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Long ago, streams cut three mesas from Black Mesa in what is now Arizona. It is here the Hopi, “the peaceful ones,” have lived for more than a thousand years. At first, the villages of the Hopi were located in the valley but the Hopi eventually moved to the mesa tops as protection against Spanish invaders. The houses were built of adobe and three-stories high, but never higher and in long rows. The roof of one house served as a terrace for the house above it, and ladders connected the levels.

Despite the dry climate and poor soil, corn has been at the center of Hopi life for thousands of years. But the despite the fact drought is common, the Hopi have miraculously been able to produce crops of corn, beans and squash. Gourds were grown to serve as containers and tools. The rich soil of Black Mesa that was deposited by the washes of ancient times help, as did small but permanent springs for irrigation. Garden plots were worked by the men of individual clans, who mark their territories with rocks painted with their clan symbols. Women canvassed the desert for berries, nuts and seeds.

Hunting was never held as a high priority, but sometimes the men would organize a rabbit hunt, taking the animals by tossing sticks.

To combat the heat, the men wore wide, loose cotton pants and loose shirts. Women wore knee-length handwoven belted dresses that crossed over the right shoulder, leaving the left one bare. The women also wrapped their legs in buckskin to protect them from prickly desert plants when gathering wild foods. Both wore moccasins.

The Hopi mark the winter solstice each year with a celebration that includes the telling of legends and the dance of the masked kachinas to represent the rain gods. To learn about the many different rain gods, the children are given small, carved and painted dolls that represent each kachina. The figures are for study only, and never for play.

Spanish missionaries came upon the Hopi and tried to convert them to Christianity, but failed. In 1680, the Hopi joined the Pueblo Revolt and the Spanish were driven away forever. It was during and after the Pueblo Revolt that the Hopi left the valley and moved to the mesa tops. The one Christianized village was removed.

Though the Hopi continued to live on First, Second and Third Mesa in northeastern Arizona, and remain there today, they also still owned land in the valley below. Over time, many Navajo settled on these lands and the Hopi allowed it. However, today the rights of possession are at issue.

In the 17th century, these American Indians lived in what is now New Jersey, Delaware, Eastern Pennsylvania and Southeast New York. They called themselves the Lenni-Lenape or the Lenape and were given the English name Delaware by European settlers because they lived in the vicinity of the Delaware River.  Their English name was given to several closely related American Indian groups of the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock.

The Delaware evolved into a loose confederacy of three major divisions: the Munsee (wolf), the Unalachtigo (turkey), and the Unami (turtle). They occupied the territory from which most of the Algonquian tribes had originated and so they were accorded the respectful title of “grandfather” by these tribes.

Delaware traded with the Dutch early in the 17th century.  They sold much of their land and began moving inland to the Susquehanna valley. In 1682 they made a treaty of friendship with William Penn, which he honored. In 1720 the Delaware fell victim to Iroquois attack and were forced to move into what is now Ohio.

The western Delaware sided with the French in the last of the French and Indian Wars; they took part in Pontiac’s Rebellion, and sided with the British in the American Revolution. Some of the Delaware in Pennsylvania had been converted to Christianity by the Moravians.

In 1782 a peaceful settlement of Christian Delaware at Gnadenhutten was massacred by a group of white men. Anthony Wayne defeated and subdued the Delaware in 1794, and by the Treaty of Greenville (1795) they and their allies ceded their lands in Pennsylvania and Ohio. They then crossed the Mississippi River and migrated to Kansas and then to Texas. They were later moved to the Indian Territory and settled with the Cherokee.

In 1990 there were close to 10,000 Delaware in the United States, most of them in Oklahoma and Wisconsin. Approximately 600 Delaware live in Ontario, Canada.

The Comanche, “those who are always against us,” lived in a vast area of rugged high country that today includes parts of four states.  

The country was rough, and in winter they lived in rows of tipis placed along sheltered canyons while hunting deer, elk, antelope and small game. When spring arrived and the buffalo came the Comanche moved onto the plains to follow them, setting up camp in traditional circles.

Buffalo: Food & Clothing
As to many Plains tribes, the buffalo was key to Comanche survival, providing food, clothing, shelter and tools. Comanche hunters used huge spears, sometimes 14-feet long, instead of bows and arrows to kill buffalo. They considered hunting with a lance a sign of pride.

Buffalo meat was either cooked over the open fire or sun-dried, either as jerky or pemmican (meat with nuts, marrow and fat). The Comanche also ate a mushy mixture of buffalo marrow and mesquite beans as a staple. The Comanche pemmican was often traded with other tribes for pumpkin seeds, honey and tobacco.

Men wore buckskin breechcloths and shirts. Women wore buckskin shirts and long, decorated fringed skirts. Leggings and fur-lined robes were added in winter. Unlike the moccasins of many tribes, the Comanche moccasins had soles made from the toughest part of the buffalo hide. They also applied grease to the moccasins to make them waterproof. Comanche men claimed they could identify anyone’s footprint in the snow or mud simply by observing the sole, heel fringe (which served to erase the tracks of the wearer in the dust) and toe design of the moccasin.

Religion
Religion was very important and private to the Comanche. They believe in supernatural forces and that power to deal with the mysteries of life can be obtained by seeking a vision.

Waging War
Once horses were introduced to the Comanche by the Mexicans, the Comanche joined the Kiowa for raids into Mexico and against the Apache and other Indian enemies. The Comanche also were known to take many captives to replace loss of life in the tribe. Eventually they signed an agreement that would allow safe passage of white settlers through their lands provided Texas lawmen would help confine the travelers to one trail so they would not scare buffalo away. Like most agreements, this one did not work well and the Comanche were moved to reservations.

In the days when Texas was still a republic, the Texas Rangers were formed specifically to drive Indians out of the territory, including those on reservations. Many of the Comanche escaped the Rangers by joining neighboring tribes, particularly the Kiowa. By 1868 the Comanche agreed to move to a reservation in Indian Territory. Once there, the government did not follow through on its promise to supply food to that reservation and many starved to death.

Today, the Comanche live in Oklahoma where they are successful farmers and cattle ranchers.

Comanche Language:
The Comanche people call themselves the “NUMUNUU.” “NUMU TEKWAPUHA” is the Comanche term for the Comanche language.  During World War II, 17 Comanches served as Code Talkers. Even though the Comanches are a modern and contemporary people, their heritage is important to them. The Comanche language is still spoken today, but not by all tribal members. The tribe has created language and cultural preservation programs that have produced numerous language instructional materials.

Summation:

• Current population: The Comanches have more than 13,000 tribal members.
• Traditional Comanche Homeland: Traditional Comanche homeland spanned large parts of the southern Great Plains in what are now Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Kansas.
• Homeland Today: Most Comanches live in the Lawton-Ft. Sill area of southwest Oklahoma.
• Importance of Horses: Horses are a very important part of traditional Comanche culture. The Comanches kept large herds and were well known for their exceptional horsemanship. They introduced other tribes to the use of horses.
• Tribal Government: Comanche government is elected and guided by a constitution. The Comanche government is involved in many kinds of programs, including economic development, environmental protection, and education.

Choctaw Indians
These Native North Americans formerly occupied central and S. Mississippi with some outlying groups in Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana.  Their language belongs to the Muskogean branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock.  Choctaw culture was similar to that of the Creek and Chickasaw, who were their enemies in repeated wars.  From a Native Origin myth, they are known as “People of the Mother Mound”.

The Choctaw economy was based on agriculture, and the they were perhaps the most competent farmers in the Southeast. Friendly toward the French colonists, the Choctaw were their allies in wars against other tribes.

After being forced to cede their lands in Alabama and Mississippi, they moved in 1832 to the Indian Territory in Oklahoma, where they became one of the Five Civilized Tribes.

Many Choctaw died from disease, famine and attacks from white men and hostile Indians including the Comanche, during this transition.  It famously came to be known as the “Trail of Tears”.  

Those who adjusted to the relocation were soon assimilated by religious missionaries sent to Oklahoma in an effort to “civilize” the Natives and educate them to the white man’s ways.

During the Civil War of 1860, the Choctaw sided with the Confederates, an alliance which prompted the Choctaw to become the first US Indian tribe to adopt a flag of their own.  The flag, carried by the Choctaw Confederate Soldiers, featured a circle surrounding a calumet, and a bow with three arrows symbolizing the three Choctaw Sub-Nations.

In 1990 there were over 85,000 Choctaw in the United States, with more than half living in Oklahoma.

Crow Indians
The Crow, indigenous people of North America call themselves the Absaroka, or bird people.  Their language belongs to the Siouan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock.

They ranged chiefly in the area of the Yellowstone River and its tributaries and were a hunting tribe typical of the Plains cultural area. Their only crop was tobacco, which they used for pleasure and religious purposes.

Until the 18th century, the Crow lived with the Hidatsa on the upper Missouri River.   After a dispute they migrated westward until they reached the Rocky Mountains.

The Crow developed a highly complex social system. They were enemies of the Sioux and helped the whites in the Sioux wars.

Today most Crow live in Montana, near the Little Bighorn, where tourism, ranching, and mineral leases provide tribal income. In 1990 there were over 9,000 Crow in the United States.

(CHIP-eh-wah) or Ojibwa (ow-JIB-wah)

The Chippewa, “puckered up” people, also are known as the Ojibwa. They lived west of the Great Lakes in a hard environment. The plains the Chippewa called home were carved from ancient mountains by glaciers. Many rivers were formed but the land was left too cold for growing and plagued by high winds; long, cold winters; and little rainfall.

These conditions led the Chippewa to a life of migration, traveling in clans and gathering plants, hunting and fishing along the way. When villages were built they consisted of domed wigwams made of arced saplings covered with bark or mats made of cattail leaves. As many as eight family members would often live together in one wigwam. When off on the hunt, the men would build small, wooden lodges with peaked roofs to serve as base camps along the way.

Several weeks a year the Chippewa would gather wild rice in freshwater marshes, with was their basic food staple. The event was a family affair, with the men paddling canoes through the marsh, while the women and children walked in the water, bending the rice stalks over the canoe and knocking the kernels off.

Occasionally the women would defy the short growing season and attempt small crops of corn, beans and squash.

In the spring, families would camp near groves of maple trees and tap them for the sap, which was boiled down and used for syrup and sugar.

Ojibwa women did most of the fishing, except in winter when the men would spear fish through the ice. Winter also allowed for hunting trips to favorite duck blinds, as well as the search for deer, bear, moose and other small animals for meat.

Quillwork fashioned from the quills of porcupines often adorned the buckskin clothes of the men and women. Women’s dresses were often belted or tied over one shoulder. The Chippewa also sometimes wore underclothing of woven plant fibers. Leggings, moccasins, fur robes, pointed hats of leather and mittens – often lined with rabbit fur – were added in cold weather.

Deeply spiritual, the Ojibwa believe spirits control all natural events. The spirit Manitou lies at the center of that spirituality. Manitou resides in all things – the trees, birds, sky, animals – and is particularly fond of tobacco, which the Chippewa provide through offerings and pipe smoke. Wenebajo, is central to Chippewa myth. A clever but kind trickster, Wenebajo offer the people the secrets of corn, tobacco and medicinal plants.

