex, thriving indigenous civilizations across the Americas
Explore Ancient America
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Challenging the norm
Date: April 27, 2026
Contact: Wayne Groves
Noble Bey 7
Email: alim@ancientamericanhistoricalsociety.org
📞 Phone: (816) 764-0248
Ancient American Historical Society Launches Landmark Course:
“Before 1492: Indigenous Civilizations and the Making of the Americas”
Kansas City, MO — The Ancient American Historical Society (AAHS) is proud to announce the launch of its groundbreaking new course, “Before 1492: Indigenous Civilizations and the Making of the Americas.” This 14-week online course invites learners to explore the rich, complex histories of Indigenous civilizations across North, Central, and South America prior to European contact.
Designed for educators, students, and lifelong learners, the course challenges outdated Eurocentric narratives and centers Indigenous voices, knowledge systems, and achievements. Participants will engage with archaeology, oral traditions, environmental science, and Indigenous-authored texts to gain a deeper understanding of the Americas as vibrant, interconnected worlds long before Columbus.
“This course is about more than history—it’s about rethinking how we tell the story of the Americas,” said [Insert Instructor Name], lead educator for the course. “We’re highlighting the brilliance, resilience, and ongoing legacies of Indigenous peoples who shaped this hemisphere for millennia.”
Course highlights include:
- Weekly explorations of major civilizations such as the Maya, Inka, Aztec, Cahokia, Olmec, and Puebloan cultures
- Readings from Indigenous authors and primary sources
- Hands-on activities, group projects, and a final capstone
- A decolonial approach that re-centers Indigenous perspectives
We now begin with Lecture 1 week 1
Week 1: Rethinking “Discovery” – Decolonizing American History
Overview: In our first week, we set the stage by questioning the traditional narrative of “discovery” and understanding history from Indigenous perspectives. We introduce the concept of decolonizing history – that is, challenging Eurocentric frameworks and recognizing the agency and voices of Indigenous peoples. We’ll look at how the pre-1492 Americas have been portrayed and why it’s essential to re-examine terms like “discovery” or “civilization.” For example, Māori scholar Linda Tuhiwai Smith reminds us that research and history were often tools of imperialism – she famously noted that “the word ‘research’ is probably one of the dirtiest words in the indigenous world’s vocabulary” because of how knowledge was used to control Native peoples. By the end of this week, we aim to understand history “looking through the eyes of the colonized” rather than the colonizer. [jstor.org]
Learning Objectives:
- Recognize how Eurocentric narratives have shaped common histories of the Americas (e.g., the myth of “empty lands” or “savagery” vs. “civilization”).
- Understand what it means to take a decolonial approach to history and research.
- Appreciate the diversity of Indigenous perspectives on their own past (through oral traditions, art, and community memory).
- Reflect on why terms like discovery, New World, or even Indian are problematic and how language shapes our understanding of history.
Lecture Content:
Reframing the Story: Typically, American history courses begin in 1492, implying the story starts when Europeans arrived. A decolonized approach flips this script: the history of the Americas begins with the Indigenous peoples who lived here for millennia. For those people, 1492 is a midpoint (and often a rupture), not a beginning. We discuss how terms like “New World” disregarded the fact that the world was only “new” to Europeans; it was very old and well-known to its original inhabitants. Likewise, “discovery” implies an act of finding something unknown – but the Taíno, Diné, or Maya certainly didn’t feel “discovered” when outsiders landed on their shores. To emphasize this, we examine an analogy: if someone walks into your home uninvited, do they “discover” it? The class reflects that, from the Native perspective, Europeans were the strangers entering an already civilized, populated world.
