In 1869, the Peace Policy of President Grant forcibly mixed religion and the federal government’s policies regarding Indian reservations. Disregarding any possible religious views of Indians, services to Indian reservations were given to Christian missionary groups. These services included schools, health care, and the distribution of rations. As a result, young Indians were required to … Continued
The European conquest of North America was made possible by the epidemic diseases the first explorers, missionaries and traders brought with them. During the sixteenth century the Indian death toll from European diseases was in the millions. There were an estimated 18 million Native Americans living north of Mexico at the beginning of the sixteenth … Continued
In 1881, the Squaxin of the Puget Sound area in Washington would have described John Slocum has having a bit of an inclination toward alcohol and a well-known fondness for gambling. One day he became ill and died. Upon dying, he went to heaven where he was met by angels who told him that because … Continued
The San Bernardino County Museum in Redlands, California, has a display on early California Indians entitled Life in a Rock Shelter. The earliest peoples in southern California lived a hunting, fishing, and gathering way of life. Archaeologist William Wallace, in his chapter of post-Pleistocene archaeology in the Handbook of North American Indians, sums it up … Continued
The Fort Dalles Museum in The Dalles, Oregon, has a collection of American Indian artifacts on display in the dining room of the Surgeon’s Quarters. The stone tools shown appear to be primarily pestles and manos used for processing seeds and grains. Included in this batch of stone tools are some hammer stones which have … Continued
The Cahuilla homeland in California was bounded on the north by the San Bernardino Mountains; on the south by the northern Borrego Desert; on the east by the Colorado Desert; on the west by the present-day city of Riverside. The designation Cahuilla is said to mean “masters” or “powerful ones.” As a tribal designation, Cahuilla … Continued
The concept of a discrete category called American Indian Art is a western concept which was refined during the twentieth century. Traditionally, American Indians had improved the aesthetics of the things they made, but they did not conceptualize art as something separate from function. In his book Native Arts of North America, Christian Feest writes: … Continued
Prior to the European invasion, the people of the Northwest Coast lived in large, multi-family houses built with planks on a post and beam frame which were usually arranged in a single row facing the water. The shaded area on the map shown above shows the Northwest Coast culture area. This map is on display … Continued
The Grand Ronde Reservation was established in the Willamette Valley in Oregon by executive order in 1857. The year before, in 1856, the final battle of the Rogue River Wars in southern Oregon had been fought and the newly created reservation was to be used for the Indian peoples who were to be removed from … Continued
At the beginning of the eighteenth century, Indian nations were interacting with many European nations which had invaded the Americas and had claimed for themselves Indian land. These European nations included England, France, Spain, Holland, and Sweden. The century was characterized by European exploration to establish their ownership claims and to search for riches, the … Continued
