In 1901, President William McKinley was assassinated and Theodore Roosevelt became the 26th President of the United States. He entered the White House better acquainted with both the Indian Service (later known as the Bureau of Indian Affairs) and Indians than any President since William Henry Harrison. While Roosevelt had a background with regard to … Continued
The Yuma-speaking tribes live in the desert and semi-desert area along the Colorado and Gila Rivers in what is now Arizona, California, Sonora, and Baja California Norte. This is an area that is nearly all desert or semi-desert, but the annual flooding along the Colorado River and along the Gila River made agriculture possible. Thus, … Continued
The concept of a generation is often seen as a period of twenty years. With this in mind, let’s look back at some of the events which were impacting American Indians in 1991. Repatriation: In 1990, the United States government, in its infinite wisdom, passed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAPGRA) … Continued
Mississippian is a cultural complex whose hearth appears to be in the American Bottom area near the Mississippi River in Illinois. The most spectacular characteristic of Mississippian material culture was the construction of earthen pyramids. The pyramids, usually called mounds, have a flat top which provided a space for a ceremonial building or a chiefly … Continued
The debate over marriage in American society and the fears expressed by some conservatives that allowing diversity will somehow destroy the institution of marriage has been interesting (at some times amusing) to watch. While there appear to be some who feel that there is only one kind of marriage, in reality there are many options … Continued
When the Dutch first travelled up New York’s Hudson River to establish trading posts with the Indians they encountered one of the largest and most powerful Indian confederations in North America: the League of Five Nations, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy. The Iroquois were an agricultural people who lived in permanent villages. They used … Continued
George Washington is often revered as the first President of the United States. As the first president, he established many of the protocols for the office. From an Indian perspective, his presidency also established much of the basis for the federal Indian policies. Like other non-Indians of this era, he viewed Indians as a vanishing … Continued
Five centuries ago, at the beginning of the European invasion of this continent, a majority of Indian people in what is now the lower 48 states of the United States got a majority of the calories which they consumed from plants which they raised. While the popular stereotype of Indians sees them as big game … Continued
A common stereotype is that American Indians lived in tipis. In fact, relatively few Indian nations utilized this type of housing: it was a type of housing found primarily in the Great Plains. Among the Indian nations who live along the Missouri River in the Dakotas, the primary form of housing was the earthlodge. Shown … Continued
United States military forces occupied California during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). In 1850 California was admitted to the Union as a free state, that is, a state in which slavery was supposedly prohibited. However, the concept of free did not apply to the Indians who lived in the state and they soon encountered American deception … Continued
