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Canadian Territory created in 1999.
Nunavut comprises a major portion of Northern Canada.
Governed by the Inuit. |
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Pros: A simple way to group Natives together by similarities in their geography and therefor ways of life.
Cons: Sometimes masks the fact that each tribe is greatly different, and have their own cultural ideologies as well. |
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| Name the 10 Culture Areas |
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1.)Arctic
2.)Subarctic
3.)Plateau
4.)Northwest Coast
5.)Great Basin
6.)California
7.)Southwest
8.)Plains
9.)Northeast
10.)Southeast |
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| Name 7 Geographical Regions |
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Arctic
Mountains
Coniferous Forrest
Temperate Forrest
Plains
Desert
Pacific Coast |
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| People who were indigenous to the Western hemisphere, or are descendants of those who are. However there is not set definition. |
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| Anatomy. (Male, female, hermaphrodite) |
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| Culturally defined role the person plays in their society. |
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| Two-Spirited. Men taking on female roles, dressing in female clothing, mocking menstruation by cutting themselves, and even marrying a male. There was no stigma attached. |
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| Female version of berdaches. Woman would dress and act like a man, and even marry women. Seem to be more prevalent than male cross gender roles. |
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First Indians to migrate to North America around 14,000 B.P.
Best documented: Clovis - Big game hunters. |
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| Land bridge that formed between Asia and North America, due to much of the water being in glacial form. They either crossed the bridge following game, or to exploit ocean resources. |
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| The Europeans justification for the removal and assimilation of Native Americans. Thought their noble duty was to tame the wild lands of the west and bring "civilization" to Natives. Gained it's most momentum in 1846 after the acquisition of the Oregon territory. American's responsibility to inhabit, conquer, and settle the lands west of the Mississippi. |
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| Forced entire native cultures to relocate on to reservations to either get them away from, or protect them from whites. |
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| Indian Removal Act of 1830 |
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The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830.
The Removal Act paved the way for the reluctant—and often forcible—emigration of tens of thousands of American Indians to the West. |
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| In the 1870's the sentiment shifted from removal to assimilation. This was the attempt by the US government to "civilize" the natives in to mainstream society. This was done by forcing them in to white boarding schools, forcing them to convert to Christianity, and forcing them to convert their economies to farming. This was thought to be a human approach to the Indian "problem." |
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| Franklin Roosevelt appointed a new head of the BIA, and moved policies away from assimilation toward cultural pluralism. He also stopped the surplus sale of Native land, and tried to get some bought back to be given back to the tribes. It also allowed groups to organize and govern their own land to a certain extent. It also provided improved education and preferential employment. |
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| The American Indian Movement (AIM) |
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| A group of Indian activists, were an important part of the Indian rise to power. Their goal was to force the dominant US culture to listen to, and act in favor of Indian rights. They felt that only militant action would attract the media attention they desired. They protest, mainly for the return of Indian lands, and to alert the public to the way they were mismanaged. They have staged many public protests, but most notable was the 1972 seizure of the BIA HQ, and then the armed protest at the Wounded Knee battle site. |
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| Started out Camp Chief, but was the son of Old Joseph a chief. When the real war chief died he had to take over, the very next day he surrendered. Constantly lobbied for better treatment and even went to Washington to to to persuade government to let Nez Perce return to original home. While in Washington he made an influential speech who gained his cause attention and sympathy. He wasn't really a war leader, but the chief of a small band of Nimiipuu for whom he lobbied for their rights, and won them back. |
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| A good definition of Native American is relative. Sutton explains, in his book, that there are three general categories that could be used to classify individuals as such. One is based on the amount of pure blood the individual has, dating back to pre-Columbus days. Administrative definitions are used to serve a purpose for those who invented them. Finally there is the mystical definition which is based on gut feelings, and long told legends, even, possibly fictions ones. |
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| Ethnocentrism is important to understand in Anthropology because it can cause a false sense of superiority. It is impossible to know that you are being ethnocentristic if you are not aware of ethnocentricity itself. This being said, understanding what it is makes it possible for researches and students to put aside their biases and look at things in a different perspective, rather than holding on to a belief that their native culture is somehow better, simply because they were raised that way. |
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| Federal recognition of tribes |
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Federal recognition of tribes is basically sovereignty. This is, the government recognizing the tribes as free, and able to self-govern, thus having authority over the land and regions they possess.
