How long have Indigenous peoples lived in North America?
For over 15,000 years, according to archaeological and oral histories.
This crop was the basis of agriculture for Indigenous peoples?
Corn
The belief that westward expansion was inevitable and righteous was called?
Manifest Destiny
What is the Doctrine of Discovery?
A papal decree giving Christian nations the right to claim non-Christian lands; it still influences U.S. law.
In 1969, these two US universities became the first in the country to offer a program in Native American studies.
University of Minnesota and University of California, Davis
How many Indigenous people lived in North America prior to 1492?
15-20 million
These three crops formed “The Three Sisters” and were the main agricultural crops for Indigenous people in North America?
Corn, beans, squash
Which US President signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830?
Andrew Jackson
Called “The Shrine of Democracy”, this US monument was built on Lakota Sioux land, scarring the sacred site.
Mount Rushmore
To this day the US military uses this term when referring to enemy territory?
Indian Country
How many Indigenous people lived in North America by 1900?
Approximately 237,000
The Haudenosaunee constitution inspired essential elements of the US Constitution?
The Great Law of Peace
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 led directly to which tragic event?
The Trail of Tears
This novel, by James Fenimore Cooper, became the official US origin story?
The Last of the Mohicans
What event took place at Alcatraz Island in 1969?
Indigenous activists occupied Alcatraz to protest broken treaties and reclaim land.
How many federally recognized Indigenous communities and nations are in the United States?
Over 500
What was one major goal of the federal boarding school system for Indigenous children?
To forcibly assimilate them by erasing their languages, traditions, and cultural identities.
What was the Dawes Act of 1887?
A law that broke up communal tribal lands into individual plots to encourage assimilation.
How many treaties, with Indigenous tribes, did the US break or violate?
Virtually all 370-500 treaties were broken or violated
What was the American Indian Movement (AIM)?
A 1960s–70s activist organization fighting for Indigenous rights and self-determination.
Indigenous people were increasingly called to prove their degree of ancestry by this measuring tactic created by the United States?
Blood Quantum
What was the motto of the U.S. Indian boarding school system?
Kill the Indian, save the man.”
What happened at Wounded Knee in 1890?
U.S. soldiers massacred around 300 Lakota people, marking the end of the Indian Wars.
This 2020 Supreme Court decision reaffirmed that much of eastern Oklahoma remains Native American land, recognizing the reservation of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
Mcgrit vs. Oklahoma
What was the Trail of Broken Treaties?
A cross-country march to Washington, D.C., ending in the occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to demand enforcement of treaty rights.