People
Who was an Apache warrior and commander who fought against the United States government’s attempts to relocate Native American tribes to reservations?
Geronimo (1829-1909)
What was the last major battle between Native American Indians and the U.S. government?
1890 at the Battle of Wounded Knee near the Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota. An estimated 300 Sioux Indians were killed.
What sport was created by Native Americans in the Southeast, mainly the Choctaw?
Lacrosse
French settlers thought the stick looked like a Bishop’s crosier (hooked staff), so when they introduced it to Europe, they called it La Crosse, which became lacrosse.
Name three of the largest tribes according to the U.S. Census?
Cherokee, Navajo, Chippewa (Ojibwa), Apache, Choctaw, Iroquois, Lumbee, Pueblo, and Sioux (Lakota)
What percent of residents on any given reservation are non-Native American?
75% or more
Who helped the Lewis and Clark expedition as an interpreter and a guide?
Sacagawea (1788–1812)
A Lemhi Shoshone woman, she traveled thousands of miles with them from North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean between 1804 and 1806.
How many Native Americans served in World War I?
Over 8,000
In World War II, over 24,000 served, including the Navajo Code Talkers, who were a special group of volunteers who created an unbreakable secret code with their native language against the Axis forces.
What would pregnant Iroquois women stop eating so that their child would 'not be clumsy on land'?
Turtles
What tribe did Benjamin Franklin believe their style of government could be used for the 13 colonies?
Iroquois
The eagle on the U.S. shield is the Iroquois bald eagle—also a symbol for the Iroquois.
A young girl born on an Indian reservation has a 1 in what chance or higher that she will be abused during the course of her life?
1 in 3
Native women experience the highest rates of assault of any group in the United States. This is partly because of complex jurisdiction laws of non-Native Americans who persecute Native women on tribal lands.
Who is widely known as the “last wild Indian” in America?
Ishi (c. 1860 - 1916)
He lived most of his life outside modern culture after his tribe, the Yahi (of the Yana group) became extinct in the late 1800s because of the California Gold Rush. He lived alone in the wilderness after his family died. In 1911, starving and with nowhere to go, he walked out of the wilderness into the town of Oroville, where he would be later studied by anthropologists.
When Christopher Columbus reached the New World in 1492, there were between 2-18 million Native Americans living there. By 1900, how many are left?
250,000 in the U.S and 100,000 in Canada
What dance was believed to be the ritual dance that would help restore the old way of life before the arrival of the Europeans?
The Ghost Dance
The dance promised the return of the buffalo and communication with the spirits of the dead. Although the Ghost Dance was peaceful, army authorities outlawed its performance.
How many tribes are federally recognized as of 2025?
574
What state has the most reservations?
California with 106.
Nevada is next with 28 and Washington State has 27.
Who was a Cherokee activist and the first woman to serve as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, as well as recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998?
Wilma Mankiller (1945-2010)
What battle was the U.S. army defeated by a combined force of Lakota (Sioux), Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors?
Battle of Little Big Horn (1876)
The Native Americans were resisting government demands to move to reservations.
What is a beaded belt that serves as both a work of art and a recording of history?
Wampum
The belt is not to be worn, it is instead a symbol of events, treaties and union between two nations. Wampums were originally constructed of purple and white clamshells but were later fashioned from beads after the European settlers brought them to the colonies.
What name is used to refer to indigenous people in Canada?
First Nations
What are the two requirements for tribe enrollment according to the Department of the Interior?
Lineage and descendance from someone named on the tribe's original listing
or
Relationship to someone with is a descendant from someone named on the tribe's original listing.
Who was an Osage ballerina who became the United States’ first Native American prima ballerina?
Maria Tallchief (1925-2013)
What law authorized the current President to break up reservation land into small allotments to be parceled out to Native American individuals?
The Dawes Act (1887)
The land allotted to individuals included desert or near-desert lands unsuitable for farming. Often young children inherited allotments that they could not farm because they had been sent away to assimilation boarding schools. When individuals did not accept the government requirements, their allotments were sold to non-Native individuals.
When is the New Year for the Navajo people?
The New Year begins in October or Gháájí’.
During the fall of the first snow, young people are taught to roll around in the snow, a ritual that prepares them for the cold winter months ahead.
What is the tribal name of the Sioux?
"Dakota", meaning 'allies'
What phrase is used when the Indian Health Service determines services on reservations?
'Life or limb'
Unless something threatens a person’s life, treatment is discretionary, thus treatment for things such as alcoholism and it’s underlying causes falls through the cracks.