Indigenous American Cultures 1
Spring Semester 2012
AJ07002
Introduction to American
Studies: Topics in Culture
Week 7: Indigenous American
Cultures
Indigenous American Cultures 2
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Indigenous American Cultures 3
Centrum severoamerických studií
Center for North American Studies
Introductory Concepts
Pre-Columbian North America was characterized by extensive linguistic and
cultural diversity
More than 350 languages and an unknown number (1,000?) dialects
“Tribe” may refer to
Linguistic group
Sioux
Three dialects
Eastern Dakota, Western Dakota, Lakota
Seven independent bands
Indigenous political group
Iroquois Confederacy
Five independent “tribes”; Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga
Modern American/Canadian construct
Hopi
12 independent villages considered as one tribe by the U.S. government
Terminology
Native American (United States)
First Nations/First People (Canada)
American Indian
Eskimo
Inuit
Languages
Of the original languages of North America only 127 are still spoken
Navajo: 150,000 speakers
Ojibwa/Chippewa: 51,000
Cree: 47,000
Perhaps 12-15 are still viable
More than 60 of these languages have fewer than 100 speakers
No written form prior to European contact
Today most languages use the Latin alphabet
Cherokee uses a syllabic system developed by Sequoyah (c. 1770-1843) in
the early19th century (1809-1821)
Most Inuit, Cree and Ojibwa groups in Canada use a syllabic system
developed by British missionaries in the mid- and late- 19th century
Languages are divided into a least seven major language families
and numerous unaffiliated groups
Sequoyah’s syllabic system
L: Cree syllabics invented in mid-1840s by missionary James Evans.
R: These were modified to Inuktitut syllabics in the 20th century
Settling of the New World
Traditional paradigm
Paleoindians
Arrived towards the end
of the last Ice Age
c. 12000 years ago
Existed by hunting big
game (megafauna) such
as mammoth, mastodon
and bison
Recent Research
First inhabitants arrived earlier
Probably marine-focused moving along the coasts of N. &
S. America
Certainly arrived prior to 12,000 years ago
Monte Verde in southern Chile dates to that period
Now clear that there was more than one movement into
the Americas
L: Notable pre-Clovis archaeological sites
R: Reconstruction of Monte Verde
Ethnographic/Cultural Regions
North America is normally divided into ten cultural
regions
Each region has its own characteristic cultural adaptation or
“lifeway”
The regions are:
Arctic Southwest
Sub-arctic Great Basin
Northwest Coast Great Plains/Prairies
Plateau Southeastern Woodlands
California Northeastern Woodlands
Cultural Adaptations
The adaptations in these ten regions can be divided into two groups:
Hunters and Gatherers
People who hunt animals and collect plants found in nature
Arctic, Sub-arctic, Northwest Coast, Plateau, California, Great Basin, Great Plains (post-
1700), some groups (Apache) in the Southwest
Generally speaking they have a division of labor based on gender:
Men – hunting, fishing, tool making
Women – gathering plant foods, hide processing, collecting firewood, water, etc.
In some regions both men and women participated equally in spiritual activities, in other only men
Horticulturalists (Agriculturalists)
Planted crops and harvested them
Corn (maize), beans and squash
“The Three Sisters”
Southwest, Great Plains (pre-1700), Northeastern Woodlands, Southeastern Woodlands
In the southwest, men planted and harvested crops and women processed them
In the other regions, women planted, harvested and processed.
