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...A Forum for American Indian Issues...
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Archaeology 
Fri Apr 26, 2013 at 07:11:26 AM PDT
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For thousands of years, the Indian peoples of western Montana were connected to the rest of the world through an intricate network of trade routes. The natural hub of these routes is Travelers' Rest which is today operated as a state park.
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Fri Apr 19, 2013 at 20:42:17 PM PDT
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What is now the state of Oklahoma became the new home to many Indian nations during the nineteenth century when the American government forcibly removed these nations from their homelands. However, Oklahoma's Indian history goes much farther back in time. For thousands of years prior to the European invasion of North America, Native people lived, hunted, farmed, and built their homes and villages in what would become Oklahoma.
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Fri Feb 22, 2013 at 16:32:10 PM PST
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About 350 CE, the Maya city of El Zotz was founded in what is now Guatemala. The Maya name for the city is Pa'Chan which is translated as "Split Sky" or as "Citadel Sky." The designation "El Zotz" comes from the many bats living in the caves on the site: zotz is the Maya term for bats.
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Wed Jan 16, 2013 at 20:37:06 PM PST
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Prior to the European invasion, Mesoamerica was the home to many highly developed civilizations. Geographically this is a region that extends from central Mexico to South America. Shown below are some of the items from these ancient Mesoamerican cultures which are on display at the Portland (Oregon) Art Museum.
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Tue Jan 15, 2013 at 10:47:57 AM PST
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Prior to the European invasion, South America was the home to many highly developed civilizations. Homo sapiens have lived in South America for at least 15,000 years and possibly longer. By 2000 BCE some highly developed civilizations had emerged in the region. There was a dramatic increase in population during this time and the economies became more dependent on stable, intensive agricultural systems.
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Tue Dec 04, 2012 at 14:05:27 PM PST
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Southern Plains Villagers is a culture that occupied the Southern Plains from 800 CE to 1500 CE. These Indian people had agricultural economy which they supplemented by hunting and gathering wild plants. With regard to hunting, the bison was an important animal and was also important in the religious life of the people. Overall, the Southern Plains Villagers had a rich and varied subsistence base.
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Sat Oct 27, 2012 at 14:27:34 PM PDT
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American Indians occupied, utilized, and developed the peninsula known as Florida for thousands of years. Our knowledge of the ancient past-of Florida, BCE-comes primarily from archaeology. Unfortunately, archaeology tells the story of the past based on material remains which means that these remains must have endured for thousands of years, then be found, and finally interpreted. As a result our picture of Florida, BCE is not complete, but rather a series of seemingly disjointed snapshots.
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Thu Oct 18, 2012 at 14:12:25 PM PDT
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Archaeology is the study of the past through material remains. One of the goals of archaeology is discovery and description. Discovery and description, however, is only the first step: archaeologists also seek to develop explanations. Understanding the past means that we should try to understand how people lived in the past and why changes occurred. Ultimately, archaeology seeks to understand human behavior. In addition, there is also a concern, some would say an obligation, of communicating archaeological insights to the general public. One way of doing this is through displays at museums and interpretive centers. One of these interpretive centers is found in southern Alberta: the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Interpretive Centre.
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Wed Sep 19, 2012 at 09:24:09 AM PDT
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At the beginning of the European invasion of North America, there may have been as many as 75 million buffalo on the Great Plains. For thousands of years, the buffalo had been the walking supermarket of the Plains Indian people, providing them with food, clothing, tools, toys, and shelter. For most of the year, the buffalo provided the Plains Indians with most of their food, with durable hides for making tipi covers and blankets, and strong bones for making a wide variety of tools-at least 87 different tools according to one study. For the Plains Indians, hunting was not a choice, but a way of life, a strategy for survival.
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Tue Sep 11, 2012 at 13:02:22 PM PDT
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For the Plains Indians, for many thousands of years, the buffalo (more properly called bison) was a walking supermarket providing them with food, clothing, shelter, tools, and toys. Buffalo were hunted in many different ways: they were killed as they swam across rivers and lakes; they were driven into snow banks where their short legs failed them; they were driven into dead-end canyons where they were easily cornered; they were ambushed as they migrated along well-marked trails; they were herded into corrals; and they were driven over cliffs.
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Fri May 04, 2012 at 22:26:40 PM PDT
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Mississippian is a cultural complex which spread from its hearth on the Mississippi River in Illinois throughout much of the Southeast. The most spectacular characteristic of Mississippian material culture is the construction of earthen pyramids. The pyramids, usually called mounds, have a flat top which provided a space for a ceremonial building or a chiefly residence. Access to the top of the pyramid was made possible by a ramp or stairs up one side.
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Fri Apr 27, 2012 at 07:36:20 AM PDT
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The time period from about 400 CE to 900 CE in northeastern North America is called the Late Woodland period by archaeologists. This was a time of major population growth and the introduction of new technology, including the bow and arrow.
