People indigenous to the United States

Native Americans in the United States. The European colonization of the USA. Federally recognized tribal governments in the United States. Cultural aspects and certain elements. Society, religion and gender roles. Terminology differences of some Indians.

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People indigenous to the United States

Native Americans in the United States are those indigenous peoples within the territory that is now encompassed by the continental United States. This collective term encompasses a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of them still enduring as political communities. The U.S. states and several of the inhabited insular areas which do not form part of the continental U.S. territory also contain indigenous groups. These other indigenous peoples in the United States are not generally designated as "Native Americans". They are Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and various Pacific Islander peoples.Based on anthropological and genetic evidence, most scientists believe that most Native Americans descend from people who migrated from Siberia across the Bering Land Bridge between 17,000 and 11,000 years ago, where the Bering Strait is today.The exact epoch and route is still a matter of controversy.It should be noted, however, that many Native Americans reject theories of modern anthropology, having their own traditional stories that offer accounts to their origins, which are seen only as folklore by the scientific community.While many Native American groups retained a nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyle through the time of European occupation of the New World, in some regions, specifically in the Mississippi River valley of the United States, in Mexico, Central America, the Andes of South America, they built advanced civilizations with monumental architecture and large-scale organization into cities and states.

A recent (2004) study has claimed evidence which, if accepted, would extensively revise the timeline of human habitation in the Americas. At the Topper site on the Savannah River, South Carolina, archaeologist Dr. Albert Goodyear recovered stone tool artifacts dated these remains to be at least 50,000 years old. Other archaeologists have disputed the dating methodology employed, and have also questioned whether these "artifacts" are not in fact naturally-formed, rather than of human manufacture.

By 1500 BCE, many tribes had settled into small indigenous communities. In several regions, temporary hunter-gatherer settlements were transformed into small permanent or semi-permanent settlements and villages, frequently established in regions, such as river valleys, which were conducive to the raising of crops. Several such societies and communities, over time, intensified this practice of established settlements, and grew to support sizeable and concentrated populations. Examples include Mississippian Cultures and the Pueblo peoples . They constructed large and complex earthworks, and were particularly skilled at small stone sculptures and engravings on shell and copper. Agriculture was independently developed in what is now the eastern United States by 2500 BC, based on the domestication of indigenous sunflower, squash and goosefoot. Eventually, in the last eleven hundred years, the Mexican crops of corn and beans were replaced by the indigenous crops.

The large pueblos, or villages, built on top of rocky talleland or mesas of Southwest were a complicated aggregate of family apartments. Towns were one large complex of buildings, with multistoried houses arranged around courtyards or plazas. Wooden ladders provided access to upper levels. Under the courtyards, subterranean kivas, or ceremonial structures, served as meeting rooms for religious societies.

The European colonization of the Americas forever changed the lives and cultures of the Native Americans. In the 15th to 19th century, their populations were ravaged, by the privations of displacement, by disease, and in many cases by warfare with European groups and enslavement by them. The first Native American group encountered by Christopher Columbus in 1492, the 250,000 were enslaved. It is said that only 500 survived by the year 1550, and the group was considered extinct before 1650. In the 15th century, Spaniards and other Europeans brought horses to the Americas. Some of these animals escaped and began to breed and increase their numbers in the wild. Ironically, the horse had originally evolved in the Americas, but the last American horses were game for early human hunters, and went extinct about 9000 years ago. The re-introduction of the horse had a profound impact on Native American culture in the Great Plains of North America. This new mode of travel made it possible for some tribes to greatly expand their territories, exchange goods with neighboring tribes, and more easily capture game.

Europeans also brought diseases against which the Native Americans had no immunity. Chicken pox and measles, were fatal among Europeans, often proved fatal to Native Americans, and more dangerous diseases such as smallpox were especially deadly to Native American populations. Some historians estimate that up to 80% of some Native populations may have died due to European diseases. For more information, see population history of American indigenous peoples.