On the Great Plains the introduction of the horse and the movement of
peoples from the east allowed the creation of the well known bison
hunting culture
The Three Sisters
Hunters and Gatherers
Artic
Inuit/Eskimo
Hunted primarily seals, walruses, whales and
caribou
Nomadic people living in small groups (up to 50)
During the winter they lived in sod or snow houses
(igloo) and in summer in skin tents
During summer they used kayaks and boats to move
about and in winter they used dog sleds
Known for their skills as carvers of ivory, bone and
stone
Central arctic snow house (“igloo”)
17
Sub-arctic
Many different groups:
Cree, Ojibwa, Dene groups
Hunted caribou, moose, birds, fish
Gathered berries, plant roots
Lived in lodges made from wood and animal skins
In winter used snowshoes
In summer canoes
Northwest Coast
Many different groups who shared a number of
common features:
Salmon fishing is the focus of their lives
Lived in permanent settled villages
Best known for their wood carving
Dugout canoes
Masks
Storage boxes
Totem poles
Important groups include the Kwakiutl, the
Haida and Tlingit
Edward S. Curtis: Nimkish village at Alert Bay
20
California
Hunted a wide range of different animals
Staple item of diet was acorn mush
Lived in medium-sized to large (75-500) villages that
were often permanently occupied
Best known for their basketry making skills
Used money in the form of shell beads
Major groups include the Pomo, Chumash and Yokut
Chumash (S. California) coiled baskets
Název prezentace v zápatí 22
Southwest
Horticulturalists
Best known groups are known collectively as the
Pueblo Indians
Live in permanent towns or “pueblos”
Best known for their pottery
Very complex system of spirits known as
kachinas
Other important groups include the Navajo and
Apache and the Pima/Papago Indians
Photographs of the Apache taken by Edward S. Curtis and
published in The North American Indian, Vol. 1 (1907)
24
Northeastern Woodlands
Horticulturalists
Lived in settled villages made up of a number of
longhouses
Each longhouse was occupied by members of a
matrilineage:
Female relatives, their husbands, daughters,
daughters’ husbands, unmarried sons
The status of women was quite high
Well-known tribes include the Iroquois, Huron,
Mohicans and, Delaware
Bread, Chief of Tribe. Oneida. Probably
painted in Washington, D.C., in 1831.
The Oneida tribe, once inhabitants
of the area now known as New York
state, came under pressure from
local politicians to relocate as the
state became populated with white
settlers. Chief Daniel Bread, with
the help of an Episcopal minister
named Eleazer Williams, led his
people west to Wisconsin and
Michigan where they prospered in
farming and forestry. Catlin said of
the Chief:
“He is a shrewd and talented man,
well-educated-speaking good
English-is handsome, and a polite
and gentlemanly man in his
deportment.”
SOURCE: George Catlin, Letters and
Notes, vol. 2, p. 103.
Ten-sqat-a-way, The Open Door, Known as The Prophet,
Brother of Tecumseh. Shawnee (ca. 1775-1836). Probably
painted at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas Territory in 1830.
Ten-squat-a-way was the brother of the warrior
Tecumseh and a noted prophet of the Shawnee tribe. In
1805 he was said to have experienced a profound vision
in which he visited the “Master of Life.” After this
experience, Ten-squat-a-way called for a return to
traditional Native American ways and a rejection of
non-native customs and technology. In his Letters and
Notes George Catlin wrote:
“[Ten-squat-a-way], called the ‘Shawnee Prophet,’ is
perhaps one of the most remarkable men, who has
flourished on these frontiers for some time past. This
man is brother of the famous Tecumseh, and quite
equal in his medicines or mysteries, to what his brother
was in arms; he was blind in his left eye, and in his right
hand he was holding his ‘medicine fire,’ and his ‘sacred
string of beads’ in the other. With these mysteries he
made his way through most of the North Western tribes,
enlisting warriors wherever he went, to assist Tecumseh
in effecting his great scheme, of forming a confederacy
of all the Indians on the frontier, to drive back the
whites and defend the Indians’ rights; which he told
them could never in any other way be protected. . . .”
SOURCE: George Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 2, pp.
117-18, pl. 214.
Black Hawk (Mahkate:wi-meši-ke:hke:hkwa) (c. 1767-
1838)
War chief of the Sauk
Fought with British during
the War of 1812
Brought Sauk and Fox back
across the Mississippi River
into Illinois/Wisconsin
Refused to recognize land
cession
The Autobiography of
Black Hawk, 1833
Portrait by George Catlin
Southeastern Woodlands
Horticulturalists
Lived in political units made up of a central
large town (Cahokia-40,000 people) surrounded
by a network of smaller towns and villages
Central towns are marked by large, flat-topped
mounds
On top of these mounds were the homes of chiefs and
religious leaders
These peoples are the direct ancestors of the
modern “Five Civilized Tribes”: Cherokee,
Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Seminole
Os-ce-o-la, The Black Drink, a Warrior of Great Distinction. Seminole
(ca.1804-1838). Painted in 1838 at Fort Moultrie, South Carolina,
where Os-ce-o-la was imprisoned during the Second Seminole War.