In time, the appearance of French trappers and missionaries and pressure from the Iroquois forced the Ojibwa to move to the south or west. Once the Chippewa left their traditional homelands, they adapted the ways of the Plains tribes. By the mid-1800s the Ojibwa were already on government reservations.

In 1854 it was discovered that valuable minerals were located on the Chippewa reservation, so the government decided to buy back that land from the Chippewa, too. The tribe decided to sell, thinking they could take the money and use it to buy back their homelands, or at least part of it.

Even today the Ojibwa are still involved in long-running court cases against the United States government in regard to their land, much of which was seized for nonpayment of taxes many, many years ago despite the fact original treaties seem to indicate no taxes would ever be levied.

Descendants of the Chippewa/Ojibwa live in Canada, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Montana and in urban centers in many states.

In the days before white Europeans came to North America, the Cheyenne, “people of strange speech,” lived in the fertile prairie and wooded hills along the banks of the Missouri and Red rivers. The area was lush with wild berries and wild game, including buffalo that came to feed on the great grasses of the area.

During the winter months, the Cheyenne set up camp in sheltered areas near water sources. The rest of the year, however, they were nomadic, following the buffalo herds. When a herd was located, camp would be set in the traditional circle and plans for the hunt got underway. Buffalo were critical to the Cheyenne, not only as a food, but as a source for clothes, tipi covers and tools.

Like most Plains Indian tribes, Cheyenne men wore buckskin breechcloths, buckskin shirts and moccasins. The women wore one-piece dresses adorned with beadwork or decoration made from porcupine quills. Fringe was often seen on Plains clothing, not only for decorative purposes, but practical as well. The movement of the fringe served as a continual “fly swatter” against the many insects of the prairie. Fringe also provided a ready source of a lashing tool should something need to be bound. In winter, leggings and buffalo robes were added for warmth.

Heammawehio, the creator of all things, was at the center of the Cheyenne belief system. Another deity was Sweet Medicine, who bestowed the Cheyenne with four arrows – two with power over men and two with power over the buffalo.

The Cheyenne have a more varied history than many North American tribes. Before migrating west to the Plains, the Cheyenne were a Midwestern woodlands tribe. They lived not in tipis at that time, but in the bark wigwams typical of the woodlands people. and ate a diet based in wild rice rather than buffalo. They next moved south, became farmers and adapted a lifestyle centered the earth lodges of agricultural peoples. By the 1700s they had found a home on the Great Plains, living in tipis and hunting buffalo.

When the Gold Rush brought a host of miners, white settlers and soldiers to their territory, the Cheyenne resisted. The army was set upon them in war over the land, and even once chief Black Kettle surrendered under a flag of truce at Sand Creek, soldiers deathly afraid of Indian hostility massacred the more than 200 Cheyenne. This brutal act rallied other Cheyenne and their allies, the Arapaho. Retaliatory raids against white settlements erupted immediately, beginning a decade of fighting between Indians and whites known as the Sioux Wars.

The Northern Cheyenne were eventually settled on a reservation in the west in what was known as “Indian Territory.” This place was crowded and barren, with soil too poor to farm and hunting land that was all played out. Having waited patiently for government supplies that never arrived, Cheyenne leader Dull Knife and his band chose to leave the reservation to hunt. Army troops tracked them down and killed everyone but a few who escaped into the mountains.

Eventually, there were approximately a mere 80 Cheyenne left. These survivors were moved to a reservation in southeastern Montana, where many still live today. Other members of the Cheyenne live in Oklahoma.

Most people recognize the name Cherokee, making the tribe one of the best known in history. The name itself means “real or principal people.”

The Cherokee lived in the dense evergreen forests among the Allegheny and Great Smokey mountains. The area was plentiful with game, fish and plant life.

Villages of homes made of wooden poles covered with woven mats were raised along the banks of rivers and streams. Typically the houses surrounded a round, community Council House used for social and religious ceremonies.

The women farmed corn, beans, squash and sunflowers which they preserved for use year-round. Gourds raised were used as utensils, storage containers and ceremonial rattles. Women and children also gathered wild grapes, berries, nuts and greens to round out the diet of game and fish supplied by the men, who caught fish in stone weirs. Sometimes the men would mix a potion of poisonous roots and bark and place it in the water. This would make the fish disoriented and very easy to catch.

Men and women wore clothes made of deerskin. Breechcloths for the men and short skirts for the women. Both added fur robes and long shawls tied over the left shoulder in winter. Men wore high leather boots too, especially when on the hunt.

Cherokee spirituality revolves around a Creator and spirits who embody the Sun, Moon and stars. Harvest ceremony is very important to any agricultural tribe, and the Cherokee hold the Green Corn Dance each August to hedge their bet for a good harvest.

While tribes had always relied heavily on oral tradition, a history passed from one generation to the next by stories and songs, in 1828 a Cherokee named Sequoyah decided to develop a native alphabet. Eventually Sequoyah teamed up with Elias Boudinot, who was educated in white schools. Boudinot served as editor for the very first American Indian newspaper, published in Sequoyah’s alphabet and English alike. The paper thrived until its publication was ceased in 1835 when the Cherokee were marched to Indian Territory hundreds of miles away.

The Cherokee had asked to be an independent nation when addressed by the fledgling American government in 1785. A treaty guaranteed that right. The Cherokee fought with the U.S. Government against the Creek Nation, with one Cherokee warrior saving the life of Andrew Jackson. While obviously grateful in the moment, Jackson eventually betrayed the loyalty of the Cherokee when he turned a blind eye to the illegal encroachment of white settlers on to Cherokee land in Georgia. If that wasn’t bad enough, he later introduced the Indian Removal Act of 1830 to Congress. This act forced the removal of all eastern tribes to land west of the Mississippi River.

The Cherokee fought their removal and won a temporary stay from the Supreme Court in 1832. But adding injury to insult, Jackson ignored the courts decision and ordered troops in to forcibly march what was thought to be the remaining 1600 Cherokee to Oklahoma. This march became known as the “Trail of Tears.” Five hundred died along the way.

This horrendous act did not stifle the staunch Cherokee, who flourished in Oklahoma. They joined the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole to form the Five Civilized Tribes, a democratic government with its own constitution, a court system and regular elections.

While the government roundup attempted to move those 1600 to Oklahoma, another 1500 Cherokee resistors fled into the Smokey Mountains and hid. Once it was safe, a white trader named Colonel William Thomas bought up some of the original Cherokee lands in North Carolina and held the deeds in his name for the Cherokee because it was illegal for an Indian to buy or own land. Thomas eventually became a U.S. senator and pushed through laws that acknowledged the rights of the eastern Cherokee, including the ownership of those lands, and even got the government to add lands, creating the present Cherokee reservation. When Thomas died, all the lands in his name were transferred to the tribe.

The Cherokee removed to Oklahoma in favor of white settlers had only a small matter of time to wait before that land was wanted by homesteaders, too. As Oklahoma sought statehood the U.S. government again divided reservation lands to sell to white settlers, leaving just a small parcel for reservation land.

Today descendants of the Cherokee still live on the reservations in North Carolina and Oklahoma.

The lakes of central New York state dot and nestle next to the Adirondacks. The lakes supported nearby forests that produced enough wild game and foliage to feed many, so it was on the banks of the Cayuga and Owasco lakes that the Cayuga tribe made its home. Fitting that Cayuga means “where the boats were taken out of the water.”

The forests also provided enough bark and wood materials for the Cayuga to create the arched, multifamily long houses for dwelling. They would take parallel rows of small tree trunks, arc them and tie them together in the center of the arc. Then the skeletal structure would be covered with elm or other bark.

Though the lands were ripe for farming and neighboring tribes did so, the Cayuga chose to be hunter/gatherers instead. In the spring, they tapped maple trees for sap they turned into syrup and sugar, storing it troughs of bark for year-round use.

Deerskin was the source for dress – breechcloths for men and short deerskin shirts for women in summer, with moccasins and capes added for warmth in winter.

January marks a month of ceremony for the Cayuga, including one eight-day event in which the False Face Society engages in healings. The “false faces” are actually carved wooden masks that depict the spirits seen in life and in dreams. The masks contain medicine of their own, they must never be left alone in dark, confined spaces and are honored by having tobacco burned inside them as an offering. The members of the False Face Society who wear the masks are said to have special powers themselves.

The Cayuga joined with the Seneca, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk and Tuscarora as the junior member of the League of Six Nations, or Iroquois Confederacy. The Confederacy was formed sometime between 1400 and 1600, the brainchild of Deganawide, a Huron mystic, and Hiawatha, a disciple of Deganawide. Its intent was to unite neighboring tribes which would stop intertribal warring. Before the addition of the Cayuga to make six nations, the high chiefs of the original five decided on a set of laws and customs that would govern the Six Nations. This worked well until the turmoil of the Revolutionary War divided the tribes once again, and shortly after the end of the war thing were so bad a vote was taken and the harmonious council fires were extinguished.

During the 1600 and 1700s members of the Six Nations fought against the French to preserve the fur trade. All six member nations tried very hard to remain neutral during the Revolutionary War but eventually the British won them over and they fought against the Americans, who as a result burned Cayuga villages to the ground following the war.

By 1789 the new white government of New York wanted the Cayuga land and the Cayuga gone. The tribe was offered money in exchange for their land, so they signed a treaty and moved to the Seneca reservation already in place on the western side of the state, or to Canada. Though they upheld their end of the deal, the Cayuga were never paid for their lands. Nothing came with the signing of the treaty, not even an explanation. Later the state made two payments and then stopped paying on the grounds the Cayuga were living on another tribe’s land or were out of the country in Canada.

To this day the tribe still petitions the state for due payment, and descendants of those originally owed live in New York and Canada.

Catawba means “people of the river,” which provides a fitting name for a people who made their home along the lush banks of the Wateree and Santee rivers running from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean.

Food was plentiful in these lands, with wild game in the dense forests and grapes, berries and nuts in the brush of the foothills. Trips to the Atlantic coast yielded fish and shellfish. The high-quality soil, mild temperatures year round and heavy rains allowed the Catawba to farm and garden with great success. Crops of corn, beans and squash were an ample food source, and gourds were grown to become useful tools such as bowls, bottles, cups and spoons.

The deep woods also provided hard wood for building square, bark-covered houses and community buildings. Like most villages, homes were generally laid out to surround a common area or square. Most villages sat along a trail that was used by British fur trappers. The Catawba traded with the British for highly prized European goods. While they welcomed white trappers, the Catawba fought neighboring tribes such as the Shawnee, Iroquois and Cherokee to keep them out of their trapping lands.

Deer skins provided the men with breechcloths and the women with short skirts, which were enhanced by capes, leggings and moccasins in slightly colder weather.

The Catawba belief system included the concept that all living things come from the sky and that good and bad spirits permeate the natural and supernatural worlds.

Though they had made their homelands in South Carolina for generations, a treaty with the American government in 1840 moved the Catawba from South Carolina to North Carolina. This ultimately left the tribe homeless, because white settlers in North Carolina refused to recognize the terms of the treaty. To put them somewhere, the government placed them on a useless strip of barren land on the west bank of the Catawba River.