o be federally recognized, a group must meet the following:
"[S]ince 1900, it must comprise a distinct community and have existed as a community from historical times;
it must have political influence over its members;
it must have membership criteria; and
it must have membership that consists of individuals who descend from a historical Indian tribe and who are not enrolled in any other tribe." The existence of persistent political relationship as an aspect of tribal relations is also emphasized. |
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| Chief Seathl was the leader of the Suquamish band in the Puget sound area. He was a successful war chief and eventually became the head chief of the band. Chief Seathl encouraged people to welcome and trade with the white people. The city of Seattle was named after him. He was an early environmentalist and argued for peace with the white folk, even when many Indians wanted to evict them. |
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| The Ghost dance was a dance was initially performed at world renewal ceremonies to bring back the dead and depleted game. It caught on, despite the fact that conditions actually worsened, and got twisted around, at one point people even thought that wearing Ghost shirts would stop bullets. This scared the government because they thought it might give the Natives moral and another reason to fight back, thus they banned the practice. It still continued underground afterward however. |
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| Ishi was a Californian Native American who survived the onslaught of American settlers. He was born into the Yana tribe, or possibly the Wintu tribe located in the northeastern mountains. When the Californian settlers began to become annoyed with Indian presence they decided to try and kill them all, and this is when Ishi’s tribe went in to hiding. They were eventually discovered and all but Ishi died. He was able to hide in the wilderness for 3 year until he eventually turned himself in and was brought back to San Francisco. There he taught anthropologists about the Native culture and eventually became a living museum exhibit. This was important because he became a symbol of human dignity, and a sign that all along the ethnocentrism of the time was wrong. |
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| The Toloache ceremonies were conducted south of SF Bay and involved the use of a strong (and sometimes fatal) hallucinogenic drug. This drug was said to facilitate contact with the supernatural world, where initiates would experience visions. |
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| The Kuksa cult’s goal was to re-create the original “sacred and pure state of the world”. This was supposedly done in secret ceremonies lead by people (usually men), and was a secret society. |
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| Geronimo was an Apache leader. He was born in 1823, and in 1850 the Mexican militia attacked and killed his mother, wife, and three children. This prompted him to join in with the resistance of the expansion of the US. He was captured, and escaped, and was captured again. He escaped a second time but found resistance to be unsuccessful and so he gave himself up under some conditions. The US government agreed to those positions, but then went back on their word. He was transported all around the US, and in doing so gained a lot of respect from people, even some of those in the military who lobbied for fair treatment. He was an important resistance leader, and in doing so he gained a lot of respect and brought the issue of Native treatment to light |
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| The katsinas were known to these people as supernatural beings that manifested themselves in human form. They had many functions, such as ceremonies to bring back, or cure things. They also roamed the towns, keeping everything lawful and in order by making threats to ill behaving individuals, including the possibility of threatening to eat small children if they misbehaved. |
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| Sitting Bull was a Souix leader. Sitting Bull was essentially a war veteran from the age of 15, and was known as a great soldier and orator. By age 35 he was the head chief of a small band of Souix. He refused to sign the treaties, because he felt the Souix should not be forced to sell their land. He participated in many battles against the US army, eventually fleeing to Canada for several years of peace. However the Canadian government refused to give the Souix land, and the US army was not allowing them to hunt where they wanted to. He was eventually captured by the US and joined the Wild West show. Upon doing so, he became somewhat of an Indian advocate and gained a lot of respect. However, when the US government asked him to forbid his people to do the Ghost dance, he refused, stating he did not know enough about the practice; This lead to a battle and his ultimate death. |
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| The Calumet Ceremonial was a plains ritual intending to bring peace to plains people. The Calumet was often referred to as a peace pipe, in which tobacco was used and passed around as a symbol of peace. It was also done to establish kinship, recognize alliances, ceremonies, or other events. |
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| The Sun Dance was a world renewal ceremony practiced by many plains groups, each following the same basic theme. It was organized by a male to thank a supernatural for a past favor. Self sacrifice for the good of the group was a common theme and the event was calm and cheerful. These sacrifices were often conducted by ripping off flesh (in one way or another, including piercing), but was completely voluntary and could be backed out of at any time. |
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Pocahontas was a native woman, who was the daughter of an Indian chief. She made friends with the Jamestown colony and eventually became an ambassador between the Natives and the English, and ended up saving John Smith from being assassinated. Powhatan (her father) did not approve of the English encroaching upon his territory and instructed them to leave, eventually trying to halt all trade. To fight back the English captured Pocahontas and forced her to assimilate. She was renamed Rebecca and married an Englishman, and had his son. Eventually she and her family sailed to England as Ambassadors, but shortly before her return home she died at the age of 22.
