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Native American History

A silver shilling recently found at the former site of St. Mary's Fort, one of the first colonial settlements in British North America

Cool Finds

Rare 17th-Century Coin Featuring Charles I’s Likeness Found in Maryland

Archaeologists found a telltale silver shilling at the likely site of St. Mary’s Fort, a 1634 structure built by early English colonists

Game developers consulted with historians to create accurate depictions of 19th-century Native American life. The new version features playable Native characters.

Innovation for Good

New ‘Oregon Trail’ Game Revisits Westward Expansion From Native Perspective

Developers hired three Indigenous historians to help revamp the iconic educational computer game

A panel of the "Birthing Rock" petroglyphs in Moab, Utah, prior to its defacement with racist and obscene etchings

Racist Phrase Found Etched on Native American Petroglyphs in Utah

Unidentified criminals wrote “white power” and obscenities over thousand-year-old Indigenous markings on “Birthing Rock” in Moab

In this late 17th-century comb, created by a craftsperson from either the Seneca or Susquehannock peoples, two animated figures wearing frock coats—likely a Native American and a Euro-American—face one another.

A 1722 Murder Spurred Native Americans’ Pleas for Justice in Early America

In a new book, historian Nicole Eustace reveals Indigenous calls for meaningful restitution and reconciliation rather than retribution.

One of the more than 100 earthen mounds preserved at the Mounds State Historic Site

Why Did Cahokia, One of North America’s Largest Pre-Hispanic Cities, Collapse?

A new study challenges the theory that resource exploitation led to the Mississippian metropolis’ demise

Officials are unsure when the damage occurred but suspect that it took place several months ago.

Vandals Deface ‘Irreplaceable’ Native American Rock Carvings in Georgia

The unknown criminals painted the 1,000-year-old petroglyphs in bright colors and scratched their surfaces beyond recognition

The William F. Winter Archives and History Building in Jackson, Mississippi

Mississippi Returns Hundreds of Native Americans’ Remains to Chickasaw Nation

Decades after their bones were placed in storage, the state has repatriated the remains of 403 Indigenous ancestors

This month's book picks include The Light of Days, The Musical Human and Empire of Ants.

Books of the Month

Women Resistance Fighters of WWII, the Secret Lives of Ants and Other New Books to Read

These April releases elevate overlooked stories and offer insights on oft-discussed topics

None

Remembering Tulsa

The Unrealized Promise of Oklahoma

How the push for statehood led a beacon of racial progress to oppression and violence

Wildlife often reclaims areas deemed uninhabitable for humans, such as Nomans Land, Massachusetts, which was once a US Navy testing site.

This Uninhabited Island Off of Massachusetts Is Littered With Bombs

Whether wildlife refuge, research destination or restored traditional homeland, the fate of Nomans Land is up for debate

Five months after a missing panel from Jacob Lawrence's Struggle series resurfaced, a second long-lost painting by the artist—pictured here in 1957—has been found.

Cool Finds

Another Long-Lost Jacob Lawrence Painting Resurfaces in Manhattan

Inspired by the recent discovery of a related panel, a nurse realized that the missing artwork had hung in her house for decades

The Covid-19 pandemic has exacted a heavy toll on Native American communities. In this May 2020 image, Navajo elder Emerson Gorman (R) sits with his (L-R) daughter Naiyahnikai, wife Beverly and grandchild Nizhoni near the Navajo Nation town of Steamboat in Arizona.

$1.6 Million Grant Will Support Digitization of Native American Oral Histories

The newly announced funding will help universities make decades-old interviews widely available

Taken in 1922, the ship Jose Gaspar passes the Lafayette Street Bridge in Tampa during the Gasparilla Festival

The True History and Swashbuckling Myth Behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Namesake

Pirates did roam the Gulf Coast, but more myths than facts have inspired the regional folklore

The Russian warship Neva arrives in Alaska led by Alexander Baranov

Archaeologists Identify Famed Fort Where Indigenous Tlingits Fought Russian Forces

The new discovery builds upon the knowledge passed down by generations of Indigenous communities about the clash from two centuries ago

At the Totem Heritage Center in Ketchikan, Alaska, Nathan Jackson wears ceremonial blankets and a headdress made from ermine pelts, cedar, abalone shell, copper and flicker feathers.

Discover Alaska

How Native Artisans in Alaska Bring Innovation and Humor to Their Craft

In Indigenous communities along the coast, a lively artistic movement plays with tradition

The otherworldly terrain dazzled early explorers. In 1827, trapper Daniel Potts noted that geysers erupted with a roar like “that of thunder.”

The Lost History of Yellowstone

Debunking the myth that the great national park was a wilderness untouched by humans

Archaic Age people—like the ones who made these blades—arrived in the Caribbean around 6,000 years ago.

What Ancient DNA Reveals About the First People to Populate the Caribbean

New study suggests a group of migrants almost totally replaced the islands’ original population

The statue of Hannah Dunston has been vandalized with red paint in recent months

Why Just ‘Adding Context’ to Controversial Monuments May Not Change Minds

Research shows that visitors often ignore information that conflicts with what they already believe about history

An ice core extracted at El Malpais National Monument in New Mexico connects water collection to periods of droughts.

Cool Finds

Ancestral Puebloans Survived Droughts by Collecting Water From Icy Lava Tubes

In ancient New Mexico, cold air in cavernous spaces carved out by lava flows preserved blocks of ice

The books Smithsonian experts recommend this year are, in a word, relevant.

Smithsonian Scholars Pick Their Favorite Books of 2020

This wide-ranging list offers much-needed context for the issues at the forefront of the national conversation

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