Today, descendants of the Catawba are back in the traditional lands of South Carolina on a state reservation.

The area of Southern California from the San Bernadino Mountains to the mouth of the Salton Sea was home to the Cahuilla, “master boss,” Indians. Living along waterways, the Cahuilla traveled the canyons and desert harvesting a wealth of wild food sources.

Villages consisted of elongated houses with domed roofs made from brush, with the biggest belonging to the chief. The people shared common areas and a communal house built for ceremony and gatherings. Land was shared as well, but some parcels were named for specific families or individual use.

The Southern California of today offers a maze of well-marked highways, a concept that may have begun with the Cahuilla. Well-traveled paths that included stone markers connected their villages.

Accomplished hunters, the Cahuilla of mountainous areas hunted big game such as elk and deer and those in the valleys snared small animals like rabbits and other small animals. These meat sources were supplemented with wild plants, berries, roots and nuts, particularly acorns, gathered by the women and children.

The men wore buckskin breechcloths while the women favored two-sided apron-like garments made of buckskin or woven fiber. Sandals made from leather or woven fiber lashed onto the foot with leather thongs were worn instead of moccasins.

Firm believers in the supernatural, the Cahuilla believed the spirit lived on long past death. Shamans, primarily men, dealt with issues of the supernatural, while women “doctors” tended to the sick using herbal remedies.

It took a long time for Europeans to reach the shores of the Pacific and ultimately impact the Cahuilla way of life. But, by the 1800s the contact had been made and many Cahuilla were dead of small pox. Survivors were herded onto a California reservation.

On the reservation, surrounded by white teachers and missionaries, native traditions and religion were eventually outlawed. If that wasn’t bad enough, their actual way of life was threatened when white settlers on the borders of the reservation diverted the water sources to their own lands, making it impossible for the Cahuilla to farm. The government did nothing to stop the white settlers.

Today, Cahuilla descendants remain together on a small reservation in Southern California where they are trying to return to the lifestyle of their ancestors.

Living in a mild year-round climate was an asset to southeast farming tribes like the Caddo, “Chief,” Indians. The fertile valley of Louisiana’s Red River allowed the tribe to harvest two crop cycles a year, making corn, beans and squash plentiful. Caddo lands in Arkansas were as lush.

Caddo villages consisted of cone-shaped earth lodges placed in a circle around a common area used for ceremony and celebration. Foundations for the lodges were dug several feet below ground level and log frames were built to hold a covering of branches and sod.

During the big autumn hunt, the men would wear a disguise of a deer head to more effectively fool their prey. At the same time, the women and children would take to the woods to gather nuts and berries to accent the stored reserves of dried vegetable crops.

Dress for the men consisted of a buckskin breechcloth, and women wore skirts fashioned from mulberry bark. With the onset of winter they added fur robes, as buffalo, so essential to many tribes, were not available to the Caddo.

Tattooing was prevalent among the Caddo people. Ornate depictions of the nature surrounding them were scratched into the skin using simple tools of stone, bone or shell. Color was added by rubbing charcoal or natural vegetable dyes into the open wounds. Body painting was common as well. Beautifully decorated pottery bearing some of the same designs also was created.

An agricultural tribe, the sun was a main deity of the Caddo and many ceremonies were held to honor sowing and harvesting crops.

The conflict between the French and Spanish during the 1700s spilled into the lives of the Caddo when both sides commandeered villages to use as defense posts. As was so often the case, with the whites came disease unknown to the Caddo, and epidemics of small pox and measles soon wiped out many.

Those who remained were forced off their lands and moved to east Texas, but even that didn’t last. A reservation was finally dedicated for them in Indian Territory, but ultimately it, too, was divided up to sell to white settlers, leaving a much smaller parcel for the Caddo.

Today, Caddo descendants live in Oklahoma.

The Blackfoot, whose name literally means “moccasins which became black from prairie ash,” are a plains tribe who frequented the border area of northern Montana and southern Alberta, Canada. They are not to be confused with the Blackfeet, a similar name and one of the seven bands of the Lakota (Sioux).

The Blackfoot lived among the Rocky Mountains, often wintering along the banks of the Flathead River so they could hunt deer, elk, moose, antelope and bear. Like most nomadic, buffalo-hunting tribes they summered on the Great Plains, living in circles of very large and distinct tipis with lodgepoles that cleared the top of the buffalo hide covers by four to six feet. The center of the tipi circle was often the site of ceremony and hunting strategy sessions.

The summer hunt often found warriors “disguised” as animals in hides and fur so the buffalo could not detect their human scent. The buffalo were often driven into small, enclosed areas where they would be easier to kill. Sometimes “buffalo jumps” were used, before and after the introduction of the horse. Buffalo would be driven off a cliff easy enough to negotiate but high enough that the fall would kill them.

The buffalo provided the Blackfoot, too, with clothing, shelter, tools and weapons. After the hunt, the women of the tribe would dry and preserve the meat, often making pemmican (dried meat, fat and berries) that could be traded to area trappers. The women and children also scoured the woods and plains for berries, nuts and other wild foods to supplement the diet.

The men wore long buckskin leggings that pulled up to the waist and folded over a belt, creating the look of a breechcloth. Women wore long buckskin dresses that were sleeveless in summer and had sleeves to add in winter. Buffalo robes and moccasins with the buffalo fur side in for warmth rounded out the winter wardrobe.

The Blackfoot were gifted artists, with many tipis painted with exquisite designs and ceremonial clothing that was fringed and decorated with quillwork, beads and paint.

Blackfoot belief is that an old man named Napi was the creator of the world. The tribe participated in an annual Sundance ceremony and many special religious and brotherhood societies existed. Women, too, participated in all-female societies.

While the Blackfoot were forced to protect their homelands from white intruders too, they did carry on trade peacefully with European trappers for more than 200 years. Over the course of time, many Blackfoot died from disease brought by whites and by the late 1800s hoards of white settlers and sightseers flooded Blackfoot lands. Thousands and thousands of buffalo were killed for sport not need, and then left to rot. The winter of 1883 saw the starvation death of more than 800 Blackfoot because there were already no more buffalo. Those who survived gave up their lands and submitted to removal to reservations in Canada and Montana in exchange for government subsidies of cattle, money and supplies.

Today, many Blackfoot are successful cattle ranchers and farmers still living on reservations in Montana and Alberta, Canada.

The Bella Coola are one of the many tribes of the Pacific Northwest, residing along the banks of the Bella Coola River, which runs from high in the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean in British Columbia, Canada. The confluence of the river and ocean, the Bella Coola built a huge permanent village of cedar plank houses. Many of the homes and doorways were adorned with pole carvings of totems that illustrated the dwellers clan and history.

The proximity to water and an abundant supply of salmon fed the Bella Coola well, especially when the salmon would embark on their annual run upstream to spawn and the tribesmen would set their nets. The nets also produced the candlefish, which provided an essential oil for the tribe, as it was good for trade with inland tribes for furs and buckskins. When the salmon weren’t running the men would go inland to hunt game or hunt the coastline for other edibles such as seals, ducks and geese, sometimes hunting from large dugout canoes used to travel the river and ocean. During the growing season, the women would gather nuts, berries and plants to supplement the diet.

Centuries ago, the Bella Coola men often wore no clothing, and the women just a skirt made from cedar bark. With the rainy climate, all often wore capes also woven from cedar bark, sometimes several layers thick for warmth.

Life among the Bella Coola meant many a potlatch ceremony. This event celebrated important events such as marriages, births, initiations, name giving or even a death. The potlatch also was a way for the Bella Coola to honor the supernatural beings they believed haunted the earth during warm weather, but returned to their home in the sky during winter months. The masked-adorned dancers and singers would celebrate potlatch for days and often the host of the ceremony would feel compelled to outdo the last celebration by giving more impressive gifts to his guests, as “giveaway” is a large part of the event. Copper, shell and blankets were status symbols in the past, and many of these same gifts are given today.

Beginning toward the end of the 18th century and continuing for a steady year, the Bella Coola saw many changes. European explorers, a Methodist missionary, gold seekers, fur trappers and colonists from far away Norway all descended upon tribal lands during this century. Visitors brought disease and alcohol, which led to serious substance abuse problems among the Bella Coola. By the time they were put upon by the logging trade at the beginning of the 20th century, many were dead or alcoholic.

Surviving Bella Coola still reside on a reservation in British Columbia.

The coniferous forests and many lakes of central North America, particularly northern Minnesota, were the home of the Assiniboin, a plains tribe whose name means “one who cooks with heated stones.”

A nomadic tribe, the Assiniboin dwelled in the transportable tipi, easily moved to follow game. Some times villages contained as many as 200 tipis, set up in a circle, or if many, concentric circles. Many tipis were as large as 30 feet in diameter, and housed extended families or more than one family.

In the winter they hunted deer, elk, antelope and bighorn sheep from an established camp. In the spring, they gathered on the open plains to prepare for annual summer buffalo hunts. Communal ceremonies were held to ensure a good hunt and the gatherings allowed for hunt strategy sessions.

The buffalo was a critical part of the Assiniboin culture, providing their primary food source and skins to make clothes, tipi covers, utensils and tools. To supplement the buffalo, women gathered plants, nuts and berries in each camp, often making pemmican (buffalo, fat and berries dried).

The buffalo provided the skins for clothing, typical of the plains. Breechcloths for men, with leggings and shirts; long buckskin dresses for the women. Moccasins for both.

Like many plains tribes, the Assiniboin focused their spirituality on Wakan Tanka and believed everyone is born with four souls. Three of those souls die with the body and the fourth is contained within a “spirit bundle,” which is offered gifts by the friends of the deceased until the spirit is released to follow the others.

When the Europeans first encountered the Assiniboin they were a very large and influential tribe. However, by the mid-1800s thousands of Assiniboin had succumbed to small pox brought to them by whites. A broken people, those who survived disease were forced from their homelands to a reservation in western Montana. The U.S. government promised them care and food subsidies, but the food never arrived and hundreds more starved to death on the new reservation. With so few left, the reservation land was divided and sold to the few Assiniboin who remained and white settlers.

Today Assiniboin live on reservation lands in Canada and Montana.

The Arapaho, “he who trades,” inhabited eastern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming, in the tallgrass along the headwaters of the Platte and Arapaho rivers. In the winter these locales offered shelter from trees along the waterways, good water and wild game habitat for food. In summer, the tribe became nomadic, following the massive herds of buffalo.

The need for travel to follow food sources, the Arapaho, like many plains tribes, lived in tipis. Made from buffalo hides sewn together and wrapped around a circular frame of lodgepoles, the tipi was easily collapsed and packed in the event of a herd sighting or danger approaching. In the early days, the move was made on foot, with equipment and belongings being being “carried” by dogs pulling a drag cart made of lodgepoles and hides called a travois. Later, after the Spanish brought the horse to the plains, a larger version of the travois was used with the horse.

