College to Introduce Native American Culture Course

instructor Jerry Millevoi, who recently returned from Nebraska where he studied Native American culture, is bringing that knowledge back to Newtown for a new course this fall.

The Doylestown resident received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to participate in “Legacies and Landmarks of the Plains Native Americans,” which focused on three Great Plains tribes: the Pawnee, the Ponca, and the Omaha. Millevoi was one of only a few dozen community college educators chosen from across the nation to examine the history of these tribes through scholarly lectures, literature, film, art, and music, as well as the stories of tribal elders.

"We visited and met tribal leaders and staff from the Genoa U.S. Indian School, the Nebraska Indian Community College on the Omaha Indian Reservation in Macy, Nebraska, and the Pawnee Indian Village Museum in Republic County, Kansas,” said Millevoi. “It was an extremely valuable and enriching professional experience.”

That experience will enrich Millevoi’s class this fall when he teaches the American Indian, a three-credit course offered at the college’s Newtown campus. The 15-week class is a comprehensive study of the North American Indian, including daily life, social relationships, myths and legends.  

“The course will encompass the fate of Native Americans from the pre-Columbian era to the arrival of European settlers, to the Indian wars of the American West, to the present day,” said Millevoi. “The course will utilize film on Native American topics, guest speakers, primary documents, group discussions and lectures.”

The American Indian begins August 29 at 6:30 p.m. and meets every Wednesday throughout the fall semester.  Registration can be completed online at www.bucks.edu.