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Some Arctic Artifacts (Photo Diary)

The Artic Culture Area includes the Aleutian Islands, most of the Alaska Coast, the Canadian Artic, and parts of Greenland. It is an area which can be described as a “cold” desert. Geographer W. Gillies Ross, in his chapter in North American Exploration. Volume 3: A Continent Comprehended, writes: “The North American Arctic is usually … Continued

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Traditional Government Among California Tribes

All societies have government. At the time of the European invasion, American Indian cultures differed greatly from their European counterparts in the way in which they governed themselves and, as a result, many European writers believed that Indian nations did not have governments. The government of European nations tended to be based on the peculiar … Continued

American Indian cultures

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Veracruz

Veracruz is a region in Mexico’s gulf coastal lowlands. This was the homeland for one of Mesoamerica’s earliest civilizations, the Olmec. The Olmec first emerged about 1500 BCE. Their civilization and their art styles influence many of the later Mesoamerican civilizations. In their Encyclopedia of Ancient Mesoamerica, Margaret Bunson and Stephen Bunson report: “As the … Continued

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Roman Nose, Cheyenne Warrior

While the Algonquian-speaking Cheyenne are generally considered a Plains Indian tribe, they actually moved onto the Plains from what is now Minnesota. As a result of this migration, the Cheyennes evolved from a farming people to a horse-mounted buffalo-hunting people. By the mid-nineteenth century, Cheyenne warriors were often engaging the United States military in a … Continued

Cheyenne Warrior

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Some Plateau Beaded Bags (Art Diary)

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 Columbia River Plateau is shown above. According to the Museum display: “Women have been the … Continued

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Oregon Coast Indian Baskets (Photo Diary)

The North Lincoln County Historical Museum in Lincoln City, Oregon has two floors of displays relating to local history. The region was originally the homeland for the Siletz and Alesa Indians and the museum has a small display of American Indian basketry. For thousands of years prior to the European invasion, American Indians occupied the … Continued

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On the Icy Edges of Trump’s Empire: Standing Rock and Hoth

Entrance to the Oceti Sakowin Camp at Standing Rock It’s Cannonball, North Dakota but with the temperature hovering around -25 degrees Fahrenheit with windchill factored in it feels like the planet Hoth in “The Empire Strikes Back.” The whiteness of the landscape and the intense cold brings such comparisons to mind. The NoDAPL camp, which … Continued