Each buffalo hunt was preceded and followed by ceremony for good luck in the hunt before and thanksgiving after, as the buffalo supplied the Arapaho with just about all their needs. Clothing, tools, food, shelter all came from the buffalo, as all parts of any animal killed was always tried to be utilized. Their diet was subsidized with berries and plants, and buffalo was often dried and pounded together with berries and buffalo fat to make pemmican, a staple of the people. Other plains tribes sometimes referred to bands of Arapaho as “dog eaters,” as it is said they ate dog flesh as routine.

Standard clothing included deer or elk skin breechcloths for the men, with hide shirts, leggings and moccasins. Women wore deer or elk skin dresses, often fringed, which provided instant access to leather lacing for lashing and also kept bugs at bay when the women walked the prairie. In winter, buffalo robes added warmth. Often clothing was beautifully adorned with porcupine quill or bead work, which the women had time to do during the long winters in the tipi.

Like most Indians of the great plains, the pipe held deep religious and social status among the Arapaho and they also shared ceremony like the Sundance and sweatlodge.

In the early 1800s some Arapaho tribe members joined bands of Kiowa and Comanche in a fight against the Cheyenne. The rest of the tribe went north and actually joined the Northern Cheyenne in their fight against the Lakota (Sioux). Eventually all the Arapaho were gathered up and placed on a reservation in Indian Territory, but the Northern Arapaho band did not like the lands selected for them, so they moved to Wyoming to live among the Shoshone on their reservation. The Arapaho who remained on the Indian Territory reservation eventually lost out totally, as their reservation was subdivided among tribe members and white settlers who wanted to buy and own the land.

Today, descendents of the Arapaho live on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming where they primarily raise cattle. Some also live in Oklahoma.

The Acoma, “people of the white rock,” are one of many pueblo cultures of the southwest. Acoma Pueblo is located in west central New Mexico. The pueblo is multi-unit, multi-family dwelling made of adobe bricks.

The Acoma pueblo village, located at the top of a 350-foot steep mesa that was carved from a huge plateau thousands of years ago by fast-moving river water. It stands imposing in the midst of barren land to the uneducated, but this place has been home to the Acoma people for more than 800 years. Its positioning provided natural defenses against enemies who would try to steal corn they raised, and the arid land actually is home to a host of dozens of plants and small, burrowing animals that provide additional sources of food.

Masters of ultilizing the small amounts of water available to them, crops of corn, beans and squash were managed by planting near springs at the foot of the mesa. Later the Spanish introduced sheep, goats and horses to the Acoma and herding and breeding became prevelent in addition to hunting for rabbit and deer.

Early clothing included buckskin clothing for men at first, but after contact with the Spanish dress evolved into the more European looking black cotten pants and shirts. Women have traditionally worn one-piece dresses that went over one shoulder and tied around the waist.

Every year the Acoma hold festivals such as dances to the rain and corn, in thanks for the blessings of the gods. Puebloan culture sacred ceremonies are held in underground chambers known as kivas, into which the participants enter by ladder. Non-Indian indivduals are not allowed into the sacred spaces.

The Acoma culture exists today despite the fact half the population was eliminated in 1599 by a Spanish explorer who did so to avenge the death of a brother who had been murdered in the area. Almost 30 years later, the Spanish Catholic church arrived to establish a mission. The Acoma did not resist, and although some conversion and missionary work took place, the missionairies worked the Acoma hard to produce crops and arts and crafts which was then sold in Europe and Mexico for large profits, not for the Acoma, but for the Spanish.

While the Spanish were present to “save the souls” of the Acoma, they were not allowed to practice their own religion. As a result, when they were asked by neighboring pueblo peoples to join a revolt against the Spanish in 1680 they did not hesitate. Though the revolt was successful, drought plagued the land the Spanish believed belonged to them. In 1689 the Spanish deeded the Acoma the land on which the pueblo village sat and some nearby grazing lands. However, within 20 years the Spanish were back, and by the 1800s, other European groups arrived, bringing with them smallpox and other killer diseases. Again, the Acoma did not resist and eventually the tribal population was reduced to fewer than a thousand people. The white population encroached on Acoma land illegally for many years until continued Acoma protests forced the United States government intervene and create protection of the land.

Today, many Acoma still reside in the old pueblo village atop the mesa, while others live in more modern communities in valley below the pueblo.

 

The forests also provided building materials such as birch bark, with which the Abenaki in the western portion of the area built longhouses, often in villages on high bluffs above the waters as protection from attack. Each longhouse, framed with saplings young enough to be cut by stone axes and covered with birch bark, could house several related family groups. The western bands would collect maple sugar sap each February, which they boiled down as is done today to make syrup and candy.

In the eastern portions of the area, where the forest and resources were less dense, eastern bands of the Abenaki made single-family, dome-shaped wigwams called witus.

Basic clothing consisted of a hide breechcloth for men and knee-length skirts for the women. In winter, animal hide or fur robes were added, often constructed as long, sleeveless coats. Moose hide provided an excellent material for making moccasins (lined with rabbit fur), leggings and caps.

During winter months, when the water monsters were trapped beneath the ice and could not hear, the members of the Abenaki would gather to hear stories of the old men – stories of good and bad beings like Gluscap, Trickster the Raccoon.

When the French began to move into the area in search of fur trade, the Abenaki chose to align themselves with them in hopes they would have some control over the influx of foreigners. During the 1600s and 1700s, the Abenaki also continually fought off advances by the Iroquois. Ultimately, however, the Abenaki succumbed to new diseases brought to them by the white man. Once the English arrived, the remaining Abenaki fled to Canada. Today, the descendents of the tribe live in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Quebec, Canada.

Here is a listing of American Indian Tribes by Region in the United States.

Northeast Tribes
Abenaki, Algonkin, Beothuk, Delaware, Erie, Fox, Huron, Illinois, Iroquois, Kickapoo, Mahican, Mascouten, Massachuset, Mattabesic, Menominee, Metoac, Miami, Micmac, Mohegan, Montagnais, Narragansett, Nauset, Neutrals, Niantic, Nipissing, Nipmuc, Ojibwe, Ottawa, Pennacook, Pequot, Pocumtuck, Potawatomi, Sauk, Shawnee, Susquehannock, Tionontati, Wampanoag, Wappinger, Wenro, Winnebago.

Northwest Tribes
Calapuya, Cathlamet, Chehalis, Chemakum, Chetco, Chilluckkittequaw, Chinook, Clackamas, Clatskani, Clatsop, Cowich, Cowlitz, Haida, Hoh, Klallam, Kwalhioqua, Lushootseed, Makah, Molala, Multomah, Oynut, Ozette, Queets, Quileute, Quinault, Rogue River, Siletz, Taidhapam, Tillamook, Tutuni, Yakonan.

Southeast Tribes
Acolapissa, Asis, Alibamu, Apalachee, Atakapa, Bayougoula, Biloxi, Calusa, Catawba, Chakchiuma, Cherokee, Chesapeake Algonquin, Chickasaw, Chitamacha, Choctaw, Coushatta, Creek, Cusabo, Gaucata, Guale, Hitchiti, Houma, Jeags, Karankawa, Lumbee, Miccosukee, Mobile, Napochi, Nappissa, Natchez, Ofo, Powhatan, Quapaw, Seminole, Southeastern Siouan, Tekesta, Tidewater Algonquin, Timucua, Tunica, Tuscarora, Yamasee, Yuchi.

Southwest Tribes
Apache (Eastern), Apache (Western), Chemehuevi, Coahuiltec, Hopi, Jano, Manso, Maricopa, Mohave, Navaho, Opata, Pai, Papago, Pima, Pueblo, Yaqui, Yavapai, Yuman, Zuni.

•• Pueblo include Acoma, Cochiti, Isleta, Jemez, Laguna, Nambe, Picuris, Pojoaque, Sandia, San Felipe, San Ildefonso, San Juan, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Santo Domingo, Taos, Tesuque, Zia.

California Indian Tribes
Achomawi, Atsugewi, Cahuilla, Chimariko, Chumash, Costanoan, Esselen, Hupa, Karuk, Kawaiisu, Maidu, Mission Indians, Miwok, Mono, Patwin, Pomo, Serrano, Shasta, Tolowa, Tubatulabal, Wailaki, Wintu, Wiyot, Yaha, Yokuts, Yuki, Yuman (California).

Plains Indian Tribes
Arapaho, Arikara, Assiniboine, Bidai, Blackfoot, Caddo, Cheyenne, Comanche, Cree, Crow, Dakota (Sioux), Gros Ventre, Hidatsa, Iowa, Kansa, Kiowa, Kiowa-Apache, Kitsai, Lakota (Sioux), Mandan, Metis, Missouri, Nakota (Sioux), Omaha, Osage, Otoe, Pawnee, Ponca, Sarsi, Sutai, Tonkawa, Wichita.

Great Basin Tribes
Bannock, Paiute (Northern), Paiute (Southern), Sheepeater, Shoshone (Northern), Shoshone (Western), Ute, Washo.

Plateau Tribes
Carrier, Cayuse, Coeur D’Alene, Colville, Dock-Spus, Eneeshur, Flathead, Kalispel, Kawachkin, Kittitas, Klamath, Klickitat, Kosith, Kutenai, Lakes, Lillooet, Methow, Modac, Nez Perce, Okanogan, Palouse, Sanpoil, Shushwap, Sinkiuse, Spokane, Tenino, Thompson, Tyigh, Umatilla, Wallawalla, Wasco, Wauyukma, Wenatchee, Wishram, Wyampum, Yakima.

