Teaching
A Generation Ago
The concept of a generation is often seen as a period of twenty years. With this in mind, let’s look back at some of the […]
Teaching
Ancient America: Shiloh
Mississippian is a cultural complex whose hearth appears to be in the American Bottom area near the Mississippi River in Illinois. The most spectacular characteristic […]
Native American Marriage
The debate over marriage in American society and the fears expressed by some conservatives that allowing diversity will somehow destroy the institution of marriage has […]
The Iroquois Longhouse
When the Dutch first travelled up New York’s Hudson River to establish trading posts with the Indians they encountered one of the largest and most […]
Hidatsa Pumpkin (Food Diary)
Five centuries ago, at the beginning of the European invasion of this continent, a majority of Indian people in what is now the lower 48 […]
The Earthlodge
A common stereotype is that American Indians lived in tipis. In fact, relatively few Indian nations utilized this type of housing: it was a type […]
American Deception in California
United States military forces occupied California during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). In 1850 California was admitted to the Union as a free state, that is, […]
American Lies and the Treaty of Fort Laramie
By the mid-nineteenth century, the American obsession with private property was guiding policies regarding American Indians. The idea that Indian people held property-that is, land-in […]
The Ojibwa, Copper, and Millard Fillmore
It is a long held maxim that American Indians should not be allowed to acquire wealth. Since one of the ways of acquiring wealth is […]
The United States and the Pueblos
When the United States acquired what is now New Mexico and Arizona in 1846, a number of Pueblos were brought under American rule according to […]