People
The term "Indian" originated with Leif Eriksson.
False: Christopher Columbus thought that he had reached the East Indies when he landed in America and therefore named the inhabitants Indians.
European settlers to America brought with them diseases to which the Native Americans had no resistance.
True: The most well-known disease was small pox, which decimated the Native Americans. Others included cholera and measles.
Totem poles are only used by Alaskan Native Americans.
False: They were used by Northwest Indian tribes located in the Pacific Northwest Coast in British Columbia and southeastern Alaska.
Native Americans used animal parts to make hairbrushes.
True: They used almost all body parts of an animal. To create hairbrushes, for example, they used porcupine quills.
Only the Native American men were allowed to ride horses and shoot weapons.
False: Many Native American women were well known sharpshooters and accomplished horsewomen.
Benjamin Franklin learned a lot about democracy by observing the Iroquois Indians.
True: The Iroquois had a chief who ruled only as long as the tribes supported his decisions. The Iroquois were a union of several tribes that had in place limits to power held in place by checks and balances, one of the corner stones of democracy for the United States of America.
There are around 350 federally recognized Native American tribes in the United States.
False: As of 29 January 2018, 573 Native American tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United States.
The primary purpose of early totem poles was to connect with nature.
False: Totem poles were made to fill a variety of needs, but their primary purposes were to commemorate people or special events. Totem poles were later created for other reasons.
Native Americans developed a red dye that was used to dye British uniforms during the American Revolution.
True: As early as the 15th century, Native Americans developed red dye called cochineal by crushing dried cactus-eating insects. By the next century, the dye became one of their most prized exports. For hundreds of years, the red dye was used by the European cloth industry to dye British uniforms during the American Revolution.
Maple syrup was discovered by Native Americans.
True: Although there are numerous versions highlighting the discovery, one of the main stories states that the chief of a tribe threw a tomahawk at a tree, sap flowed out and his wife boiled it down into a syrup.
Native Americans have never appeared on U.S. currency.
False: There is the Buffalo nickel or Indian Head nickel minted from 1913 to 1938 and the Sacagawea dollar.
Europeans brought many animals to the Americas which the indigenous people had never seen.
True: They include cattle, sheep, and pigs.
Totem poles take about 1 year to make.
False: The length of time taken to carve and paint the poles clearly depended on the size of the pole and the intricacy of the carving. Generally totem poles could take between 3 and 9 months to complete and required the skills of the experienced carver and his helpers.
Horses had been hunted to extinction by the early settlers of the Americas thousands of years before the Europeans arrived.
True: The reintroduction of the horse by the Europeans had an incredible impact on the American Indians. They utilized the horse for travel, hunting, and warfare.
Native Americans in the Southeast created the game of polo.
False: They created the team sport of lacrosse. French settlers thought the stick looked like a bishop’s crosier (hooked staff) and called it "la crosse" and introduced Europeans to the sport.
Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone, was made an honorary Mohawk chief.
True: He learned the Mohawk language, which he later translated and documented. To honor him for his work, he was made an honorary Mohawk chief.
In 1890 the last major battle between Native American Indians and U.S. soldiers occurred. It was called the Battle of Wounded Foot.
False: It was called Battle of Wounded Knee and occurred near the Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota. Approximately three hundred Sioux Indians were killed.
Totem Pole by the Northwest Native Indians were created by using the red and yellow cedar trees.
True: Cedar trees are tall, have fewer branches, the wood is soft with a straight grain so it’s easy to carve, least prone to decay and have a life span about 100 years.
New Mexico has the largest Native American population in the United States.
False: California has the largest Native American population in the United States. Some of the other states with large indigenous American populations include Oklahoma, Arizona, Texas, and New York.
Pocahontas served as an interpreter and guide for Lewis and Clark during their exploration of the Western areas of North America.
False: It was Sacajawea
Native Americans fought in World War II.
True: As many as 25,000 Native Americans actively fought in World War II. Most were in the army. One of the most notable groups was the Navajo Code Talkers, who were a special group of volunteers who created an unbreakable secret code.
Indians lived in Tepees
False: The plains Indians lived in Tepees. Native Americans also lived in wigwams, longhouses, grass houses, chickees, adobe houses, earthen houses, plank houses and igloos.