The Cahuilla Continuum was an exhibit at the Riverside Metropolitan Museum in Riverside, California, authored and curated by Sean C. Milanovich. The exhibit told the story of the Cahuilla from creation to the present day. One of the displays in the exhibit shows modern Cahuilla ceremonial clothing and regalia. Shown above is the display of … Continued
By 250 years ago, it was evident that Europeans intended to stay in North America and their quest to expand their empires was nearly insatiable. European trade goods as well as the European colonists were changing the American Indian lifeways. At this time, just prior to the American Revolution, there were two major European empires … 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. After migrating from the Ohio River valley, the Siouan-speaking Omaha settled in what is now Nebraska. The name Omaha is … 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
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
The San Bernardino County Museum in Redlands, California has a display of ancient artifacts from Central America: the countries south of Mexico and north of South America. From an archaeological perspective, Central America is also called the Mesoamerican Frontier and the Southern Maya Periphery. In her entry on Central America in The Oxford Companion to … Continued
The Pueblos are the village agriculturists of New Mexico and Northern Arizona. While the Pueblos are usually lumped together in both the anthropological and historical writings as though they are a single cultural group, they are linguistically and culturally divergent. The Pueblos speak six mutually unintelligible languages and occupy more than 30 villages in a … Continued
For most people the mention of ancient Mexico brings up images of the Aztecs, the Mayas, and perhaps the ancient city of Teotihucán. Ancient Mexico, however, also includes somesites which are much older than these and which are not tourist attractions.One of these is Tlatilco in the Valley of Mexico. For today’s archaeologically-oriented tourist, accustomed … Continued
When a society is undergoing rapid change—economic and technological change, religious change, language change, social change—and particularly when that change is being imposed on them by outside forces, it is not uncommon for a prophet to emerge. This prophet will report having had a mystical experience which often involved a visit with powerful spirits who … Continued
Briefly described below are some of the American Indian events of 1817. Treaties Following the Constitution, the United States recognized Indian nations as sovereign entities and thus negotiated treaties with them. In 1817, the primary focus of the treaties between Indian nations and the United States was for the United States to obtain title to … Continued
