In 1869, the United States was still dealing with the aftermath of the Civil War. While the military turns its attention to pacifying Indian nations, the lawmakers look at ways to assimilate Indians by destroying Indian cultures, and former soldiers and others seek their fortunes by settling on Indian lands. Briefly described below are some … Continued
Throughout the world it is common to find ceremonies in which the participants seek to renew the world, its resources, and thus continue their prosperity and good fortune. Among the Indians of Northern California—Karuk, Yurok, Hupa, Tolowa, Wiyot –the World Renewal or Big Time ceremony seeks to renew the world through a series of complex … Continued
In general, California Indians have been classified as hunters and gatherers, meaning that they tended to obtain food from hunting and from gathering wild plants. Subsistence patterns—how people obtained the calories which are needed to sustain life—are determined, in part, by the environment and the resources within that environment. The Cahuilla homeland in California was … Continued
The Columbia Plateau refers to the area between the Cascade Mountains and the Rocky Mountains in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, British Columbia, and Western Montana. The Sanpoil are an Interior Salish-speaking tribe whose homeland was on the north bank of the Columbia River from its confluence with the Spokane River to the Sanpoil Valley. Vision Quest … Continued
In the nineteenth century, European philologists (the nineteenth century term for historical linguists) began systematically comparing languages to create language family trees. Applying the comparative methods used to discover the Indo-European language family, linguists in North America began to group American Indian languages into language families. One of these is the Siouan language family. The … Continued
Militarized officers forcing Water Protectors out of their Inipi Ceremony (sweat lodge) and confiscating “Sacred and cultural items, such as eagle-feather staffs and prayer drums” is Cultural Genocide. www.newyorkupstate.com/… “Richmond said the authorities told everyone to disperse. The water protectors asked officers for time and started praying in ceremonial and sacred sweat lodges. Richmond said … Continued
Ishi looks for some fish to spear, c. 1912 On March 25, 1916, a Yahi Indian of the Yana people named Ishi died of tuberculosis in his quarters at the University of California’s anthropology museum in San Francisco. He was about 55 years old. Ishi fixing his two-pronged fishing spear. Thanks to national fascination with … Continued
The aboriginal Pomo territory was about 50 miles north of present-day San Francisco. Pomo territory included the Pacific Coast and extended some distance inland as far as Clear Lake. Like other California tribes, they lived in small villages. There was no single Pomo tribe, rather, the designation “Pomo” groups together about 72 independent tribes. Some … Continued
The Early History gallery of the Fort Steele Heritage Town Museum includes displays about the Ktunaxa Nation who had occupied the area for thousands of years prior to the arrival of Europeans. The map shown above shows the traditional Ktunaxa territory. According to the museum display: “Evidence of human existence in our area dates back … Continued
During the first part of the seventeenth century, conflicts and potential conflicts between American Indians and the invading Europeans increased. Enamored with the idea of gaining personal wealth through the exploitation of Indian lands, four European countries—France, England, Netherlands, and Spain—established permanent colonies in the Americas. Archaeologist Jerald Milanich, in his book Laboring in the … Continued
