By 1870, it was clearly evident that the Indian Service was the most corrupt branch of the federal government and that Indian reservations were often being run for the financial benefit of the government-appointed Indian agents at the expense of the Indians. In order for Indians to fully assimilate into American society, it was felt … Continued
As Grandmother Taught: Women, Tradition and Plateau Art was a special exhibit at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane, Washington. The Plateau Culture Area is basically the area between the Cascade Mountains and the Rocky Mountains. The Indian nations of the Columbia River Plateau are shown above. With regard to weaving baskets, … Continued
The Central Plains is the portion of the Great Plains which lies south of the South Dakota-Nebraska border and north of the Arkansas River. It includes Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, southeastern Wyoming, and western Colorado. It includes Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, southeastern Wyoming, and western Colorado. At the time when the Europeans began their invasion … Continued
In 1918, American Indian religions were still outlawed. Federal Indian policy viewed American Indian religions as barriers to “civilizing” Indians and emphasized the importance of Christianity. Participation in traditional Indian ceremonies, such as the Sun Dance, the Sweat Lodge, and the Potlatch, was not only discouraged, but often criminalized. While the government recognized that structures, … Continued
Two hundred years ago, in 1818, the United States was just beginning to embark on its expansionist policy known as Manifest Destiny. Under this policy, many non-Indian Americans felt that it was the divine destiny of the United States to expand and to spread American culture, language, and the Christian religion across the continent. In … Continued
The Siletz Room in the Burrows House Museum in Newport, Oregon, contains baskets and beadwork from the Clarinda G. Copeland (1852-1929) Collection. Born Clarinda Gertrude Kisor, she married Professor James Chambers in 1870 and in 1883 they moved to the Siletz Reservation where James served as trader to the Confederated Tribes of the reservation. When … Continued
The California culture area has the widest variety of native languages, ecological settings, and house types of any North American culture area. The shaded area on the map shown above displays the California culture area. Basketry was, and still is, important to the California Indians. In his book Indians of Lassen Volcanic National Park and … Continued
Mother Jones has a piece out about how Native Americans were instrumental in helping elect U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D. ND) in 2012 and it gives a great history on the voter suppression tactics used in North Dakota to stop Native Americans from voting: North Dakota has a history of disenfranchising Native American voters. In … Continued
There are more than 6,000 languages in the world and only about 100 of these developed their own writing system. For most of these writing systems, we know relatively little about the individuals who actually created the writing system. The exception to this is the development of the Cherokee writing system in the nineteenth century … Continued
In major museums, only a small fraction of the artifacts held by the museum are on display and interpreted for the public. Most of the museum’s artifacts are in vaults where they are available only to researchers. The Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History maintains a Visible Vault in which visitors can view hundreds … Continued