This is an alphabetical  listing of Indian Tribes within the contiguous 48 states which are recognized and eligible to receive services from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs.  Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Native American Tribes: “A”
* Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
* Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation, California
* Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona
* Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas
* Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, Oklahoma
* Alturas Indian Rancheria, California
* Apache Tribe of Oklahoma
* Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming
* Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians of Maine
* Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana
* Augustine Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians of the Augustine Reservation, California

Native American Tribes: “B”
* Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin
* Bay Mills Indian Community of the Sault Ste. Marie Band of Chippewa Indians, Bay Mills Reservation, Michigan
* Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria, California
* Berry Creek Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California
* Big Lagoon Rancheria, California
* Big Pine Band of Owens Valley Paiute Shoshone Indians of the Big Pine Reservation, California
* Big Sandy Rancheria of Mono Indians of California
* Big Valley Rancheria of Pomo & Pit River Indians of California
* Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana
* Blue Lake Rancheria, California
* Bridgeport Paiute Indian Colony of California
* Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California
* Burns Paiute Tribe of the Burns Paiute Indian Colony of Oregon

Native American Tribes: “C”
* Cabazon Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians of the Cabazon Reservation, California
* Cachil DeHe Band of Wintun Indians of the Colusa Indian Community of the Colusa Rancheria, California
* Caddo Indian Tribe of Oklahoma
* Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians of the Cahuilla Reservation, California
* Cahto Indian Tribe of the Laytonville Rancheria, California
* California Valley Miwok Tribe
* Campo Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Campo Indian Reservation, California
* Capitan Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of California:
* Barona Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians of the Barona Reservation, California
* Viejas (Baron Long) Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians of the Viejas Reservation, California
* Catawba Indian Nation (aka Catawba Tribe of South Carolina)
* Cayuga Nation of New York
* Cedarville Rancheria, California
* Chemehuevi Indian Tribe of the Chemehuevi Reservation, California
* Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria, California
* Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma
* Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma
* Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota
* Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma
* Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California
* Chippewa-Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation, Montana
* Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana
* Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
* Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma
* Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California
* Cocopah Tribe of Arizona
* Coeur D’Alene Tribe of the Coeur D’Alene Reservation, Idaho
* Cold Springs Rancheria of Mono Indians of California
* Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado River Indian Reservation, Arizona and California
* Comanche Indian Tribe, Oklahoma
* Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation, Montana
* Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, Washington
* Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington
* Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians of Oregon
* Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation, Nevada and Utah
* Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon
* Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation, Oregon
* Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon
* Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon
* Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Indian Nation of the Yakama Reservation, Washington
* Coquille Tribe of Oregon
* Cortina Indian Rancheria of Wintun Indians of California
* Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana
* Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians of Oregon
* Cowlitz Tribe
* Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians of California
* Crow Tribe of Montana
* Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek Reservation, South Dakota
* Cuyapaipe Community of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Cuyapaipe Reservation, California

Native American Tribes: “D”
* Death Valley Timbi-Sha Shoshone Band of California
* Delaware Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma
* Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma
* Dry Creek Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California
* Duckwater Shoshone Tribe of the Duckwater Reservation, Nevada

Native American Tribes: “E”
* Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina
* Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma
* Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians of the Sulphur Bank Rancheria, California
* Elk Valley Rancheria, California
* Ely Shoshone Tribe of Nevada
* Enterprise Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California

Native American Tribes: “F”
* Fort Belknap Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana
* Fort Bidwell Indian Community of the Fort Bidwell Reservation of California
* Fort Independence Indian Community of Paiute Indians of the Fort Independence Reservation, California
* Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation, Nevada and Oregon
* Fort McDowell Mohave-Apache Community of the Fort McDowell Indian Reservation, Arizona
* Fort Mojave Indian Tribe of Arizona, California & Nevada
* Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma

Native American Tribes: “G”
* Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona
* Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians of Michigan
* Greenville Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California
* Grindstone Indian Rancheria of Wintun-Wailaki Indians of California
* Guidiville Rancheria of California

Native American Tribes: “H”
* Hannahville Indian Community of Wisconsin Potawatomie Indians of Michigan
* Havasupai Tribe of the Havasupai Reservation, Arizona
* Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin (formerly known as the Wisconsin Winnebago Tribe)
* Hoh Indian Tribe of the Hoh Indian Reservation, Washington
* Hoopa Valley Tribe, California
* Hopi Tribe of Arizona
* Hopland Band of Pomo Indians of the Hopland Rancheria, California
* Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians of Maine
* Hualapai Indian Tribe of the Hualapai Indian Reservation, Arizona
* Huron Potawatomi, Inc., Michigan

Native American Tribes: “I”
* Inaja Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Inaja and Cosmit Reservation, California
* Ione Band of Miwok Indians of California
* Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska
* Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma

Native American Tribes: “J”
* Jackson Rancheria Band of Miwuk Indians
* Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe of Washington
* Jamul Indian Village of California
* Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, Louisiana
* Jicarilla Apache Tribe of the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation, New Mexico

Native American Tribes: “K”
* Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians of the Kaibab Indian Reservation, Arizona
* Kalispel Indian Community of the Kalispel Reservation, Washington
* Karuk Tribe of California
* Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of the Stewarts Point Rancheria, California
* Kaw Nation, Oklahoma
* Keweenaw Bay Indian Community of L’Anse and Ontonagon Bands of Chippewa Indians of the L’Anse Reservation, Michigan
* Kialegee Tribal Town, Oklahoma
* Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas
* Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma
* Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas
* Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma
* Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon
* Kootenai Tribe of Idaho

Native American Tribes: “L”
* La Jolla Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the La Jolla Reservation, California
* La Posta Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the La Posta Indian Reservation, California
* Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation of Wisconsin
* Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of the Lac du Flambeau Reservation of Wisconsin
* Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Michigan
* Las Vegas Tribe of Paiute Indians of the Las Vegas Indian Colony, Nevada
* Little River Band of Ottawa Indians of Michigan
* Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians of Michigan
* Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians of the Los Coyotes Reservation, California
* Lovelock Paiute Tribe of the Lovelock Indian Colony, Nevada
* Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Reservation, South Dakota
* Lower Elwha Tribal Community of the Lower Elwha Reservation, Washington
* Lower Sioux Indian Community of Minnesota Mdewakanton Sioux Indians of the Lower Sioux Reservation in Minnesota
* Lummi Tribe of the Lummi Reservation, Washington
* Lytton Rancheria of California

Native American Tribes: “M”
* Makah Indian Tribe of the Makah Indian Reservation, Washington
* Manchester Band of Pomo Indians of the Manchester-Point Arena Rancheria, California
* Manzanita Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Manzanita Reservation, California
* Mashantucket Pequot Tribe of Connecticut
* Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria, California
* Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin
* Mesa Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Mesa Grande Reservation, California
* Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico
* Miami Tribe of Oklahoma
* Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida
* Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California
* Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota (Six component reservations: Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake); Fond du Lac Band; Grand Portage Band; Leech Lake Band; Mille Lacs Band; White Earth Band)
* Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Mississippi
* Moapa Band of Paiute Indians of the Moapa River Indian Reservation, Nevada
* Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma
* Mohegan Indian Tribe of Connecticut
* Mooretown Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California
* Morongo Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians of the Morongo Reservation, California
* Muckleshoot Indian Tribe of the Muckleshoot Reservation, Washington
* Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Oklahoma

Native American Tribes: “N”
* Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island
* Navajo Nation of Arizona, New Mexico & Utah
* Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho
* Nisqually Indian Tribe of the Nisqually Reservation, Washington
* Nooksack Indian Tribe of Washington
* Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana
* Northfork Rancheria of Mono Indians of California
* Northwestern Band of Shoshoni Nation of Utah (Washakie)

Native American Tribes: “O”
* Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota
* Omaha Tribe of Nebraska
* Oneida Nation of New York
* Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin
* Onondaga Nation of New York
* Osage Tribe, Oklahoma
* Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma
* Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma

Native American Tribes: “P”
* Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah
* Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community of the Bishop Colony, California
* Paiute-Shoshone Tribe of the Fallon Reservation and Colony, Nevada
* Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Lone Pine Community of the Lone Pine Reservation, California
* Pala Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pala Reservation, California
* Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona
* Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians of California
* Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine
* Pauma Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pauma & Yuima Reservation, California
* Pawnee Indian Tribe of Oklahoma
* Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pechanga Reservation, California
* Penobscot Tribe of Maine
* Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
* Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians of California
* Pinoleville Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California
* Pit River Tribe, California (includes Big Bend, Lookout, Montgomery Creek & Roaring Creek Rancherias & XL Ranch)
* Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama
* Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians of Michigan
* Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
* Ponca Tribe of Nebraska
* Port Gamble Indian Community of the Port Gamble Reservation, Washington
* Potter Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California
* Prairie Band of Potawatomi Indians, Kansas
* Prairie Island Indian Community of Minnesota Mdewakanton Sioux Indians of the Prairie Island Reservation, Minnesota
* Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico
* Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico
* Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico
* Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico
* Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico
* Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico
* Pueblo of Picuris, New Mexico
* Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico
* Pueblo of San Felipe, New Mexico
* Pueblo of San Juan, New Mexico
* Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico
* Pueblo of Sandia, New Mexico
* Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico
* Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico
* Pueblo of Santo Domingo, New Mexico
* Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico
* Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico
* Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico
* Puyallup Tribe of the Puyallup Reservation, Washington
* Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe of the Pyramid Lake Reservation, Nevada

Native American Tribes: “Q”
* Quapaw Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma
* Quartz Valley Indian Community of the Quartz Valley Reservation of California
* Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, California & Arizona
* Quileute Tribe of the Quileute Reservation, Washington
* Quinault Tribe of the Quinault Reservation, Washington

Native American Tribes: “R”
* Ramona Band or Village of Cahuilla Mission Indians of California
* Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin
* Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians of the Red Lake Reservation, Minnesota
* Redding Rancheria, California
* Redwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California
* Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, Nevada
* Resighini Rancheria, California (formerly known as the Coast Indian Community of Yurok Indians of the Resighini Rancheria)
* Rincon Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Rincon Reservation, California
* Robinson Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California
* Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota
* Round Valley Indian Tribes of the Round Valley Reservation, California (formerly known as the Covelo Indian Community)
* Rumsey Indian Rancheria of Wintun Indians of California

Native American Tribes: “S”
* Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa
* Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska
* Sac & Fox Nation, Oklahoma
* Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan, Isabella Reservation
* Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona
* Samish Indian Tribe, Washington
* San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos Reservation, Arizona
* San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe of Arizona
* San Manual Band of Serrano Mission Indians of the San Manual Reservation, California
* San Pasqual Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of California
* Sand Hill Band of Indians
* Santa Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California
* Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians of the Santa Rosa Reservation, California
* Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, California
* Santa Ysabel Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Santa Ysabel Reservation, California
* Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee Reservation of Nebraska
* Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe of Washington
* Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Michigan
* Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians of California
* Seminole Nation of Oklahoma
* Seminole Tribe of Florida, Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood & Tampa Reservations
* Seneca Nation of New York
* Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma
* Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota (Prior Lake)
* Sherwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California
* Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Shingle Springs Rancheria (Verona Tract), California
* Shoalwater Bay Tribe of the Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation, Washington
* Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming
* Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation of Idaho
* Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation, Nevada
* Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South Dakota
* Skokomish Indian Tribe of the Skokomish Reservation, Washington
* Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians of Utah
* Smith River Rancheria, California
* Snoqualmie Tribe, Washington
* Soboba Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Soboba Reservation, California
* Sokaogon Chippewa Community of the Mole Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Wisconsin
* Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado
* Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota (formerly known as the Devils Lake Sioux Tribe)
* Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation, Washington
* Squaxin Island Tribe of the Squaxin Island Reservation, Washington
* St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, St. Croix Reservation
* St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians of New York
* Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota
* Stockbridge-Munsee Community of Mohican Indians of Wisconsin
* Stillaguamish Tribe of Washington
* Summit Lake Paiute Tribe of Nevada
* Suquamish Indian Tribe of the Port Madison Reservation, Washington
* Susanville Indian Rancheria, California
* Swinomish Indians of the Swinomish Reservation, Washington
* Sycuan Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of California

Native American Tribes: “T”
* Table Bluff Reservation – Wiyot Tribe, California
* Table Mountain Rancheria of California
* Te-Moak Tribes of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada (Four constituent bands: Battle Mountain Band; Elko Band; South Fork Band and Wells Band)
* Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, Oklahoma
* Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota
* Tohono O’odham Nation of Arizona
* Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians of New York
* Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
* Tonto Apache Tribe of Arizona
* Torres-Martinez Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians of California
* Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation, California
* Tulalip Tribes of the Tulalip Reservation, Washington
* Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana
* Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians of the Tuolumne Rancheria of California
* Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota
* Tuscarora Nation of New York
* Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of California

Native American Tribes: “U”
* United Auburn Indian Community of the Auburn Rancheria of California
* United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians of Oklahoma
* Upper Lake Band of Pomo Indians of Upper Lake Rancheria of California
* Upper Sioux Indian Community of the Upper Sioux Reservation, Minnesota
* Upper Skagit Indian Tribe of Washington
* Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah
* Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah
* Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe of the Benton Paiute Reservation, California

Native American Tribes: “W”
* Walker River Paiute Tribe of the Walker River Reservation, Nevada
* Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) of Massachusetts
* Washoe Tribe of Nevada & California (Carson Colony, Dresslerville Colony, Woodfords  Community, Stewart Community, & Washoe Ranches)
* White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona
* Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco & Tawakonie), Oklahoma
* Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska
* Winnemucca Indian Colony of Nevada
* Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma

Native American Tribes: “Y”
* Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota
* Yavapai-Apache Nation of the Camp Verde Indian Reservation, Arizona
* Yavapai-Prescott Tribe of the Yavapai Reservation, Arizona
* Yerington Paiute Tribe of the Yerington Colony & Campbell Ranch, Nevada
* Yomba Shoshone Tribe of the Yomba Reservation, Nevada
* Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo of Texas
* Yurok Tribe of the Yurok Reservation, California

Native American Tribes: “Z”
* Zuni Tribe of Zuni Reservation, New Mexico

Despite the tragic events of American history in which American Indian nations were forced to always defend themselves and fight for their rights, many American Indian men and women ended up serving in all branches of the military to honorably defend their homelands and the United States.