For non-Indians, Pocahontas is often portrayed as a “savage” turned Christian gentlewoman, An Indian princess, and a legend due to the Disney portrayal of her rejecting Native culture, and becoming a non-Indian in a highly romanticized love story.
For Indians she is a symbol of the tragedy of a woman caught in the initial stages pf struggle for power in North America. The non-Indian portrayal is very offensive. |
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| White councils were composed of mainly older men who had war experience, but favored peace. |
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| Red councils were made up of young men, wanting to prove their worth in war. |
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| The sad effect of the Removal act on the Southeast Indians is that many of the tribes and cultures were effectively wiped out during the 15-1700’s, if they were not killed they were relocated, and forced to learn to live differently. This has led to many of the Southeast Indians being assimilated in other places, and hardly any reside in the south east now. However the ones that do, are basically all assimilated in to modern day culture. Unfortunately this has led to an overall loss of many great cultures that once inhabited the area. |
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| The Great Sun, was the leader and known as a descendant of a deity to the Natchez people. As stated earlier the Southeast people believed that the sun and the moon were deities, and the Great Sun, who was essentially the Pharaoh of the Natchez was regarded as an offspring of a deity would be. |
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| The Tattooed Serpent was the war chief. He led raids on neighboring nations, and was required to pay the wives of the men lost in battle. In a nut shell, the Great Sun was the chief, and the Tattooed Serpent was the war chief. |
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Group/Culture Area: Unagan(Aleut) - Artic
Impact of Contact: Russians - fought with Unagan, eventually paid them to harvest furs for them. Sent missionaries. US - all the otters/fur were basically wiped out forced them to take up other jobs. WWII - many Unangans were relocated suffered diseases and malnutrition.
Subsistence: Permanent villages. Fishing/Sea mammals most essential. Birds were also eaten. Whaling not very common. Kyaks/boats very important mode of transportation. Underground houses, of wood/whale bone.
Social Organization: Patrilocal extended families. Divisions were: wealthy, commoners, slaves. Rich shared with commoners in times of need. Division of labor based on sex. Men - hunt, fish, war, craft tools. Women - gathered, educated, household chores, crafted clothing, baskets, and mats.
Political Organization: Headmen of house, then most powerful/largest houses headman was the overall headman.
Ideology: Primary goal, to have humans control the universe. World comprised of 3 levels. Reincarnation. Shamans, mummified dead, cured sick, blessed people, etc.
Current situation: Retained much of their culture. Opened museum for cultural revival. Many still use ocean as source of economic gain.
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Group/Culture Area: Inuit - Arctic
Impact of Contact: Remained relatively unaffected until 1900's. Diseases that also affected dogs.
Subsistence:Seal/Caribou most important. Hunted mostly game. Lived in snow houses. Transportation was kayaks, umiaks, and dog sleds.
Social Organization: Nuclear family, kinship similar to Americans today. Midwife important. Division of labor based on sex, age, competence and skill. Men hunted, built houses, used/maintained boats sleds/dogs. Made weapons/tools. Women did domestic chores, took care of babies, processed skins, manufactured clothing, houses, etc with skins.
Political Organization: 50 small bands led by headmen.
