Mount Greylock, seen from Stony Ridge in Northwest Massachusetts
Academics
Native American & Indigenous Studies

The Program

The Native American & Indigenous Studies (NAIS) coordinate program offers you the opportunity to explore Indigenous histories, philosophies and knowledge systems through courses across multiple departments. Classes draw from the humanities, social sciences and environmental sciences to foster interdisciplinary, critical and ethical engagement with Native American and global Indigenous communities.

Why Study NAIS?

This program supports you in developing the tools for deep and ethical engagement with Indigenous scholarship, with attention to both local and transnational contexts. It complements the liberal arts mission of Williams College by encouraging rigorous thought, cultural humility and critical awareness—qualities essential for your responsible participation in a globally interconnected world.

NAIS invites critical inquiry into foundational questions:

  • What makes Indigenous experience?
  • What processes and historical shifts created indigeneity?
  • How do Indigenous communities navigate and assert sovereignty in the face of colonial and settler-state structures?
  • How have Indigenous knowledge systems contributed to contemporary understandings of environmental sustainability, governance, and social justice?
  • What methodological approaches best support ethical engagement with Indigenous histories and lived experiences?

Thematic Track: Global Indigeneity

Students drawn to the global dimensions of Indigenous experience are encouraged to consider the Global Indigeneity thematic track within the Global Studies concentration. NAIS and the Global Studies Program share a commitment to critical, interdisciplinary, and globally engaged education. While NAIS is grounded in the histories, philosophies, and lived experiences of Indigenous peoples, it also recognizes the global dynamics of colonialism, resistance and resurgence.

Together, these programs invite students to analyze the intersections of power, culture, and identity across diverse geographies and historical moments.

  • This track, which is within the Global Studies concentration, allows students to:

    • Explore Indigenous experiences and knowledge systems beyond North America
    • Compare strategies of cultural survival, resistance, and resurgence across contexts
    • Complement NAIS coursework with a global interdisciplinary framework

     

    This path is ideal for students who want to develop the critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and global awareness emphasized in both programs.

  • Both NAIS and Global Studies support students in:

    • Examining how colonialism, capitalism, and environmental degradation shape Indigenous and global lifeways
    • Understanding how communities assert sovereignty, protect language, and preserve land-based knowledge systems
    • Exploring the transnational dimensions of Indigenous literature, art, migration, and activism
    • Engaging in ethical inquiry and interdisciplinary analysis of global structures of power

  • NAIS and Global Studies faculty are happy to help students design a meaningful course of study across both programs. Students may pursue one or both, and are encouraged to integrate independent research, language study or experiential learning along the way.

Learn more about the Global Indigeneity track on the Global Studies website or by speaking with a faculty advisor in NAIS or Global Studies.

Featured Courses

See More

Circa 1492: A Black Studies Perspective

How do we understand the 1492 moment that opened the doors to the civilization under which we live? This course considers the critiques put forth in Black studies to critically examine 1492 as a world-altering moment.

America: The Nation and Its Discontents

This course introduces students to the capacious and extraordinarily varied interdisciplinary field of American Studies. First institutionalized in the mid-twentieth century, American Studies once bridged literature and history in an attempt to discover a singular American identity.

Introduction to Native American and Indigenous Studies

Consider just the last few years… during the 2016 presidential campaign then-candidate Donald Trump called Senator Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas,” a disparaging reference to Warren’s claim to Native American heritage.

Students walking on a rock on the beach

Program Complement: Williams-Mystic

Williams-Mystic, the College’s semester-long coastal and ocean studies program, offers students a unique opportunity to explore environmental, cultural, and policy issues through immersive, place-based learning. Williams-Mystic weaves themes central to NAIS throughout the semester by offering students the opportunity to learn directly from Indigenous leaders, elders, historians, environmental advocates and knowledge holders across the country.

For students pursuing coursework in NAIS, a semester at Williams-Mystic provides:

  • A chance to consider Indigenous sovereignty in the context of coastal lands and waters
  • Exposure to place-based education that values lived experience, intergenerational knowledge, and ecological stewardship
  • Opportunities to deepen understanding of the entangled histories of colonialism, climate, and culture

  • During field seminars in coastal Maine, southern Louisiana, and other coastal regions, Williams-Mystic students engage with leaders and knowledge holders from Indigenous coastal communities. These conversations often center on:

    • Food sovereignty and traditional ecological knowledge
    • Environmental restoration and adaptation to climate change
    • Historic preservation and the protection of sacred lands and waters


    In recent semesters, students have learned from figures such as Chief Devon Parfait and Elder Chief Shirell Parfait-Dardar of the Grand Caillou/ Dulac Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw (Louisiana) and Donald Soctomah, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer of the Passamaquoddy Tribe (Maine). These experiences connect students to Indigenous ways of knowing, community resilience, and sovereignty, not just as abstract concepts, but as lived realities and ongoing movements.

  • Williams-Mystic strives to build reciprocal, long-term relationships with Indigenous communities. Faculty, staff, and students engage in collaborative work that supports the goals identified by tribal partners both during and after the Williams-Mystic semester, fostering new relationships and nurturing ongoing ones. 

    Williams-Mystic alums work with our partners on projects that include historical and environmental research, multi-institutional grants, and internships. Such work enables students to connect their academic studies in NAIS with real-world impact and to the relationships that make this work possible.

  • Students interested in Indigenous approaches to land and water might also explore the Coastal and Ocean Studies (CAOS) concentration. Like NAIS, CAOS is interdisciplinary and emphasizes place-based learning, ecological systems, and human-environment relationships. Students can often connect coursework or independent projects between CAOS, NAIS, and the experiential learning of Williams-Mystic.

If you’re interested in exploring these intersections, talk to a NAIS advisor about how Williams-Mystic and CAOS might complement your studies.