Native American History

12/28/2024

NATIVE AMERICANS – THE FIRST OWNERS OF AMERICA
Native Americans, or the indigenous peoples of the Americas, are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America and their descendants. Those who live within the boundaries of the present-day United States are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, bands and ethnic groups, many of which survive as intact, sovereign nations.
Most authorities agree that the first evidence of people inhabiting North America indicates that they migrated here from Eurasia over 13,000 years ago, most likely crossing along the Bering Land Bridge, which was in existence during the Ice Age. However, some historians believe that people had migrated into the Americas much earlier, up to 40,000 years ago. These early Paleo-Indians spread throughout the Americas, diversifying into many hundreds of culturally distinct nations and tribes.
Application of the term “Indian” originated with Christopher Columbus, who, in his search for Asia, thought that he had arrived in the East Indies. However, there is considerable evidence in support of successful explorations which led to Norse settlement of Greenland, the L’Anse aux Meadows settlement in Newfoundland, and potentially others some 500 years prior to Columbus landing in the Bahamas. From the Native American aspect, many tribes’ oral histories indicate they have been living here since their genesis, as described by a wide range of creation myths.
By the time European adventurers arrived in the 15th century, scholars estimate that more than 50 million people were already living in the Americas. Of these, some 10 million lived in the region that would later become the United States. As time passed, these migrants and their descendants pushed south and east, adapting as they went. With these new arrivals came centuries of conflict and adjustment between Old and New World societies. Today, Native Americans account for about 1.5 percent of the United States population, many of whom continue to take pride in their ancestral traditions — still practicing the music, art, and ceremonies that took place many years ago.

12/28/2024

A Ute child. ca. 1900. Photo by C.R. Savage. Source - Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

12/27/2024

Havasupai mother and child. Arizona. 1899. Photo by George Wharton James.

12/27/2024

We need a big Aho! 💜🪶

12/26/2024

Cherokee men prepared to play a traditional game of Anetsa or Stickball, on the Cherokee Reservation in North Carolina - 1913

12/26/2024

LET'S WISH A HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR MY DAUGHTER 🥳😍🥰

12/25/2024

12/24/2024

May the beauty in front of me keep me going.
May the beauty behind me keep me going.
May the beauty that is upon me keep me moving.
May the beauty beneath me push me forward.
May the beauty around me push me forward.
Kledze Hatal verse
May the beauty that is in front of me make me move forward.
May beauty be behind me make me move forward.
May the beauty that is above me move me forward.
May the beauty below me move me forward.
May the beauty that is around me move me forward.
Stanza from the Kledze Hatal

12/24/2024

Women were well respected in traditional Native American tribe culture, and although they generally had different roles from men, the Native American women often had the same rights as their male counterparts. They usually owned the home along with everything in it, and in some tribes, while the chief was a man, it was the women who were responsible for electing him. Because women's activities were considered central to the welfare of the community in the Native American history, this gave them a certain level of social, political and economic power, and even today approximately 25% of Native American tribes recognized by the federal government of the United States are led by women.

12/24/2024

All a Great Chiefs. Who’s the greatest, hard to say . Most famous was probably Sitting Bull , “ BUT “ my pick is Quanah Parker , The Comanche’s where the only Indian tribe , never to be defeated by the US Army .

12/23/2024

We need abig Aho

12/23/2024

"We Indians know about silence. We are not afraid of it. In fact, for us, silence is more powerful than words. Our elders were trained in the ways of silence, and they handed over this knowledge to us. Observe, listen, and then act, they would tell us. That was the manner of living.
With you, it is just the opposite. You learn by talking. You reward the children that talk the most at school. In your parties, you all try to talk at the same time. In your work, you are always having meetings in which everybody interrupts everybody and all talk five, ten or a hundred times. And you call that ‘solving a problem’. When you are in a room and there is silence, you get nervous. You must fill the space with sounds. So you talk compulsorily, even before you know what you are going to say.
White people love to discuss. They don’t even allow the other person to finish a sentence. They always interrupt. For us Indians, this looks like bad manners or even stupidity. If you start talking, I’m not going to interrupt you. I will listen. Maybe I’ll stop listening if I don’t like what you are saying, but I won’t interrupt you.
When you finish speaking, I’ll make up my mind about what you said, but I will not tell you I don’t agree unless it is important. Otherwise, I’ll just keep quiet and I’ll go away. You have told me all I need to know. There is no more to be said. But this is not enough for the majority of white people.
People should regard their words as seeds. They should sow them, and then allow them to grow in silence. Our elders taught us that the earth is always talking to us, but we should keep silent in order to hear her.
There are many voices besides ours. Many voices…”
-Ella Deloria