Ideology:Viewed the earth as a sky dome. Nothing stable, everything constantly being remade. Believed strongly in reincarnation and spirits. Shamans were used.
Current situation:Government subsidized, have become mainly English speaking, however there is a cultural revival in place. Many still hunt for fur for their main source of income.
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[image]
Western Woods Cree |
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Group/Culture Area: Western Woods Cree - Subarctic
Impact of Contact: Became involved in fur trade, were generally friendly with Europeans and many Cree women married the European trappers. Eventually over hunted area.
Subsistence:Hunting/fishing/Trapping. Shared with bands. Moose/Caribou most important. Fish also significant. Pant made up small % of intake. Had long term camps and short term ones. Summer traveled, winter stayed put.
Social Organization:Dogs highly esteemed, Nuclear family, bilateral kinship. Division of labor based strictly on sex. Men - hunted, fished, trapped, warfare, manufactured equipment. Women - domestic duties, set up and took down camp, carried most belongings during travel, cooked, took care of children, gathered firewood, made clothing, processed meat. Women < Dogs.
Political Organization: Generally independent, though they did have a headman.
Ideology: Mostly individual. People had spirit helpers. Shamans warded off evil spirits, death was caused by these spirits.
Current situation: 45 separate bands, independent from government. Hunting/trapping still a major economic source. Have been impacted by a number of large projects, government leased their land for oil prospecting largely impacting their hunting grounds. Cree have many lawsuits against Canadian government.
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Nez Perce/Nimiipuu |
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Group/Culture Area: Nimiipuu(Nez Perce) - Plateau
Impact of Contact: Acquired horses just before contact, and began to visit plains. Government forced them to move to reservations despite them being compliant.
Subsistence: Very much in to trading with other cultures. Horses! Hunters/gatherers. Main focus was on game, deer, elk, bear. Also ate fish, and a number of plants. Lived in permanent villages and some mobile homes as well.
Social Organization: Extended families, wealthy, middle class, slaves. Bison hunters had a special class. Division of labor based on gender. Women - gathering/domestic chores. Men - hunted, fished, trained horses, conducted war.
Political Organization: Several mostly independent bands, with headmen for each.
Ideology: Everything was supernaturally entwined, power flowed through everything. Soul would continue on to afterlife only if rituals were upheld. Had many ceremonies.
Current situation: 1/2 live on the Nez Perce reservation. Seem to be doing well economically, and have made many steps to improve their education, housing, cultural resources, and law enforcement.
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| Potlatches were important in the Northwest because the Native people set out to prove they were worthy of their rank. They were also used to celebrate new things (houses, births, names, puberty) or mourn deaths etc. There were also competitive potlatches that brought the opportunity for social mobility and “bragging rights”. Not only that but, potlatches were an important way to spread and retell the religious beliefs of the Natives. A copper is a thin sheet of cold-hammered copper that were elaborately decorated with a name and history. The Canadian government banned these potlatches because missionaries were pressuring them, this had a huge and terrible economic impact because potlatches often created jobs, and was a form of welfare for the poor. It also really hit the cultural aspect of the Natives because crafts, stories, and basic cultural knowledge was not passed down. |
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Group/Culture Area: Kwakwaka'wakw - Northwest
Impact of Contact: Started out on good terms, were trading. British tried to take over, caused tension. Suffered from diseases.
Subsistence: No agriculture, beside some tobacco. Had dogs. Salmon huge importance. Hunted sea mammals. Didn't really hunt whales, but would use beached ones. Land resources less important but did hunt land mammals. Gathered abundant plant foods.
Social Organization:Loosely patrilineal members live in a large house. Towns consist of clans. Clans consist of crest, rank, property. Recognized in 3 social classes noble, common, slaves. Men - hunted, fished, participated in war. Women - domestic chores, weaving, gathered food. Loose division of labor.
Political Organization: Complex, 30 independent political entities.
Ideology:Didn't believe in supreme, but believed everything had a spirit. Had many ceremonies, including cedar bark dance and cannibal society dramatization. Had shamans, who were ranked by power.
Current situation:Survived, still being studied. Still employed in the fishing/logging industries. Most have converted to Christianity. |
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