During World War I and World War II, hundreds of American Indians joined the United States armed forces, and at the request of the U.S. government, developed and memorized a special code from their traditional tribal languages to serve as secret battle communications to confuse the enemy.

After WWII, they became known as “Code Talkers”. The Code Talkers’ role in war required intelligence and bravery and they endured some of the most dangerous battles while remaining calm under fire. They served proudly, with honor and distinction and their actions proved critical in several important campaigns. They are credited with saving thousands of American and allies’ lives. The enemy was never able to decipher the coded messages they sent.

World War Warriors
American Indians cared about their communities and the lands on which their people had lived for thousands of years. Many of them also served out of a sense of patriotism, wanting to defend the United States. For some American Indians, the military offered economic security and an opportunity for education, training, and world travel.

More than 12,000 American Indians served in World War I—about 25 percent of the male American Indian population at that time. During World War II, when the total American Indian population was less than 350,000, an estimated 44,000 Indian men and women served.

American Indian Code Talkers were communications specialists. Their job was to send coded messages about troop movements, enemy positions, and other critical information on the battlefield. Some Code Talkers translated messages into their Native languages and relayed them to another tribal member. Others developed a special code within their languages that they used in combat to send important messages.

Native Languages Used in Code Talking
During World War I and World War II, a variety of American Indian languages were used to send secret military messages. Here are the American Indian Code Talkers’ languages and the numbers of tribal members who served, if known. There were at least two Code Talkers from each tribe.

World War I: Cherokee, Cheyenne, Choctaw (15), Comanche, Osage, Yankton Sioux

World War II: Assiniboine, Cherokee, Chippewa/Oneida (17), Choctaw, Comanche (17), Hopi (11), Kiowa, Menominee, Muscogee/Creek and Seminole, Navajo (about 420), Pawnee, Sac and Fox/Meskwaki (19), Sioux – Lakota and Dakota dialects

Recruitment
In World War I, Choctaw and other American Indians transmitted battle messages in their tribal languages by telephone. Although not used extensively, the World War I telephone squads played a key role in helping the United States Army win several battles in France that brought about the end of the war. Beginning in 1940, the army recruited Comanches, Choctaws, Hopis, Cherokees, and others to transmit messages. The army had special American Indian recruiters working to find Comanches in Oklahoma who would enlist.

The Marine Corps recruited Navajo Code Talkers in 1941 and 1942. Philip Johnston was a World War I veteran who had heard about the successes of the Choctaw telephone squad. Johnston, although not Indian, had grown up on the Navajo reservation. In 1942, he suggested to the Marine Corps that Navajos and other tribes could be very helpful in maintaining communications secrecy. After viewing a demonstration of messages sent in the Navajo language, the Marine Corps was so impressed that they recruited 29 Navajos in two weeks to develop a code within their language.

After the Navajo code was developed, the Marine Corps established a Code Talking school. As the war progressed, more than 400 Navajos were eventually recruited as Code Talkers. The training was intense. Following their basic training, the Code Talkers completed extensive training in communications and memorizing the code.

Some Code Talkers enlisted, others were drafted. Many who served were under age (just 15) and had to lie about their age to join. Ultimately, there were Code Talkers from at least 16 tribes who served in the army, the marines, and the navy.

Devising the Codes
Many American Indian Code Talkers in World War II used their everyday tribal languages to convey messages. A message would just be translated into the Native language and promptly sent over the radio. These became known as Type Two Codes.

However, the Navajos, Comanches, Hopis, and Meskwakis developed and used special codes based on their languages. These became known as Type One Codes. To develop this type of code, the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers first came up with a Navajo word for each letter of the English alphabet. Since they had to memorize all the words, they used things that were familiar to them, such as kinds of animals. Obviously this type of code was far more complex and created even more difficulty for the enemy to try to decipher.

Creating Special Code Words
Navajo Code Talkers memorized 17 pages of code as part of their training. First, they had to develop a code that the enemies would not be able to translate. Then they had to memorize it. In battle, they had to transmit their messages with the utmost care and accuracy under difficult circumstances. Their work saved lives and helped the United States achieve victories. The Congressional Gold Medal, seen here, was awarded to Navajo Code Talkers in 2001.

The Navajos, Comanches, Hopis, and others also had to develop special words for World War II military terms, such as types of planes, ships, or weapons. They were given picture charts that showed them the items. After looking at the pictures, they came up with words that seemed to fit the pictures.

Sending Coded Messages
On the battlefield, the work of sending coded messages was extremely serious. Being able to keep messages secret could make the difference between winning and losing a battle or affect how many lives were saved or lost. Code Talkers did more than speak into a hand-held radio or phone. They had to know how to operate both wire and radio equipment, and often had to carry it on their backs. They had to know how to set up and maintain the electronic communication wires, or lines. Sometimes their messages were broadcast over a wide area, helping to direct bigger operations. At other times, messages related to a smaller group, such as a platoon.

Code Talkers were given the messages in English. Without writing them down, they translated and sent them to another Code Talker. After the message was transmitted and received, it was written down in English and entered into a message log book. The Code Talkers also sent messages in English. Messages were only coded when absolute security was needed.

WWII Locations
The Navajo and Hopi were assigned to service in the Pacific in the war against Japan. The Comanches fought the Germans in Europe, and the Meskwakis fought them in North Africa. Code Talkers from other tribes fought at various locations in Europe, the Pacific, North Africa, and elsewhere.

A Medicine Bag is a traditional North American Indian vessel containing various items that its owner believed held supernatural power. The medicine man or shaman of a tribe would certainly carry one.

It usually held many kinds of herbs, stones and other items used for his healing rituals. A personal medicine bag, carried by most Native American men, was not for healing others but it was used to maintain personal harmony with the physical, spiritual, and supernatural. A youth might have a small medicine bag, but as he added life experiences, he also added objects to his bag over the years. In time, he often needed to replace the bag with a larger one.

There were two very basic styles of American Indian bags: soft pouches, made of tanned animal hides (usually deerskin or elkskin), and parfleche, made of stiff rawhide.

As something that holds supernatural items, the medicine bag must also have some power of its own. Things that were added would typically include items related to a vision quest such as stones, fetishes, sweet grass, sage, bones, hair or fur, roots, leaves or feathers. Each of the items had a special significance in the life of the owner of the bag. The vision quest is a Native American ceremony that includes personal sacrifice: fasting and prayer over several days in a location isolated from the rest of the tribe. The purpose is to make contact with natural spiritual forces that help or guide people to reach their potential. The spirits would aid the individual to gather magical items to help increase knowledge and aid personal growth.

Typical powers ascribed to medicine bags and their items might include increasing hunting abilities and fighting skills, healing oneself and allies, hindering enemies and even altering the weather to more favorable conditions.

Today, non Native Americans also use Medicine Bags. They are symbols connected to personal protection and power. Some wear a small medicine bag around the neck or under the clothing, or they might hang it on a belt or saddle or carry it in a purse, pocket, knapsack or briefcase. Some people choose to sleep with their medicine bags under their pillows.

What the bag contains is considered sacred and good medicine for that person and that person alone. It can be traditional items or anything else important to the owner. Traditionally a medicine bag contains something from the plant, animal and mineral kingdoms and from the life of man. Examples:

Plant Kingdom
Sage and Sweetgrass
Corn, Bean, and Squash Seeds
Flowers

Animal Kingdom
Lock of hair, mane or tail
Bone or Tooth
Feather
Claw or Nail

Mineral Kingdom
Stone fetish
Piece of stone such as turquoise or lapis
Gem
Crystal

Man’s World
Key
Photo
Coin
Bullet

 

The buffalo played an important role in the life of Native Americans.

Before the arrival of Europeans, buffalo were hunted on foot and every part of the animal was used: food (meat), shelter (buffalo skin tipi covers), clothing (hide robes), fuel (dried buffalo dung), tools (horn spoons and bone hide scrapers), weapons (buffalo hide shields and bow strings) and equipment (rawhide envelope for storing food). They also used hooves to make glue, turned bones into ornaments and buffalo tails became a fly swish.

In the second-half of the 19th century European buffalo hunters, armed with powerful, long-range rifles, began killing the animals in large numbers. Individual hunters could kill 250 buffalo a day. By the 1880s over 5,000 hunters and skinners were involved in this trade. It is claimed that the killing of buffalo was supported by the U.S. military in order to undermine the survival of the Plains Indians.

In 1800 there were around 60 million buffalo in North America. By 1890 this number had fallen to 750. The Plains Indians (Arapaho, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Comanche, Crow, Kiowa, Sioux, Arikara, Mandan, Osage and Pawnee) had now no means of independent sustenance and had to accept the government policy of living on Indian Reservations.

In the 20th century the buffalo became a protected species and now number about 80,000.

A Brief History by Laura Waterman Wittstock and Elaine J. Salinas (from aimovement.org)

In the 30 years of its formal history, the American Indian Movement (AIM) has given witness to a great many changes. We say formal history, because the movement existed for 500 years without a name. The leaders and members of today’s AIM never fail to remember all of those who have traveled on before, having given their talent and their lives for the survival of the people.

At the core of the movement is Indian leadership under the direction of NeeGawNwayWeeDun, Clyde H. Bellecourt, and others. Making steady progress, the movement has transformed policy making into programs and organizations that have served Indian people in many communities. These policies have consistently been made in consultation with spiritual leaders and elders.The success of these efforts is indisputable, but perhaps even greater than the accomplishments is the vision defining what AIM stands for.