Why Decolonize? European colonial narratives often portrayed Indigenous peoples as primitive or passive – lacking history until Europeans gave them one. This is a product of what scholars call “colonial discourse”, which justified conquest by denying the complexity of Indigenous societies. Decolonizing history means restoring those complex stories and valuing Indigenous sources of knowledge. As Linda T. Smith observed, Western research and history were intertwined with imperialism, so much so that indigenous communities came to mistrust them. Our course works to earn back that trust by engaging with Indigenous perspectives respectfully. For instance, rather than describing a site like Cahokia (the great city in present-day Illinois) with colonial terms like “mysterious mounds built by a lost race,” we’ll discuss it as Indigenous Americans might – as the achievement of their ancestors, whose purposes (burial, ceremony, astronomy) can be understood through both archaeology and oral tradition. [jstor.org]
Indigenous Voices: We introduce an essential component of this course: hearing directly from Indigenous voices, past and present. Each week, we will include at least one primary source or account from Indigenous people – whether it’s a creation story, an oral history, a piece of writing or speech by an Indigenous author, or even artistic depictions by Native peoples. This week, by way of example, we listen to a short extract from the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Creation Story. In this revered oral tradition, a woman known as Sky Woman falls from the sky world and is gently caught by water birds who place her on the back of a great Turtle. With the help of animal beings (Loon, Muskrat, Beaver, and others), land is formed on Turtle’s back for her to live upon. This story, passed down for generations, encodes Haudenosaunee beliefs about the world’s origin – notably different from the European Biblical origin story that colonizers tried to impose. By honoring such narratives, we validate that Indigenous peoples had philosophies and sciences of their own, long before Europeans arrived. [mhcc.pressbooks.pub], [mhcc.pressbooks.pub]
Throughout the week, we also discuss why it is important to understand who is telling a historical narrative. For centuries, histories of the Americas were told about Indigenous peoples by outsiders (conquerors, missionaries, anthropologists). Now, Indigenous scholars and elders are telling their own histories. We highlight examples like the work of Diné (Navajo) historian Jennifer Denetdale and Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) scholar Taiaiake Alfred, who re-examine historic events from Native viewpoints. One key point: decolonizing history is not about rejecting all European contributions, but about broadening the lens to include and prioritize Native knowledge systems. Just as an astronomy course wouldn’t ignore non-Western star knowledge, our history course won’t ignore, say, the Incas’ oral annals or the Anishinaabe’s sacred stories.
By rethinking “discovery,” we prepare to explore the Americas as a hemisphere of hundreds of nations already interconnected by trade, diplomacy, and war – a far cry from the “empty wilderness” of old myths. We acknowledge up front that our language matters. We will use tribal names where possible (e.g., Haudenosaunee instead of Iroquois, DinÉ instead of Navajo) because these are the names people call themselves. We will be mindful of terms like “civilization” – recognizing advanced social orders among Indigenous peoples (cities, governments, knowledge systems) even if they didn’t fit European definitions. In short, this introductory week asks students to unlearn some inherited biases. As one exercise, the class brainstorms words that textbooks often use for Indigenous peoples (“primitive,” “discovered,” “nomadic,” etc.) and finds alternatives or critiques for each. The goal is to develop a vocabulary of respect and accuracy that we’ll carry through the course.
Discussion Questions:
- Think of a word or phrase commonly used in old histories of the Americas (e.g., “New World,” “discovery,” “savage”). Why is this term problematic? What might be a better way to frame the same idea without devaluing Indigenous people?
- Consider the Haudenosaunee story of Sky Woman and the Turtle. How does this creation story set a different tone for viewing the Americas compared to the European Adam and Eve story or the idea that “civilization” only began here with Columbus?
- Linda Tuhiwai Smith argues that research and colonialism went hand in hand. Can you think of examples where writing history was used as a tool of power? How can we ensure our study of history is not repeating those patterns? [jstor.org]
- What does “decolonizing” mean to you in the context of learning history? How might a decolonized classroom look or feel different from a conventional one?
Suggested Activities:
- Terminology Swap: In small groups, students take a paragraph from an old textbook about Columbus “discovering” America. They rewrite it in a decolonized way – e.g., “In 1492, Columbus encountered the islands of the Taíno people” instead of “discovered new lands.” Share and discuss the differences in meaning.
- Perspective Exercise: Role-play a meeting between a Taíno villager and a Spanish sailor in 1492. Each student writes a short monologue from one perspective describing the other. This helps surface assumptions and sets up our deeper dive in Week 13 on first contacts.
- Reflective Journal: Begin a course journal. For this week, prompt: “What parts of American history have you learned that you might need to ‘unlearn’ or question? How do you feel about approaching history through an Indigenous lens?” Students jot a page and can share if comfortable.
- Indigenous Voices Showcase: Watch a 5-minute clip of an Indigenous activist or scholar (such as Winona LaDuke or Simon Moya-Smith) talking about why history matters today. Discuss how contemporary Indigenous perspectives on history connect past and present.
© 2025 Wayne Groves Director
Ancient American Historical Society
All rights reserved
Not for reuse without written permission from the Ancient American Historical Society
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