In the nineteenth century, European philologists (the nineteenth century term for historical linguists) began systematically comparing languages to create language family trees. Applying the comparative methods used to discover the Indo-European language family, linguists in North America began to group American Indian languages into language families. One of these is the Siouan language family. The … Continued
Ishi looks for some fish to spear, c. 1912 On March 25, 1916, a Yahi Indian of the Yana people named Ishi died of tuberculosis in his quarters at the University of California’s anthropology museum in San Francisco. He was about 55 years old. Ishi fixing his two-pronged fishing spear. Thanks to national fascination with … Continued
The aboriginal Pomo territory was about 50 miles north of present-day San Francisco. Pomo territory included the Pacific Coast and extended some distance inland as far as Clear Lake. Like other California tribes, they lived in small villages. There was no single Pomo tribe, rather, the designation “Pomo” groups together about 72 independent tribes. Some … Continued
Is it respectful for an oppressing force to name something after their victims’ weapons because it’s respectful, or is it respectful for an oppressing force to name something after their victims’ weapons because they claim it is? What about when the oppressors disguised themselves to deceive their enemy? An observer of the Boston Tea Party, … Continued
The Early History gallery of the Fort Steele Heritage Town Museum includes displays about the Ktunaxa Nation who had occupied the area for thousands of years prior to the arrival of Europeans. The map shown above shows the traditional Ktunaxa territory. According to the museum display: “Evidence of human existence in our area dates back … Continued
During the first part of the seventeenth century, conflicts and potential conflicts between American Indians and the invading Europeans increased. Enamored with the idea of gaining personal wealth through the exploitation of Indian lands, four European countries—France, England, Netherlands, and Spain—established permanent colonies in the Americas. Archaeologist Jerald Milanich, in his book Laboring in the … Continued
A screenshot from Dior’s commercial. By Sarah Eagle Heart Imagine this. You are a 16-year-old girl at a promotional event in which scantily clad women wearing leather, fringe, and headdresses walk slowly around a fire to a tom-tom beat with tipis in the background. The headdressed men lift up one of the women, baring her … Continued
For thousands of years, American Indian people in the Southwest farmed the land and built their villages, called pueblos by Spanish, with multi-story houses, plazas, and underground ceremonial chambers known as kivas. While the Pueblos are usually lumped together in both the anthropological and historical writings as though they are a single cultural group, they … Continued
One of the displays in the San Bernardino County Museum in Redlands, California, is entitled Sacred Earth and subtitled Understanding our past and honoring cultures that thrive today. The first section of this display looks at American Indian cultures between 16,000 years ago and 8,000 years ago. According to the Museum display: “Some archaeologists believe … Continued
John Gerbrand Wyers (1871-1960) lived in White Salmon, Washington, where he had a hardware and general merchandise store. He purchased basketry, particularly works by the local Klikitat people and encouraged Indian weavers. His interest in Native art was the result of his relationship with Margaret “Maggie” Underwood Howell (Klickitat). The two were domestic partners, but … Continued