Most of the Seminole nation was displaced from
Florida and resettled in Oklahoma. Many, led by Osce-o-la,
remained in Florida and fought for their land.
Although defeated militarily, the nation survived and
has never signed a peace treaty with the U.S.
government. Os-ce-o-la died soon after Catlin painted
his portrait. Osceola and Catlin became friends….,
I have painted him precisely in the costume, in which
he stood for his picture, even to a string and a trinket.
He wore three ostrich feathers in his head, and a
turban made of a vari-coloured cotton shawl and his
dress was chiefly of calicos, with a handsome bead
sash or belt around his waist, and his rifle in his
hand…
This gallant fellow, who was, undoubtedly, captured a
few months since, with several of his chiefs and
warriors, was at first brought in, to Fort Mellon in
Florida, and afterwards sent to this place [Fort
Moultrie] for safe-keeping, where he is grieving with a
broken spirit, and ready to die, cursing white man, no
doubt, to the end of his breath.
SOURCE: George Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 2, pp.
219-20.
Great Plains
Climax Bison-hunting Culture
Lasted from c. 1730 to 1880
Many of the best known groups practiced this
lifeway including
Sioux, Cheyenne, Osage, Crow, and Kiowa
Very nomadic, followed the bison herds
This culture came to an end with the near
extinction of the bison and the placing of Indians
on reservations
Band of Sioux Moving Camp 1837-1839
Sun Dance
Buffalo chase with bows and lances (1832-
1833)
Crow Lodge of Twenty-Five
Buffalo Skins (1832-1833)
Téh-tóot-sah (better known as Tohausen,
Little Bluff), First Chief (1834)
"The head chief of the Kioways . . . we
found to be a very gentlemanly and high
minded man, who treated the dragoons
and officers with great kindness while in
his country. His long hair, which was put
up in several large clubs, and ornamented
with a great many silver broaches,
extended quite down to his knees."
SOURCE: George Catlin, Letters and
Notes, vol. 2, p. 74, pl. 178
When negotiating with the Whites, "he was
both shrewd and blunt. He signed the Fort
Atkinson Treaty in 1853 and the Little
Arkansas Treaties in 1865, agreeing to
settle his people on a reservation in the
Indian Territory."
SOURCE: Carl Waldman, Biographical
Dictionary of American Indian History to
1900, rev. ed. (New York: Checkmark
Books, 2001), p. 219.
Kotz-a-tó-ah, Smoked Shield, a Distinguished
Warrior (1834)
Catlin describes Smoked Shield as
“another of the extraordinary men
of this tribe, near seven feet in
stature, and distinguished, not
only as one of the greatest
warriors, but the swiftest on foot,
in the nation. This man, it is said,
runs down a buffalo on foot and
slays it with his knife or his lance,
as he runs by its side.”
SOURCE: George Catlin, Letters
and Notes, vol. 2, p. 75, pl. 182.
History: Key Dates/Events
Proclamation Line of 1763
Constitution of 1787 reserves to the Federal government all issues
relating to the Indians
Article 1, Section 8: The Congress shall have Power …To regulate Commerce
with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian
Tribes
Decisions of the Marshall court
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831)
Establishes “trust relationship”
Guardian/ward
Worcester v. Georgia (1832)
“Dependent, sovereign nations”
“Trail of Tears”
Relocation of “Five Civilized Tribes” from the SE to Indian Territory
(Oklahoma) in the 1830s
Black Hawk War (Sac and Fox, 1832) resulted in the last large group in the
Midwest being resettled west of the Mississippi
Proclamation Line of 1763
George III sets aside
land east of the crest
of the Appalachian
Mountains for the
Indians and forbids
colonists from settling
Název prezentace v zápatí 40
Resettlement
Late 19th Century
Indian Wars
1860s-1890s
Battle of the Little Big Horn (1876)
Massacre at Wounded Knee (1890)
Establishment of reservations on the Great Plains
Suppression of Indian cultures, languages and religions
As early as 1839, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs asserted
that education was the key to a program to make the “Indian
better than he is.” Its purpose was to dispel the “dark clouds of
ignorance and superstition” so that the “light of Christianity and
general knowledge” could guide Native peoples “from the night
of barbarism into the fair dawn of Christian civilization.”