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Sat Apr 14, 2012 at 14:58:58 PM PDT
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In 1245 CE, the Anasazi (Ancestral Puebloan) began construction on the Sand Canyon Pueblo in Colorado. The pueblo is located at the head of a canyon with most of the construction below the canyon rim. The pueblo would grow to 420 surface rooms, 90 kivas, 14 towers, and an enclosed plaza. A massive stone wall enclosed the village on the southwest, west, north, and east provided protection against attack and also controlled and limited access to the spring at the center of the village. The enclosing wall was at least one story tall and had very few access openings.
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Fri Mar 30, 2012 at 18:00:27 PM PDT
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European interest in the area which would later become the state of Michigan began in the seventeenth century and was driven by two concerns: (1) to expand the lucrative fur trade with the Indians, and (2) to discover a water-based passage to the Pacific Ocean. The French expedition led by Étienne Brule reached Michigan in 1622, finding it occupied by the three Algonquian-speaking tribes of the Three Council Fires Confederacy: Ojibwa, Ottawa, Pottawatomi. In 1668 the French established a permanent settlement at Sault Ste. Marie as a base for their Catholic missions.
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Tue Mar 27, 2012 at 20:34:01 PM PDT
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By 7000 BCE, American Indians were living in Arizona's Verde Valley. While these earliest inhabitants of the area had a hunting and gathering subsistence, by 700 CE there were farmers, called the Southern Sinagua people by archaeologists, living in the area. At this time they were growing crops similar to other Southwestern peoples: corn, beans, squash, and cotton. By 1000 CE their population had increased and they had begun to build cliff dwellings. Life in the Verde Valley, however, was interrupted in 1064 when the Sunset Crater volcano erupted, spreading a half billion tons of ash across 800 square miles. The Southern Sinagua people temporarily abandoned the valley.
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Tue Mar 20, 2012 at 18:16:09 PM PDT
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Interest in a scientific understanding of the history of North America prior to the European invasion and a desire to obtain legislation to protect our ancient heritage from looting and vandalism began to coalesce in the late nineteenth century with the formation of several groups and government agencies. The groups included the Archaeological Institute of America, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Anthropological Association of Washington (which would later become the American Anthropological Association). The primary government agency concerned with antiquities was the Smithsonian's Bureau of Ethnography.
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Wed Mar 14, 2012 at 16:07:19 PM PDT
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When the first French fur traders arrived in Minnesota in the 17th century, they found that the area was occupied by Indian nations from two different language groups: Algonquian (primarily Anishinabe or Ojibwa) and Siouan (primarily Sioux). The French found that the Ojibwa (Chippewa) and the Yanktonai Sioux were engaged in a war.
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Thu Feb 16, 2012 at 16:28:25 PM PST
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More than a thousand years ago, the Ancestral Puebloans constructed a number of larges pueblos in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. The ruins of these ancient pueblos came to the attention of the Americans shortly after the United States and Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe in 1848 which gave the United States governmental jurisdiction over much of what is now the Southwest. While the United States claimed that it was acquiring this territory in order to bring peace and stability to the region, the intrusion of the Americans into the region actually increased the cycles of violence with the Navajo. In 1849, Lieutenant Colonel John M. Washington led a putative expedition against the Navajo. On a detached reconnaissance, topographical engineer Lieutenant James H. Simpson entered Chaco Canyon and located ten ancient Ancestral Puebloan pueblos.
The map of the Chaco Culture National Historical Park is shown above.
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Sun Jan 22, 2012 at 10:39:47 AM PST
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Humans-Homo sapiens-have lived in South America for at least 15,000 years and possibly longer. The earliest period of human occupation is generally called the Lithic Stage by archaeologists. During this time period the first post-glacial hunting and gathering groups lived in South America. The people were living in small groups which subsisted on hunting, fishing, and the gathering of wild plants.
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Thu Jan 05, 2012 at 15:59:15 PM PST
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When the Dutch and the French, and later the English, began to enter into what would become New York State searching for trading partners in the seventeenth century, they encountered a large, well-organized alliance of tribes known as the Iroquois. The League of Five Nations, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy, was composed of five culturally and linguistically similar nations who had come together to promote peace among themselves.
The map above shows the approximate location of the Iroquoian and Algonquian tribes when the Europeans first began to enter the area.
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| In Memoriam |
In honor of my mother, THE FLORA SOMBRERO LIND NAVAJO ENDOWMENT FUND has been set up to accept your donations.
This scholarship endowment has been established at the American Indian College Fund to honor Flora Sombrero Lind, as an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who was born at Inscription House, Arizona of the Many Goats clan circa 1925. This scholarship endowment is funded by Flora's family and friends who want to see Navajo students pursue higher education and carry on their great Navajo heritage.
Please leave a comment here if you donate.
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