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Native American History

New Research

Lake Sediment and Ancient Poop Track Environmental Changes at Cahokia

The research reveals the largest pre-Hispanic settlement north of the Mexican border experienced flood and drought near its end

Cool Finds

3,000-Year-Old Quinoa Found in Ontario

The batch of charred grain is the farthest north a now-extinct version of the crop has been found

On an 1870 cover of Harper's Weekly, President Ulysses S. Grant is shown greeting the Oglala Chief Red Cloud who came to visit him in Washington, D.C.

Ulysses Grant’s Failed Attempt to Grant Native Americans Citizenship

In a forgotten chapter of history, the president and his Seneca Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Ely Parker, fought for Native American rights

The Key Marco Cat was unearthed at Marco Island off Florida’s southwestern shore in the late 19th century.

This Hand-Carved Panther Statuette Embodies a Lost Civilization’s Harmony With Nature

Calusa Indians harnessed the bounty of Florida’s estuaries with respect and grace

The bony growths found in pre-Hispanic skulls in Panama suggest communities were diving for oysters and pearls thousands of years ago.

Panama

Skulls With ‘Surfer’s Ear’ Suggest Ancient Pearl Divers in Panama

Thought to occur mainly in cold-water environments, a new study shows “surfer’s ear” bone spurs can grow even in the tropics

A pipe from the Lower Yukon region of Alaska.

North America’s Earliest Smokers May Have Helped Launch the Agricultural Revolution

As archaeologists push back the dates for the spread of tobacco use, new questions are emerging about trade networks and agriculture

It took thousands of years, but the pumpkin went from one squash among many to American icon.

How the Formerly Ubiquitous Pumpkin Became a Thanksgiving Treat

The history of Cucurbita pepo has a surprising connection to the abolitionist cause

Two of the recovered artifacts feature depictions of winged serpents

Authorities Recover Three Moundville Artifacts Stolen in Devastating 1980 Heist

Nearly four decades, ago, the theft claimed 264 Native American items dating back 800 years from the Erskine Ramsey Archaeological Repository

Two high schoolers from Akron, Ohio, stumbled upon the tool while sifting through sediment during a dig at the estate

Cool Finds

Students Unearth 6,000-Year-Old Stone Axe at Mount Vernon

The tool, which was likely used for cutting or carving wood rather than as a weapon, was crafted during 4000 B.C.

Tlingit artist Arthur B. Nelson’s Devil Fish Halibut Hook, 2012, is an impressive example of a contemporary wooden halibut hook designed to be a piece of art rather than a functional example of halibut fishing equipment. The carving depicts raven, frog, octopus, and human spirits.

The Traditional Wooden Halibut Hook That’s Still Snagging Fish Off Alaska

An Indigenous method of catching halibut on the northwest coast of North America mixes expert craftsmanship with spirituality—and the fish are biting

Buffaloes at Rest recalls a time when bison were plentiful. When the print was created in 1911, only about 1,350 remained.

The Bison Returns to the Great American Plains

After years of fierce debate, the West’s greatest symbol will again roam the countryside

A monument in lower Manhattan commemorates the "sale" of Lenape lands to the Dutch.

The True Native New Yorkers Can Never Truly Reclaim Their Homeland

Nearly 400 years after the alleged “sale of Manhattan,” some Lenape strive to reawaken their cultural heritage on the islands where their ancestors thrived

The decision to remove the statue came September 12, 2018, when San Francisco’s Board of Appeals voted for it to be carted off to a storage facility.

San Francisco’s ‘Early Days’ Statue Is Gone. Now Comes the Work of Activating Real History

The racist sculpture’s end comes at a “tipping point for the politics of Native American memory,” says the director of the American Indian Museum

Headdress frontlet, ca. 1820–40, by a Tsimshian artist, British Columbia.

Finally, a Native American Exhibition in the Met’s American Wing

91 of the objects on display were gifted to the museum on the condition that they be contextualized within the framework of America’s art history

The residents and tribal members of Isle de Jean Charles are the first federally-funded community to be moved because of environmental degradation and displacement.

Prospects Are Looking Up for This Gulf Coast Tribe Relocating to Higher Ground

As Louisiana’s Isle de Jean Charles slips away, the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw tribe plans community renewal and a museum for their new home

New Research

People Were Messing Around In Texas at Least 2,500 Years Earlier Than Previously Thought

Pre-Clovis projectile points and other artifacts at the Gault Site date back 16,000 years ago or even earlier

An artist's rendering of the Capitol dome as seen through Harvey Pratt's proposed "Warriors' Circle of Honor"

This Innovative Memorial Will Soon Honor Native American Veterans

The National Museum of the American Indian has reached a final decision on which design to implement

Dancing during the last day of Hatun Puncha.

Andean Solstice Celebrations Capture the Wondrous Churn of Spacetime

Exploring the similarities and differences between Indigenous and Western cosmologies

Playing with Native American instruments, fifth-graders from New York City Public School 276 play with percussion instruments made of pelts and other fibers.

How Native Civilizations Innovated to Conquer the Wilderness

A new activity center at the American Indian Museum in NYC sheds light on the original know-how of the Americas

How Come U.S. Currency Never Changes Its Face and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

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