Indian people were never intended to survive the settlement of Europeans in the Western Hemisphere, our Turtle Island. With the strength of a spiritual base, AIM has been able to clearly articulate the claims of Native Nations and has had the will and intellect to put forth those claims.

The movement was founded to turn the attention of Indian people toward a renewal of spirituality which would impart the strength of resolve needed to reverse the ruinous policies of the United States, Canada, and other colonialist governments of Central and South America. At the heart of AIM is deep spirituality and a belief in the connectedness of all Indian people.
During the past thirty years, The American Indian Movement has organized communities and created opportunities for people across the Americas and Canada. AIM is headquartered in Minneapolis with chapters in many other cities, rural areas and Indian Nations.

AIM has repeatedly brought successful suit against the federal government for the protection of the rights of Native Nations guaranteed in treaties, sovereignty, the United States Constitution, and laws. The philosophy of self-determination upon which the movement is built is deeply rooted in traditional spirituality, culture, language and history. AIM develops partnerships to address the common needs of the people. Its first mandate is to ensure the fulfillment of treaties made with the United States. This is the clear and unwavering vision of The American Indian Movement.

It has not been an easy path. Spiritual leaders and elders foresaw the testing of AIM’s strength and stamina. Doubters, infiltrators, those who wished they were in the leadership, and those who didn’t want to be but wanted to tear down and take away have had their turns. No one, inside or outside the movement, has so far been able to destroy the will and strength of AIM’s solidarity. Men and women, adults and children are continuously urged to stay strong spiritually, and to always remember that the movement is greater than the accomplishments or faults of its leaders.

Inherent in the spiritual heart of AIM is knowing that the work goes on because the need goes on.

Indian people live on Mother Earth with the clear understanding that no one will assure the coming generations except ourselves. No one from the outside will do this for us. And no person among us can do it all for us, either. Self-determination must be the goal of all work. Solidarity must be the first and only defense of the members.

In November, 1972 AIM brought a caravan of Native Nation representatives to Washington, DC, to the place where dealings with Indians have taken place since 1849: the US Department of Interior. AIM put the following claims directly before the President of the United States:

1. Restoration of treaty making (ended by Congress in 1871).
2. Establishment of a treaty commission to make new treaties (with sovereign Native Nations).
3. Indian leaders to address Congress.
4. Review of treaty commitments and violations.
5. Unratified treaties to go before the Senate.
6. All Indians to be governed by treaty relations.
7. Relief for Native Nations for treaty rights violations.
8. Recognition of the right of Indians to interpret treaties.
9. Joint Congressional Committee to be formed on reconstruction of Indian relations.
10. Restoration of 110 million acres of land taken away from Native Nations by the United States.
11. Restoration of terminated rights.
12. Repeal of state jurisdiction on Native Nations.
13. Federal protection for offenses against Indians.
14. Abolishment of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
15. Creation of a new office of Federal Indian Relations.
16. New office to remedy breakdown in the constitutionally prescribed relationships between the United States and Native Nations.
17. Native Nations to be immune to commerce regulation, taxes, trade restrictions of states.
18. Indian religious freedom and cultural integrity protected.
19. Establishment of national Indian voting with local options; free national Indian organizations from governmental controls
20. Reclaim and affirm health, housing, employment, economic development, and education for all Indian people.

These twenty points, twenty-six years later, state clearly what has to happen if there is to be protection of Native rights, and a future free from the dictates of the country that surrounds the Native Nations. These claims clearly reaffirm that Indian people are sovereign people. Despite the history and the accomplishments, AIM is difficult to identify for some people. It seems to stand for many things at once — the protection of treaty rights and the preservation of spirituality and culture. But what else? Unlike the American civil rights movement, with which it has been compared, AIM has seen self-determination and racism differently. Desegregation was not a goal. Individual rights were not placed ahead of the preservation of Native Nation sovereignty. At the 1971 AIM national conference it was decided that translating policy to practice meant building organizations — schools and housing and employment services. In Minnesota, AIM’s birthplace, that is exactly what was done.

Over the years, as the organizations have grown, they have continued to serve the community from a base of Indian culture. Before AIM in 1968, culture had been weakened in most Indian communities due to U.S. policy, the American boarding schools and all the other efforts to extinguish Indian secular and spiritual life. Now, many groups cannot remember a time without culture. This great revival has also helped to restore spiritual leaders and elders to their former positions of esteem for the wisdom and the history they hold.

All of these actions are in concert with the principles of AIM and came into being at this time in history because Indian people have refused to relinquish their sovereign right to exist as free and uncolonized people.

1968 MINNEAPOLIS AIM PATROL : created to address issues of extensive police brutality.

1969 ALCATRAZ ISLAND occupied for 19 months. AIM was there when United Indians of All Tribes reclaimed federal land in the name of Native Nations. First Indian radio broadcasts–Radio Free Alcatraz–heard in the Bay Area of San Francisco.

INDIAN HEALTH BOARD of Minneapolis founded. This is the first Indian urban-based health care provider in the nation.

1970 LEGAL RIGHTS CENTER : created to assist in alleviating legal issues facing Indian people.(In 1994, over 19,000 clients have had legal representation, thanks to AIM’s founding of the Legal Rights Center).

1970 AIM takeover of abandoned property at the naval air station near Minneapolis focuses attention on Indian education and leads to early grants for Indian education.

CITIZEN’S ARREST OF JOHN OLD CROW: Takeover of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ main office in Washington D.C. to show improper BIA policies. 24 arrested for “trespassing” and released. BIA Commissioner Louis Bruce shows his AIM membership card at the meeting held after the release of those arrested.

FIRST NATIONAL AIM CONFERENCE: 18 chapters of AIM convened to develop long-range strategy for future directions of the movement.

TAKEOVER OF DAM: AIM assists the Lac Court Orieles Ojibwa in Wisconsin in taking over a dam controlled by Northern States Power which flooded much of the reservation land. This action leads to support by government officials and eventual settlement, returning over 25,000 acres of land to the tribe and actually providing significant monies and business opportunities to the tribe.

1972 RED SCHOOL HOUSE : the second survival school to open, offering culturally based education services to K-12 students in St. Paul, MN.

HEART OF THE EARTH SURVIVAL SCHOOL: a K-12 school established to address the extremely high drop-out rate among American Indian students and lack of cultural programming. HOTESS serves as the first model of community-based, student-centered education with culturally correct curriculum operating under parental control.

TRAIL OF BROKEN TREATIES : a march on Washington, DC ending in the occupation of BIA headquarters and resulting in the presentation of a 20-point solution paper to President Nixon.

1973 LEGAL ACTION FOR SCHOOL FUNDS: In reaction to the Trail of Broken Treaties the government abruptly canceled education grants to Heart of the Earth Survival School, Red School House and the Indian Community School of Milwaukee. Through successful legal action, the US District Court orders the grants restored and government payment of costs and attorney fees.

WOUNDED KNEE ’73: AIM was contacted by Lakota elders for assistance in dealing with the corruption within the BIA and Tribal Council, which led to the famed 71-day occupation and battle with the US. armed forces.

1974 INTERNATIONAL INDIAN TREATY COUNCIL (IITC): an organization representing Indian peoples throughout the western hemisphere at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

WOUNDED KNEE TRIALS: Eight months of trials in Minneapolis resulted from events which occurred during the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation. This was the longest Federal trial in the history of the United States. Many instances of government misconduct were revealed with the result that US District judge Fred Nichol dismissed all charges due to government “misconduct” which “formed a pattern throughout the course of the trial” so that “the waters of justice have been polluted.”

1975 FEDERATION OF SURVIVAL SCHOOLS: created to provide advocacy and networking skills to 16 survival schools throughout the US and Canada.

LITTLE EARTH OF UNITED TRIBES: HUD chose AIM to be the prime sponsor of the first Indian-run housing project.

1977 MIGIZI Communications founded in Minneapolis. The organization is dedicated to produce Indian news and information and educate students of all ages as tomorrow’s technical work force.

INTERNATIONAL INDIAN TREATY COUNCIL: establishes Non-government organization status within United Nations in Geneva and attends the International NGO conference and presents testimony to the United Nations.

AMERICAN INDIAN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE LEGISLATION: AIM introduces legislative language which is adopted, recognizing State responsibility for Indian education and culture. This legislation was recognized as a model throughout the country.

1978 FIRST EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR AMERICAN INDIAN OFFENDERS:
AIM establishes the first adult education program at Stillwater Prison in Minnesota. Programs later established at other state correctional facilities modeled after the Minnesota program.

CIRCLE OF LIFE SURVIVAL SCHOOL established on the White Earth Indian Reservation in Minnesota. The school receives funding for three years of operation from the U.S. Department of Education.

RUN FOR SURVIVAL: AIM youth organize and conduct 500-mile run from Minneapolis to Lawrence, Kansas to support “The Longest Walk.”

THE LONGEST WALK: Indian Nations walk across the US from California to DC to protest anti-Indian legislation calling for the abrogation of treaties. A tipi is set up and maintained on the grounds of the White House. The proposed anti-Indian legislation is defeated.

WOMEN OF ALL RED NATIONS (WARN): established to address issues directly facing Indian women and their families.

1979 LITTLE EARTH HOUSING PROTECTED: an attempt by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development to foreclose on the Little Earth of United Tribes housing project is halted by legal action and the US District Court issues an injunction against HUD.

AMERICAN INDIAN OPPORTUNITIES INDUSTRIALIZATION CENTER (AIOIC): creates job training schools to attack the outrageous unemployment issues of Indian people. Over 17,000 Native Americans have been trained for jobs since AIM created the American Indian Opportunities Industrialization Center in 1979.

ANISHINABE AKEENG Organization is created to regain stolen and tax forfeited land on the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota.

1984 FEDERATION of NATIVE CONTROLLED SURVIVAL SCHOOLS presents legal education seminars for educators of Indian children at colleges and law schools in Minnesota, Wisconsin, California, South Dakota, Nebraska and Oklahoma. National conference held in San Jose, California, concurrent with the National Indian Education Association Convention.

1986 SCHOOLS LAWSUIT: Heart of the Earth and Red School House–successfully sue the U.S. Department of Education, Indian Education Programs for unfairly ranking the schools’ programs below funding recommendation levels. The schools proved bias in the system of ranking by the Department staff.

1987 AIM PATROL: Minneapolis AIM Patrol comes full circle in restarting the Patrol to deal with the serial killings of American Indian women in Minneapolis.

1988 ELAINE STATELY INDIAN YOUTH SERVICES (ESIYS): developed to create alternatives for youth as a direct diversion to gang-involvement of Indian youth.

FORT SNELLING AIM ANNUAL POW WOW: With the 20th Anniversary of AIM, an annual pow wow is established at historic Fort Snelling. The event becomes the largest Labor Day Weekend event in any Minnesota state park.

1989 SPEARFISHING: AIM is requested to provide expertise in dealing with angry protesters on boat landings. Spearfishing continues despite violence, arrests, and threats from white racists. Senator Daniel Inouye calls for a study on the effects of Indian spearfishing. The study shows only 6% of fish taken are by Indians. Sports fishing accounts for the rest.