During the American Revolutionary War, the newly proclaimed United States competed with the British for the allegiance of Native American nations east of the Mississippi River. Most Native Americans who joined the struggle sided with the British, hoping to use the war to halt colonial expansion onto American Indian land. Many native communities were divided over which side to support in the war. Frontier warfare during the American Revolution was particularly brutal, and numerous atrocities were committed on both sides. Noncombatants of both races suffered greatly during the war, and villages and food supplies were frequently destroyed during military expeditions. The largest of these expeditions was the Sullivan Expedition of 1779, which destroyed more than 40 Iroquois villages in order to neutralize Iroquois raids in upstate New York. The expedition failed.

Native Americans were stunned to learn that when the British made peace with the Americans in the Treaty of Paris (1783), the British had ceded a vast amount of American Indian territory to the United States without even informing their Indian allies. The United States treated the American Indians who had fought with the British as a conquered people who had lost their land. When this proved impossible to enforce (the Indians had lost the war on paper, not on the battlefield), the policy was abandoned. The United States was eager to expand, and the national government sought to do so only by purchasing Native American land in treaties. The states and settlers were frequently at odds with this policy.

In the 19th century, the incessant Westward expansion of the United States compelled large numbers of Native Americans to resettle further west, sometimes by force, almost always reluctantly. Under President Andrew Jackson, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which authorized the President to conduct treaties to exchange Indian land east of the Mississippi River for lands west of the river. As many as 100,000 American Indians relocated in the West as a result of this Indian Removal policy. In theory, relocation was supposed to be voluntary, but in practice great pressure was put on American Indian leaders to sign removal treaties. Conflicts, generally known as "Indian Wars", broke out between U.S. forces and many different tribes. U.S. government authorities entered numerous treaties during this period, but later abrogated many for various reasons. Well-known military engagements include the Native American victory at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, and the massacre of Native Americans at Wounded Knee in 1890. On January 31, 1876, the United States government ordered all remaining Native Americans to move into reservations or reserves. It was the begining of the downturn of Prairie Culture that had developed around the use of the horse for hunting, travel and trading.

In the late nineteenth century, reformers, in order to "civilize" Indians, adapted the practice of educating native children in Indian Boarding Schools. These schools, which were primarily run by Christians, proved traumatic to Indian children, who were forbidden to speak their native languages, taught Christianity instead of their native religions and in numerous other ways forced to abandon their Indian identity[2] and adopt European-American culture. There are also many documented cases of sexual, physical and mental abuses happening at these schools.

Current status

There are 563 Federally recognized tribal governments in the United States. The United States recognizes the right of these tribes to self-government and supports their tribal sovereignty and self-determination. These tribes possess the right to form their own government; to enforce laws, both civil and criminal; to tax; to establish membership; and to exclude persons from tribal territories. Limitations on tribal powers of self-government include the same limitations as states.

Military defeat, cultural pressure, confinement on reservations, forced cultural assimilation, outlawing of native languages and culture, policy of the 1950s, and 1960s, and slavery have had deleterious effects on Native Americans' mental and physical health. Contemporary problems include poverty, alcoholism, heart disease, diabetes, and New World Syndrome.

In the state of Virginia, Native Americans face a unique problem. Virginia has no federally recognized tribes, largely due to the work of one man, Walter Ashby Plecker. He believed that the state's Native Americans had been "mongrelized" with its African American population. A law passed by the state's General Assembly recognized only two races, "white" and "colored". Plecker pressured local governments into reclassifying all Native Americans in the state as "colored", leading to massive destruction of records on the state's Native American community.

Even after his death, Plecker still haunts the state's Native American community. In order to receive federal recognition tribes must prove their continuous existence since 1900. Plecker's policies have made it impossible for Virginia tribes to do so. The federal government knew about Plecker's destruction of records, but refused to abolish this requirement.

In the early 21st century, Native American communities remain an enduring fixture on the United States landscape, in the American economy, and in the lives of Native Americans. Communities have consistently formed governments that administer services like firefighting, natural resource management, and law enforcement. Most Native American communities have established court systems to adjudicate matters related to local ordinances, and most also look to various forms of moral and social authority vested in traditional affiliations within the community. Gambling has become a leading industry. Casinos operated by many Native American governments in the United States are creating a stream of gambling revenue that some communities are beginning to use as leverage to build diversified economies. Native American communities have waged and prevailed in legal battles to assure recognition of rights to self-determination and to use of natural resources. Many of the smaller eastern tribes have been trying to gain official recognition of their tribal status. The recognition confers some benefits, including the right to label arts and crafts as Native American and they can apply for grants that are specifically reserved for Native Americans. But gaining recognition as a tribe is extremely difficult. To be established as a tribal groups, members have to submit extensive genealogical proof of tribal descent, yet in past years many Native Americans denied their Native American heritage, because it would have deprived them of many rights, such as the right of probate.

