Native American Life Pre-Contact
True or false: Tribal Nations would sometimes settle disputes through sporting events--violent warfare was not the only option.
True. Many Tribal Nations played a version of stickball, which were known to be used to settle conflicts.
True or false: The Lenape were only hunter gatherers.
False
Christopher Columbus was sailing for Italy.
False. Although Columbus was Italian, he was sailing for the Spanish crown.
Which Tribal Nation helped George Washington and the Continental Army survive the harsh winter at Valley Forge?
Oneida Nation
Do Tribal Nations run their own governments?
Yes. Because of settler colonialism, Tribal Nations now exist as separate nations within the United States settler state that has taken their lands. But they are still sovereign nations, which means that they self-determine their own governments and citizenship processes, and have jurisdiction over their tribal lands. And they consult at the nation to nation level with the United States and can sign treaties.
What is the name of the largest pre-Columbian Native American city in what would become the United States?
Cahokia
Name any of the first Europeans to travel to Lenape homelands or make treaties with the Lenape.
Verrazano, Henry Hudson, Peter Minuit, William Penn
Columbus was the first person from another continent to make landfall in North America.
False. We have evidence that the Vikings reached the Canadian northeastern coast by at least 1000 AD. The Welsh have a legend of King Madoc sailing to America around that same time. It's also entirely possible that the Chinese, Polynesians, or other Nations with advanced sailing capabilities could have arrived long before Columbus did.
Who was the first Indigenous person appointed to be a Presidential Cabinet member?
Deb Haaland, Laguna Pueblo, Secretary of the Interior (2021-present)
Who is the largest Tribal Nation in the United States today?
The Navajo Nation
About how old are some of the oldest Indigenous archaeological sites in the United States?
Sites dated between 25000–14000 B.C.:
Cactus Hill Site, Virginia
Meadowcroft Rockshelter, western Pennsylvania
Clovis Sites, New Mexico
Cooper's Ferry Site, Idaho
Petroglyphs in Pyramid Lake, Nevada
Are we on Walking Purchase land?
Yes.
Columbus's crew threatened to mutiny.
True. After 31 days without seeing land, and finding out that Columbus had been keeping two separate travel logs to deceive them of how far they'd traveled, the crew realized Columbus was lost at sea and threatened insurrection.
What major offense against a Tribal Nation was committed by Abraham Lincoln, the same year he signed the Emancipation Proclamation?
The hanging of the Dakota 38
Do all Tribal Nations live on reservations?
No. A federal Indian reservation is an area of land reserved for a tribe or tribes under treaty or other agreement with the United States, executive order, or federal statute or administrative action as permanent tribal homelands, and where the federal government holds title to the land in trust on behalf of the tribe. Many tribal nations, especially those that were removed far from their homelands and/or forced to share lands with other tribes, do not have reservations. But they still operate on "tribal lands" where their government headquarters are located.
Did any Native North Americans have forms of writing?
Yes and no. No Tribal Nations in North America were known to have extensive written language systems like those found in central America, as they primarily relied on the oral tradition to preserve knowledge. But there were some written forms of expression documented. Multiple cultures had petroglyphs and pictographs. Ojibwe people were known to create birchbark scrolls for important recordsd. Some cultures also wrote or drew on hides or other materials like copper and slate. Wampum belts were also considered to be a form of "written" documentation.
Lenape leaders made the first treaty with the newly forming United States at Fort Pitt in 1778, helping them to win the Revolutionary War. Did the United States uphold their end of this deal?
No. The Lenape were not given their own state or representation Congress as promised. Also, Lenape Chief White Eyes, a signer of the Fort Pitt Treaty, was later murdered by an American militia officer, which was covered up by US Officials.
Columbus was arrested and put on trial in Spain after complaints about the atrocities he allowed to happen in the New World.
True. After word spread about the barbaric violent actions he was allowing his men to commit against the Indigenous peoples, he was imprisoned for a time until he was put on trial in Spain. He was eventually pardoned by the King (likely because of his wealth and/or connections), but was still stripped of his title.
Which President signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, forcing many Tribal Nations out of their homelands?
Andrew Jackson
Do all Tribal Nations use blood quantum as part of their citizenship process?
No, some use lineal descendency instead, which means if your ancestors were enrolled in a tribe, you can be too.
After contact, Native Americans become racialized by settler colonialism into one category. But their tribally specific identity was and still is political, in the sense that they all have political citizenship to a distinct Nation. Blood quantum is a racist system that the federal government imposed onto tribes in the 20th century in an effort to limit their citizenship, and basically eradicate them over time. It claims to trace the amount of "Indian blood" that an individual supposedly possesses. The government issues what is called a "Certified Degree of Indian Blood," similar to an ID card, but it tracks a Native person's fraction of blood that is derived from their ancestor who was an original enrollee of a tribe and counted on Census rolls. Those original enrollees were presumed to have full blood quantum, but this is again made up because there was no way of knowing that historically.
Many Tribal Nations were matrilineal and/or matriarchal. What does this mean?
Matrilineal means they trace their ancestry and relation primarily through their mothers (as opposed to taking a father's last name like many Euro-Americans do). Matriarchal means that their social organization respects women's roles and gives them authority or leadership. Some Tribal Nations still had male chiefs, but it was the elder women who selected these chiefs, and would be consulted on most major political decisions.
Name any of the 5 federally recognized Lenape / Delaware Nations.
Delaware Nation (Anadarko OK)
Delaware Tribe of Indians (Bartlesville OK)
Stockbridge Munsee Community (Bowler WI)
Munsee Delaware Nation (Ontario Canada)
Delaware Nation at Moraviantown (Ontario Canada)
Columbus's voyage coincided with the institution of the Doctrine of Discovery.
True. The Doctrine of Discovery was issued by Pope Alexander VI in 1493, a year after his first voyage, to legitimize colonization and the rule of European Monarchies outside of Europe. It declared that any lands uninhabited by Christians would be considered "vacant," and could then be "discovered," claimed, and subject to conquest by European powers. This ideology is responsible for a legacy of dehumanization, exploitation, and genocide of Indigenous non-Christian peoples across the globe.
What was the Indian Boarding School Era?
From the mid 1800s all the way into the 1970s in some cases, hundreds of thousands of Native American children were removed from their homes and families--often by force-- and placed in boarding schools operated by the federal government and the churches. The goal of these schools was to "kill the Indian, save the man," and assimilate Native people into American society.
They were punished for speaking their language, banned from practicing their culture, stripped of their clothing, hair and personal belongings. Often prevented from contacting their families. They suffered physical, sexual, cultural and spiritual abuse and neglect, and experienced treatment that in many cases constituted torture. Many children never returned home and their fates have yet to be accounted for by the U.S. government.
How many different Tribal Nations exist within the United States today?
574