Residential schools
Carlisle Indian Industrial School (Pennsylvania)
Major conflicts on the plains
Pupils at Carlisle (1885)
Dawes Act of 1887
Indian Allotment Act of 1887
Named after its sponsor Henry L. Dawes of
Massachusetts
Elimination of tribal ownerships and reservations
Each adult head of household was allocated 160
acres, singles and orphans 80, children 40
Any surplus land not allotted would be open to
settlement
As a result about two-thirds of Native-held lands were
lost (360,000 km2)
Today, Indian lands (held in trust and owned by
individuals total around 133,500 km2
Ghost Dance movement
Wovoka/Jack Wilson, 1856-1932 (Paiute)
Had a vision on January 1, 1889 during
during a solar eclipse
If Indians abandoned white ways and performed a series
of rituals and dances the Earth would be restored, the
dead rise and the whites driven away.
Ghost Dance Songs (Sioux) 1893. Reprinted in The
Heath Anthology of American Literature,Vol. II, Lauter,
et al., pp. 743-745.
I
My children[1], when at first I liked the whites,
My children, when at first I liked the whites,
I gave them fruits,
I gave them fruits.
II
Father, have pity on me,
Father, have pity on me;
I am crying for thirst,
I am crying for thirst;
All is gone – I have nothing to eat.
All is gone – I have nothing to eat.
III
My son, let me grasp your hand,
My son, let me grasp your hand,
Says the father,
Says the father.
[1] The songs are sung as a dialogue, with the Sun
(“Our Father”) addressing the Indians (“my children”).
You shall live,
You shall live,
Says the father,
Says the father.
I bring you a pipe,[1]
I bring you a pipe,
Says the father,
Says the father.
By means of it you shall live,
By means of it you shall live,
Says the father,
Says the father.
IV
My children, my children,
I take pity on those who have been taught,
I take pity on those who have been taught,
because they push on hard,
because they push on hard.
Says the father,
Says the father.
[1] That is, “a vision.” The pipe was smoked to put
one in prayerful contact with the sacred. Here “a pipe”
functions as a symbol for the vision which smoking the
pipe would induce.
V
The whole world is coming,
A nation is coming, a nation is coming,
The Eagle has brought the message to the tribe.
The father says so, the father says so.
Over the whole earth, they are coming.
The buffalo are coming, the buffalo are coming.
The Crow has brought the message to his tribe,
The father says so, the father says so.
VI
The spirit host is advancing, they say,
The spirit host is advancing, they say,
They are coming with the buffalo, they say,
They are coming with the buffalo, they say,
They are coming with the new earth, they say,
They are coming with the new earth, they say.
VII
He’ yoho’ ho! He’ yoho’ ho! [3]
The yellow-hide, the white skin
I have now put him aside –
I have now put him aside –
I have no more sympathy with him,
I have no more sympathy with him,
He’ yoho’ ho! He’ yoho’ ho!
VIII
I’ yehe! my children – Uhi ‘yeye ‘heye!
I’ yehe! my children – Uhi ‘yeye ‘heye!
I’ yehe! we have rendered them desolate – Eye’
ae ‘yuhe’ yu!
I’ yehe! we have rendered them desolate – Eye’
ae ‘yuhe’ yu!
The whites are crazy – Ahe ‘yuhe’ yu!
3 The words are vocables, with no referential
significance.
Ghost Dancing
Ghost dancing at Wounded
Knee, Frederick Remington Arapaho women ghost dancing
Ghost Dance Shirts
Arapaho named Black Man
wearing a ghost dance
shirt. Photographed in
1898 by F. A. Reinhart
Wounded Knee, December 29, 1890: 150-300 killed
Since World War I
Indian New Deal
1930s
Ended allotment
Allowed nations to
establish self-
government
American Indian
Movement
Occupation of Alcatraz
Island, CA (1969-71)
Wounded Knee, SD
(1972-73)
The Alacatraz Proclamation
We feel that this so-called Alcatraz Island is more than
suitable for an Indian Reservation, as determined by
the white man’s own standards. By this we mean that
this place resembles most Indian reservations, in that:
1. It is isolated from modern facilities, and without adequate
means of transportation.
2. It has no fresh running water.
3. It has inadequate sanitation facilities.
4. There are no oil or mineral rights.
5. There is no industry so unemployment is great.
6. There are no health care facilities.
7. The soil is rocky and non-productive; and the land does not
support game.
