Native Americans

Native Americans have occupied northern New England for at least 10,000 years. The original, pre-conquest population of North America is estimated as from 10 to 12 million. As many as 280 distinct aboriginal societies existed in North America prior to Columbus. They spoke about 450 distinct languages. They domesticated corn, potatoes, peanuts, peppers, tomatoes, pumpkins, pineapples, cocoa, and others; they cultivates tobacco, and made discoveries of at least 50 drugs that are used today in medical science.

One of the most famous native tribes is the Algonkin – the largest native language group in North America. Another ancient tribe – the Acolapissa – was fond of decorating their entire bodies with tattoos. The present-day capital of Louisiana – Baton Rouge – got its name after a large red post marketing the boundary between the Bayougoula and the Houma.

Catawba warriors had a fearsome reputation and an appearance to match: ponytail hairstyle with a distinctive was paint pattern of one eye in a black circle, the other in a white circle and remainder of the face painted black. Although generally the least known of the Five Civilized Tribes (Chickasaw, Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole), no other tribe played a more significant role in Britain’s victory over France for control of North America.

The plain tribe of Comanches stole horses on a grand scale. By 1775 the Spanish governor of New Mexico was complaining that Comanche raiders has stolen so many horses he did not have enough to pursue them. The Comanche epitomized the mounted plain warrior. In the 1840s the Texas Rangers were organized primarily to fight Comanches.

“Simply put, the Iroquois were the most important native group in North American history… …the primary occupation of the men was warfare. Torture and ritual cannibalism were some of the ugly traits of the Iroquois…”

The year of 1622 marked the beginning of the century-long conflict between the Native Americans and the white settlers. The slogan “The only good Indian is a dead Indian” was used for more than 200 years. The motive for the genocide against the natives was to dispossess them of their land and resources and to get rid of people who could not be exploited.

By 1900 the Indians had been reduced to about 250,000. The Civil Rights Act of 1924 theoretically gave the Indians outside the reservations the same rights as any other citizen of the United States.

In 1953 the US government passed the Relocation Act, giving the Indians the right to dissolve their reservations and to settle in the cities, and the Termination Act, which meant the annulment of all treaties signed between the government and the Indian tribes, and an end to the special status of the Indian.

Now there are about 764,000 American Indians, among them 130,000 Navajo, 72,000 Cherokee, 60,000 Sious and 35,000 Pueblo. Nearly 40% of the Indians live on reservations. There are about 200 of them.

Oklahoma – “home for all Indians”; Idaho – “gem of the mountains”; Chicago – “chi-kaug-ong”/ “wild onion river”; Alaska – “great country”, “continent”, “great land”; Massachusetts – “at or near the great hill”, “the blue hill”; Alabama – “here we rest”, “burnt clearing”.