General Native Americans Research

• The indigenous peoples in North America are referred to as Native Americans
• Most tribes lived as hunter-gatherer societies, although in many groups women carried out sophisticated cultivation of a variety of staples: maize, beans and squash.
• After the colonies revolted against Great Britain and established the USA. Present George Washington and Henry Knox conceived of the idea of “civilizing” Native Americans in preparation for United States citizenship
• Assimilation (whether voluntary or forced) became a consistent policy through American administration
• During the 19^th century, the ideology of Manifest destiny became integral to the American nationalist movement. Expansion of European-American populations after the American revolution passed the indian Removal Act, authorizing the government to relocate most Native Americans from their homelands to accommodate European-American expansion from the US.
• The first European Americans encountered western tribes as fur traders.
• Some tribes used horses to hunt bison seasonally
• They carried out strong resistance to American incursions in the decades after the American Civil War, in a series of “Indian Wars” which were frequent up until the 1890s.
• The coming of the transcontinental railroad increased pressures on the western tribes
• Over time, the US forced a series of treaties and land cessions by the tribes, and established reservations for them in many western states
• The migration of humans from Eurasia to the Americas took place via Beringia, land bridge which formerly connected the two continents about 12,000 years ago
• In some tribes, their villages were constructed with large multi-family dwellings used seasonally. People did not live there all year round, but for the summer to hunt and fish, and to gather food supplies for the winter.
• Used waterways as their major transportation routes (Hopewell exchange system) for things like trade
• Early homes were constructed of branches bent in a semi-circular fashion and then covered with twigs, reeds and heavily applied mud and other materials at hand
• Had sophisticated knowledge of astrology
• When the chief of a tribe died, his successor was chosen by the senior women of his tribe in consultation with other female members of the clan, with descent occurring matrilineally – decisions were not made through voting but trhough consensus decision making
• Long distance trading did not prevent warfare among the indigenous peoples.
• The European colonialists in North America often rationalized the spread of empire with the presumption that they were saving a barbaric and pagan world by spreading Christian civilization.
• In the Spanish colonization of the Americas the policy of Indian Reductions (settlements founded by the Spanish colonizers of the New World with the purpose of assimilating indigenous populations into European culture and religion) resulted in forced conversions of the indigenous people from their long practiced spiritual and religious traditions and theological beliefs
• From the 16^th through the 19^th centuries, the population of Native Americans declined in the following ways: epidemic diseases brought from Europe, genocide and warfare at the hands of the European explorers and colonists, as well as between tribes, displacement from their lands, internal warfare, enslavement and intermarriage.
• With the rapid declines of some populations and continuing rivalries among their own nations, Native Americans sometimes re-organised to form new cultural groups
• Between 1754 and 1763 many Native American tribes were involved in the French and Indian War/Seven Years War with French forces against British colonial militias. Native Americans fought on both sides of the conflict, but mostly on the French side
• With the meeting of 2 worlds, animals, insects and plants were exchanged between the two. E.g. Spaniards and other Europeans in the 16^th century re-introduced horses, which the Native Americans found great use for. As they adopted use of the animals, they began to change their cultures in substantial ways.
• “Natural freedom is the only object of the policy of the Native Americans; with this freedom do nature and climate rule alone amongst them…Native Americans maintain their freedom and find abundant nourishment…and are people who live without laws, without police, without religion” – Jean Jacques Rousseau
• During the American Revolution, most Native Americans sided with the British, hoping to use the war to halt further colonial expansion into Native American land. Many native communities were divided over which side to support in the war.
• “The Indians presented a reverse image of European civilization which helped America establish a national identity that was neither savage nor civilized” – Charles Stanford
• After the American Civil War and Indian wars in the late 19^th century, Native American boarding schools were established, which were often run primarily by or affiliated with Christian missionaries. At this time American society thought that native American children needed to be acculturated to the general society. The boarding school experience often proved traumatic to Native American children, who were forbidden to speak their native languages, taught Christianity and denied the right to practice their native religions and in numerous other ways forced to abandon their Native American Identities and adopt European-American culture
• Many Native Americans served in the military during the Civil War, the vast majority of whom sided with the Union. By fighting with the whites, Native Americans hoped to gain favour with the prevailing government. They also believed war service might mean an end to discrimination and relocation from ancestral lands to western territories.
• In 2000, 8 of 10 Americans with Native American ancestry were of mixed blood.
• Common weaponry before contact with Europeans: bow and arrow, war club and spears
• Created impressive items associated with their religious ceremonies. Wore elaborately painted and decorated masks as they ritually impersonated various ancestral spirits.
• Carved stone and wood fetishes were made for religious use.
• Superior weaving, embroidered decorations and rich dyes characterized the textile arts]
• Both turquoise and shell jewelry were created as were high-quality pottery and formalized pictorial arts
• Some tribes’ spirituality focused on the maintenance of a harmonious relationship with the spirit world, often achieved by ceremonial acts, usually incorporating sandpainting. The colours – made from sand, charcoal, cornmeal and pollen – depicted specific spirits. These vivid, intricate and colourful sand creations were erased at the end of the ceremony.
• Gender roles – generally very traditional – men as hunters, women as gatherers. Women also were largely in charge of property and making weapons etc. Would sometimes hunt or make war with the men, especially when their clan was threatened. In some tribes young girls were also encouraged to learn to ride, hung and fight, but this was generally mostly left to the men.
• Often played lacrosse to settle disputes between clans rather than going to war
• Traditional music was almost always monophonic (no harmony – just one note/instrument/voice at a time). Also a lot of percussion, some wistles and flutes