Everybody knows that before Europeans arrived on the shores of America, it was the Native Americans that dominated the continent. They lived in tents and hunted for their food. Everything was fine and then the Europeans showed up and they shared their food and that’s why we have Thanksgiving and then the Indian tribes just sort of…went away. Or they walked on some kind of tear trail or something. And then Europeans colonized the New World and everything was great. That’s about the extent of knowledge that an average person has regarding the Native American people. Of course, as with most of the things you know (or think that you know), it is no where near that simple. The history of Native Americans is a drama as complicated and nuanced as any you have ever heard. Many of the over-simplifications you heard about in school don’t do justice to a period of time that lasted thousands and thousands of years. Entire empires and nations rose and fell within the Americas. Some cities in Central America rivaled the greatest civilizations of the Middle East. And when Europeans came, the relationships between them and the natives was complicated to say the least. These are 25 little known facts about Native Americans.
Many American states are named after Indian names e.g. Arizona, Kentucky, Missouri
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaThe word "barbecue" is an Arawakan word meaning "framework of sticks"
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaActually, English borrowed a lot of Native American words - guacamole, chocolate, chili, poncho
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaIn spite of not being citizens, nearly 8,000 Native Americans served during WWI
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaIn large part due to their service during WWI, the Indian Citizenship Act granted US citizenship to all Native Americans
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaIn the 1600s five tribes that were former enemies banded together to create the Iroquois Confederacy
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaAn all-male council was elected for life to make decisions. Women, however, were allowed to fire the counselors at any time
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaBenjamin Franklin actually thought that the Iroquois Confederacy had a model of government that the colonies could emulate
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaThe bald eagle on the US shield is actually an Iroquois Confederacy symbol
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaThe Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, and Seminole tribes were seen as being more civil by the Europeans because they had a similar social system (planned villages and farms)
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaBoth the United States and Canada sought to eradicate native cultures both militarily and with aggressive assimilation
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaNative Americans used porcupine hair to make brushes
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaIroquois women would stop eating turtles so that their babies wouldn't grow up to be clumsy (apparently turtles were thought to be clumsy)
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaWhen a Plains man killed his first buffalo he was always offered the best part, the tongue. He was expected to decline though, and share it with his friends.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaIndians in the Northwest would build totem poles outside their houses to advertise their family's status
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaAbout 22% of the United States' 5.2 million Native Americans live on reservations
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaNearly 30% of Native Americans live below the poverty line
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaWhen Christopher Columbus first came to America there were up to 18 million Native Americans living there
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaBy 1900 that number had dropped to roughly 350,000
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaThere are 566 federally recognized tribes
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaSome historians believe that Native Americans have inhabited the Americas for the past 30,000 years
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaYou already know about the Native Americans in WWI, but in WWII they really came into their own. The Navajo language is one of the most complicated languages on Earth and the Navajo Code Talkers were soldiers that used their native language to send messages on the battlefield
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaAlthough retired after the Vietnam War, the Navajo language is the only code used in battle that was never broken
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaAccording to scientists, the Native languages can be separated into 3 distinct groups, which points to the likelihood of 3 separate migrations into North America from Asia
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaMany major cities today were first indian villages that became trading posts, forts, and eventually cities i.e. Chicago, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Detroit
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaLists Going Viral Right Now