8. There are no educational facilities.
9. The population has always exceeded the land base.
10. The population has always been held as prisoners and kept
dependent upon others.
Further, it would be fitting and symbolic that ships from all
over the world, entering the Golden Gate, would first
see Indian land, and thus be reminded of the true
history of this nation. This tiny island would he a
symbol of the great lands once ruled by free and noble
Indians.
PROCLAMATION:
To the Great White Father and All His People:
We, the native Americans, re-claim the land known as
Alcatraz Island in the name of all American
Indians by right of discovery.
We wish to he fair and honorable in our dealings with
the Caucasian inhabitants of this land, and
hereby offer the following treaty:
We will purchase said Alcatraz Island for twenty-four
dollars ($24) in glass beads and red cloth, a
precedent set by the white man’s purchase of a
similar island about 300 years ago. We know that
$24 in trade goods for these 16 acres is more
than was paid when Manhattan Island was sold,
but we know that land values have risen over the
years. Our offer of $1.24 per acre is greater than
the 47 cents per acre the white men are now
paying the California Indians for their land.
We will give to the inhabitants of this island a portion
of that land for their own, to be held in trust by
the American Indian Government — for as long as
the sun shall rise and the rivers go down to the
sea — to be administered by the Bureau of
Caucasian Affairs (B CA). We will further guide
the inhabitants in the proper way of living. We
will offer them our religion, our education, our
life-ways, in order to help them achieve our level
of civilization and thus raise them and all their
white brothers up from their savage and unhappy
state. We offer this treaty in good faith and wish
to be fair and honorable in our dealings with all
white men.
American Indians Today
Current population:
States with the highest percentage of American in their
populations are Alaska (15.6%), New Mexico (9.5%),
South Dakota (8.3%) Oklahoma (7.9%), Montana (6.2%)
and Arizona (5%)
Currently 562 federally-recognized tribes and more than
200 unrecognized tribes (some of these are state-
recognized)
American Indian and Alaska Native
alone or in combination
4,119,300 1.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native
alone
2,475,956 0.9%
American Indian and Alaska Native
in combination
1,643,345 0.6%
Ten Largest Indian Tribes
Cherokee 729,533 Apache 96,833
Navajo 298,197 Blackfeet 85,750
Choctaw 158,774 Iroquois 80,822
Sioux 153,360 Lumbee* 57,868
Chippewa 149,669 Eskimo 54,761
10 Most populous reservations
Contemporary Issues
Enforcement of rights granted in treaties
Hunting and fishing
Whaling
Makah, Inuit
Makah hunted one whale in 1999 after a 70-year hiatus
Salmon fishing
Resource harvesting
Wild rice
Economic development
25% live in poverty (twice national average)
60% in labor force (7.6% unemployed, 31.8% outside)
Average in US is 71.5%
Unemployment rates on reservations as high as 70%
Makah butchering a whale in the early 20th century
Gaming
Federally-recognized tribes have the right to open
gaming facilities (casinos, etc.)
Must sign a compact with the state
Currently 237 tribal governments in 28 states
More than 354 operations
Total revenue (2009) $26.2 billion
21% of all gaming revenues in the US
An additional $3.2 billion from hospitality and
entertainment
Employs 682,000 people (75% non-Indian)
Net gaming revenues spent as follows
20% of net revenue is used for education, children and
elders, culture, charity and other purposes
19% goes to economic development
17% to health care
17% to police and fire protection
16% to infrastructure
11% to housing
Foxwoods Resort Casino (CT)
Owned by the Mashantucket
Pequot Nation
785 members
One of the largest casinos in
the world
32,000 m2 of gambling
floor space
380 table games
7200 slot machines
More than 1,400 guest rooms
Revenue from gaming is
around $1 billion a year
Prairie Wind Casino
Owned by the Oglala Sioux
Nation and located in Pine
Ridge, SD
Population of about 29,000
254 gaming machines,
9 game tables, 150 seats for
bingo
78 room hotel
In 2009, the casino made no
money
There are 11 casinos in South
Dakota, with a total of 2,200
machines and 67 tables.
2009 revenues $103 million
More than 66,000 Native
Americans live in the state
Cultural identity
Appropriation by non-Indian groups
Use of mascots and nicknames
Spirituality
Ceremonies
Song and dance
Revival of languages
Indigenous American Cultures 69
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