According to 2003 estimates, a little over one third of the 2, 8mln Native Americans in the United States live in California, Arizona and Oklahoma.

The Massachusetts legislature repealed a 330-year-old law that barred Native Americans from entering Boston on the May 19, 2005.

In August of 2005 the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCCA) banned the use of "hostile and abusive" Native American mascots from postseason tournaments [16]. The use of Native American themed team names in American professional sports is widespread, with examples such as the Cleveland Indians, the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Washington Redskins.

Cultural aspects

Though cultural features, including language, garb, and customs vary enormously from one tribe to another, there are certain elements which are shared by many tribes.

Early nomadic hunters forged stone weapons from around 10,000 years ago; Prior to contact with Europeans, most tribes used similar weaponry. The most common implement were the bow and arrow, the war club, and the spear. Quality, material, and design varied widely.

Large mammals such as the mammoth were largely extinct by around 8,000 B.C., and the Native Americans were hunting bison. The appearence of the horse and horsemanship in the 17th century greatly altered the natives' culture, making horses a central feature of their lives.

Society

The Iroquois tribes, living around the Great Lakes and extending east and north, used strings or belts called wampum that served a dual function: the knots and beaded designs tribal stories and legends, and further served as a medium of exchange and a unit of measure. The keepers of the articles were seen as tribal dignitaries.

Pueblo tribes crafted impressive items associated with their religious ceremonies. Kachina dancers wore elaborately painted and decorated masks as they ritually impersonated various ancestral spirits. Sculpture was not highly developed, but carved stone and wood fetishes were made for religious use. Superior weaving, embroided decorations, and rich dyes characterized the textile arts. Both turquoise and shell jewelry were created, as were high-quality pottery and wonderful pictorial arts.

Navajo spirituality focused on the maintenance of a harmonious relationship with the spirit world, often achieved by ceremonial acts, usually incorporating sand paintings. The colors--made from sand, charcoal, cornmeal, and pollen--depicted specific spirits. These vivid, intricate, and colorful sand creations were erased at the end of the ceremony.

Religion

The most widespread religion at the present time is known as the Native American Church. It is a church incorporating elements of native spiritual practice from a number of different tribes as well as symbolic elements from Christianity.

Gender roles

Most Native American tribes had traditional gender roles. Men hunted, traded and made war, while women cared for the young and the elderly, fashioned clothing and instruments and cured meat.

Native American music is monophonic, but there are notable exceptions. Traditional Native American music often includes drumming and/or the playing of rattles or other percussion instruments but little other instrumentation. Flutes and whistles made of wood, cane, or bone are also played, generally by individuals, but in former times also by large ensembles.

The most widely practiced public musical form among Native Americans in the United States is that of the pow-wow. At pow-wows members of drum groups sit in a circle around a large drum. Drum groups play in unison while they sing in a native language and dancers in colorful regalia dance clockwise around the drum groups in the center. Most indigenous communities in the United States also maintain traditional songs and ceremonies, some of which are shared and practiced exclusively within the community. Native American art comprises a major category in the world art collection. Native American contributions include pottery, paintings, jewelry, weavings, sculptures, basketry, and carvings.

The integrity of certain Native American artworks is now protected by an act of Congress that prohibits representation of art as Native American when it is not the product of an enrolled Native American artist.

Terminology differences

When Christopher Columbus arrived in the "New World", he described the people he encountered as Indians because he mistakenly believed that he had reached the islands known to Europeans as the Indies. Despite Columbus's mistake, the name Indian stuck, and for centuries the native people of the Americas were collectively called Indians in America, and similar terms in Europe.

However, some American Indians have misgivings about the term Native American. Russell Means, a famous American Indian activist, opposes the term Native American because he believes it was imposed by the government without the consent of American Indians.

A 1996 survey revealed that more American Indians in the United States still preferred American Indian to Native American.


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