One of the concerns in organized military warfare is the need for communication and the need to conceal that communication from the enemy. During the nineteenth century, the American military relied on bugles, drums, and flags to communicate on the battlefield. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the nature of long distance human communication … Continued
For more than 10,000 years Indian people have lived adjacent to the Columbia River. In the Columbia Gorge area, hundreds, if not thousands, of archaeological sites provide silent testimony to this long period of human occupation. Rock art, in the form of petroglyphs and pictographs, is found throughout the area. The area along the Columbia … Continued
The Maryhill Museum located near Goldendale, Washington, has a display of Plateau beadwork. The Plateau Culture Area is the area between the Cascade Mountains and the Rocky Mountains in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, British Columbia, and Western Montana. From north to south it runs from the Fraser River in the north to the Blue Mountains in … Continued
For thousands of years, American Indians used the asphalt from the tar seeps of Rancho La Brea in what is now Los Angeles, California, for many different things. The displays at the La Brea Tar Pits Museum show many of the Native uses of the tar and display some of the artifacts which archaeologists have … Continued
The Inupiaq homeland is in Northwest Alaska and North Alaska. The Portland Art Museum has some Inupiaq items on display. Shown above: Inupiaq mask made about 1900 from wood Shown above. Inupiaq pipe made about 1900 from ivory, wood, and paint. The art work on the pipe shows a walrus hunt in which the hunter … Continued
The High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon, has a display Family and Reservation Community which shows how Plateau Indian identity has been preserved by families. According to the Museum display: “Since ancient times, the Plateau family served as the sanctuary of identity. Despite the changes brought about by reservation life, many Plateau Indians refused to … Continued
The Northwest Coast culture area stretches along the Pacific coast between the Cascade Mountains and the ocean. It extends north of California to Alaska. This is an area which is the home to many Indian nations who traditionally based their economy on the use of sea coast and river ecological resources. The Northwest Coast culture … Continued
Long before the European invasion of North America, a number of autonomous, independent, and linguistically related peoples lived in contiguous territories in what would become the state of Washington. These peoples included the Yakama, Kittitas, Klikitat (also spelled Klickitat), Tainapam, and Wanapam. In 1855, the United States government forced a treaty on these people, grouping … Continued
California Indian baskets are often considered the best in North America, and Pomo baskets are generally considered to be the best of the California baskets. In his book Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, Carl Waldman reports: “The Pomos created their beautiful baskets for functional purposes, but collectors now value them as works of fine art. … Continued
In looking at American Indian art, there is a different between tribal art and ethnic art. In his book Native Arts of North America, Christian Feest writes: “Tribal art was (and is) produced by members of tribal societies primarily for their own or their fellow members’ use.” One of the classic examples of tribal art … Continued