1991 PEACEMAKER CENTER: with an American Indian spiritual base, AIM houses its AIM Patrol and ESIYS in a center in the heart of the Indian community.

SUNDANCE RETURNED TO MINNESOTA. With the support of the Dakota communities, a great spiritual rebirth took place at Pipestone, Minnesota. Ojibwe nations, too, have helped make the Minnesota Sundance possible. The Pipestone Sundance has since become an annual event.

In 1991, leaders of the Oglala Lakota, Cheyenne and other nations declared independence from the United States. The group established a provisional government and began the other work of developing a separate nation.

NATIONAL COALITION ON RACISM IN SPORTS AND MEDIA: organized to address the use of Indians as sports team mascots. AIM led a walk in Minneapolis to the 1992 Superbowl. In 1994, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune agreed to stop using professional sports team names that refer to Indian people.

1992 THE FOOD CONNECTION: organized summer youth jobs program with an organic garden and spiritual camp (Common Ground) at Tonkawood Farm in Orono MN.

1993 EXPANSION OF AMERICAN INDIAN OIC JOB TRAINING PROGRAM: the Grand Metropolitan, Inc. of Great Britain, a parent of the Pillsbury Corporation merges its job training program with that of AIOIC and pledges future monies and support.

LITTLE EARTH: after an 18-year struggle, HUD secretary Cisneros rules that Little Earth of United Tribes housing project shall retain the right to Indian preference.

WOUNDED KNEE ANNIVERSARY: Gathering for a twentieth anniversary of the Wounded Knee action, Oglala Sioux tribal president thanks AIM for the 1973 actions.

1996 April 3-8, 1996 – As a representative of the American Indian Movement Grand Governing Council (AIMGGC) and special representative of the International Indian Treaty Council, Vernon Bellecourt along with William A. Means, President of IITC, attended the Prepratory Meeting for the Intercontinental Encounter for Humanity and Against Neo-Liberalism hosted by the Emiliano Zapata Liberation Movement (EZLN), held in LaRealidad in the Lancondone Rainforest of Eastern Chiapaz, Mexico.

July 27 – August 3, 1996 – The second meeting for the Intercontinental Encounter for Humanity and Against Neo-Liberalism was again hosted by the EZLN and was attended by delegates of the International Indian Treaty Council and the American Indian Movement.

1998 February 27, 1998 – 25th Anniversary of Wounded Knee, an Oglala Lakota Nation resolution established February 27th as a National Day of Liberation.

July 16-19, 1998 – 25th Annual Lac Courte Oreilles Honor the Earth Homecoming Celebration to celebrate and honor the people of Lac Courte Oreilles and the American Indian Movement who participated in the July 31, 1971 takeover of the Winter Dam and the Birth of Honor the Earth.

August 2-11, 1998 – 30th Anniversary of the American Indian Movement Grand Governing Council; Sacred Pipestone Quarries in Pipestone, Minnesota. Welcoming Feast and Celebration/Conference commemorating AIM’s 30th Anniversary.

February, 1999 – Three activists working with a group of UÕwa Indians in Colombia kidnapped by rebels. Ingrid Washinawatok, 41 (Menominee), a humanitarian, Terence Freitas, 24, an environmental scientist from Santa Cruz, California, and LaheÕenaÕe Gay, 39 of Hawaii were seized near the village of Royota, in Arauca province in northeastern Colombia on Thursday, February 25th while preparing to leave the territory of the UÕwa after a two week on-site visit. Ingrid, Lahe and Terence were kidnapped on February 25th by armed gunmen in Uw’a Indian Territory of northeastern Columbia. On March 5th, their brutalized and bullet-riddled bodies were discovered across the border in Venezuela.

July, 2000 – AIM 32nd Anniversary Conference on the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Nation Reservation in northern Wisconsin

October, 2000 – Commission to seek justice for Ingrid Washinawatok and companions established.

March 2001 – Representatives of the American Indian Movement Grand Governing Council attend the Zapatista Army of National Liberation March for Peace, Justice and Dignity, Zocolo Plaza, Mexico City.

July 2001 – 11th Annual Youth & Elders International Cultural Gathering and Sundance, Pipestone, Minnesota

August 2001 – Civil lawsuit for false arrest brought by five anti-wahoo demonstrators against the city of Cleveland

November 2001 – The American Indian Forum on Racism in Sports and Media, Black Bear Crossing, St. Paul, Minnesota

August 2002 – 12th Annual International Youth & Elders Cultural Gathering and Sundance, Pipestone, Minnesota

May 2003- Quarterly Meeting of the AIM National Board of Directors, Thunderbird House,Winnipeg, Manitoba

August 2003 – 13th Annual International Youth & Elders Cultural Gathering and Sundance, Pipestone, Minnesota

August 2004 – 14th Annual International Youth & Elders Cultural Gathering and Sundance, Honor Your Grandparents: Wisdom Keeper of Tomorrow, Pipestone, Minnesota

May 2005 – First Annual Clyde H. Bellecourt Endowment Scholarship Fund and Awards Banquet, Minneapolis Convention Center

July 2005 – 15th Annual International Youth & Elders Cultural Gathering and Sundance, International Prayer Vigil for the Earth, Pipestone, Minnesota

May 2006 – Second Annual Clyde H. Bellecourt Endowment Scholarship Fund and Awards Banquet, Minneapolis Convention Center

July 2006 – 16th Annual International Youth & Elders Cultural Gathering and Sundance, Pipestone, Minnesota

Native Americans dwellings comprised a variety of different styles based upon their environment and lifestyle. Styles included tepees (or tipis), hogans, adobe houses, long houses, wigwams (or wikkiups), earth lodges, brush shelters and lean-tos. Most of these appear to be rather simplistic in design.

However, It should be noted that some of the ancient civilizations, the dwellings of the Anasazis, for example, were quite intricate in structure and accommodations. The Pueblo Bonito community in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico housed about 1,000 people at its peak. It thrived for about 400 years after its construction in 920 A.D. The residents lived in a huge semicircular masonry structure that covered over three acres and was built around a central plaza. Although it lies in ruins today, it is believed to have contained at least 660 rooms built on a series of graduated terraces that served as streets. The entire complex rose four or five stories high in the outermost ring and was contained in the front by a wall.

Another major Anasazi find for archeologists was the ruins of Mesa Verde, a 20 mile long stretch of land perched on cliffsides 1,000 to 2,000 feet above Colorado countryside. it is cut into numerous fingershape plateaus by rugged canyons. This village was prominent for 700 years up until the late 13th century. Here, as many as 7,000 men, women and children may have lived in 200 distinct rooms. The series of houses were broken into other nearby communities: Long House with 150 rooms, Spruce Tree House with 120 rooms and scores of other smaller groups.

Prior to cliff dwellings, the Anasazi lived in pit houses, constructed of above-ground, mud covered, pole and thatch and connected to one another in long rows. 250 years later, houses were made of mortar and stone. The move to the cliffs was believed to have been precipitated as a defense measure against invaders.

It is theorized that the Anasazi eventually abandoned their cliffside dwellings due to drought and population explosion.

Here’s a look at some basic Native styles, noting that tribes often had variations in either structure or materials used.

Adobe Houses (or pueblos):
Although the word is Spanish in nature meaning sun-dried bricks composed of clay and straw, or refers to a building made of those items, Indians were using these materials to construct homes long before the Spanish arrived in the Americas. Indians used adobe to construct compact, terraced, multi-story apartment-like homes. Often, one family’s roof served as a patio for the family above. The upper stories were reached by way of wooden ladders The original Spanish term also was applied to certain Indian villages of the Southwest where the houses were popular with the Pueblos (so named because they lived in these types of villages) and Hopis. The Pueblos are descendants of the Anasazi who built great cliff dwellings up to five stories high and these structures are believed to be the basis for the later modeled adobes.

Earth Lodges:
The Pawnees lived in multifamily earth lodges built from a frame of wood covered with layers of willow branches, sod and earth. Osages, Omahas, Otos and Winnebagos usually lived in conical homes covered with earth, while the Wichitas lived in similar structures but covered theirs with grass. The layers of tangle-rooted soil with which the houses were covered had excellent insulating properties, but they weren’t very sturdy, lasting only about ten years when the weight of the dirt on the timbers took its toll and the building collapsed. Because most of their wood supplies had been exhausted over that period of time, the tribes, rather than rebuild, simply moved on to a better location.

Hogans:
Used by the Navajos, these were cone shaped structures made on a wooden frame around a log tripod surrounded by poles. The logs were covered with mud or bark and a hole at the top allowed fire smoke to escape. The structure was well insulated and waterproof.

Long Houses:
The Iroquois built wooden structures 50 to 100 feet long which could house as many as 12 families. They cleared the land nearest to a river to provide an area for cultivation, to easily see raiders and to use the wood for fuel and building. The rectangular houses were structures of poles and sheeted bark. It’s length depended upon the number of families and the width measured between 18 to 25 feet. It had a high arched roof with no windows but there were smoke holes along the roof because there might have been a dozen different fires burning inside at any one time. During snow or rain, the holes were partially or fully closed with sliding panels which severely cut down on ventilation due to the smoke and number of people within.

Along one side of the house was a ground-level platform which served as a kind of bunk bed where men, women and children slept together. Another platform was used for storage of pots, kettles, weapons and so forth. On nearby walls and rafters hung dried fruits and vegetables, tobacco and roots. The central corridor of the house is where all the cooking and socializing took place. Privacy was achieved by lowering “curtains” between compartments on the sleeping platform.

Such Iroquois villages lasted about 20 years because by then, the land was exhausted as was the wood supply. In that case, the village was abandoned in stages while a new one was being constructed at a nearby location.

Tepees (or tipis):
The name tepee is derived from a Dakota word meaning a place where one lives. Developed by Indians of the northern forests, the tepee was crafted from a pole frame then covered with birchbark, caribou hides or other materials. The basic structure was then adapted by nomadic Plains tribes, who strengthened the frame against strong winds and sewed buffalo hides together for the covering. Since the Plains Indians were constantly on the move, their homes had to be readily transportable. The supporting poles were lashed to the sides of a horse and the other pieces dragged along the ground forming a kind of triangle. The buffalo hide covering as well as most of the family’s other belongings were then carried off to the new location by the horse. This transport system was called a travois.

To guard against the strong winds that swept across the Plains, usually from the west, tepees were set up with its entrance to the east and were even titled slightly in that direction to lessen wind pressure against the rear end of it. In winter, the Indians added another layer of skin to line the inside of the tepee and act as insulation. With a central fire, the tepee stayed warm and comfortable. The fire also furnished heat for cooking and thus, an opening at the top of the tepee allowed for smoke to escape. The front of the tepee had flaps to seal in the warmth. But, in summer, they left the flaps open to allow cool breezes to circulate.

Wigwams (or wikkiups):
Built by the Eastern Algonquins, these structures were oval, dome shaped frames of wood that were covered with bark, cattail stalks, or woven mats which could then be raised to let in light. They stripped sapling trees of their branches, bark and foliage then bent them over so they could tie them together to form a series of arches. Their villages were always located on river meadows and were generally kept small. Apaches also favored this style of lodging.