NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY FOR DUMMIES
Detailed Table of Contents
Introduction (6 pages)
About this Book 1
Conventions Used in This Book
What You’re Not to Read
Foolish Assumptions
How this Book is Organized
Part I: America Before It Was “America”
Part II: Native Americans Before the Europeans
Part III: Interacting With Others
Part IV: Native American Lifestyle and Culture
Part V: In a Modern World Not of Their Making
Part VI: The Part of Tens
Icons Used in This Book
Where to Go From Here
PAGE COUNT = 356 (approximately 12 pages over)
PART I: AMERICA BEFORE IT WAS “AMERICA” (2 pgs) (88 pgs total)
The migrations into the North American land mass, the development of cultures and
societies, and all taking place centuries before Columbus set sail.
Chapter 1: Traditional Dummies Chaper 1 (8 pages)
Overview, touching on everything that will be covered in the book.
Chapter 2: The Great Migrations (16 pages)
The emigration of native peoples from Asia to North America. The latest findings, and the
unanswered questions.
H1 How’d Everyone Get Here Anyway?
H2 Beringia: A Bridge to Somewhere
H2 Arriving by Water?
H2 Other Theories
H3 The Chinese
H3 The Celts
H1 The Three Immigration Waves
H2 Clovis and Folsom
H2 Na-Dene
H2 The Inuits and Aleuts
H1 The Stages of the Earliest Americans
H2 The Paleoindian Period
H3 Finding Kennewick Man
H3 The battle over Kennewick Man
H2 The Archaic Period
H2 The Plano Period
H2 The Pueblo Periods
H3 Classic Pueblo
H3 Regressive Pueblo
H3 Modern Pueblo
Chapter 3: The Development of the Ancient Cultures (14 pages)
Ancient cultures left behind evidence of who they were and how they lived.
H1 c. 11,500 B.C.
H2 Clovis
H2 Folsom
H1 200 B.C. to 400 A.D.
H2 Hopewell
H2 Adena
H2 Mississippian
H1 200 A.D. to 1450
H2 Hohokam
H3 The Pioneer Period
H3 The Colonial Period
H3 The Sedentary Period
H3 The Soho Phase
H3 The Civano Phase
H2 The Mogollon
H2 The Anasazi
Chapter 4: Hardly a Vast Wasteland: America Before 1492 (12 pages)
Columbus didn’t discover anything ... he simply arrived at a continent already teeming
with life.
H1 Boundless Resources Everywhere
H2 Land
H2 Game
H2 Vegetation
H1 Cultural Diversity That Was Hardly Primitive
H2 Debunking Pre-Columbian Stereotypes
H2 The modern views of ancient times: can’t we all just get along?
Chapter 5: Settling Down: Tribal Settlements after the Great Migrations (18 pages)
As function follows form, so did natural resources dictate migration patterns for Native
Americans.
H1 The Major Culture Areas
H2: What’s a culture area?
H1 The Arctic & the Subarctic
H2 Hunting caribou
H1 California & the Southwest
H2 Gathering seeds
H1 The Eastern Woodlands & the Southeast
H2 Hunters and gatherers
H2 Master farmers (with some hunting thrown in)
H1 The Great Basin & the Southwest
H2 Nomadic hunters
H2 Farms and herds
H1 The Northwest Coast
H2 Fishing for survival
H1 The Plains & the Plateau
H2 The big game hunters
H2 Hunters and master fishermen
H1 Present-Day Subsistence Practices
Chapter 6: The Five Civilized Tribes & Other Major Tribes of the Past (18 pages)
The largest and most influential tribal nations and the differences between them.
H1 Choctaw: The Code Talkers
H1 Cherokees & the Trail of Tears
H1 Chickasaw: They were called the Warriors
H1 Creek: The descendants of the Mound Builders
H1 Seminole: The Unconquered People
H1 Other Major Tribes
H2 Navajo: “The People”
H2 Lakotas, Nakotas, and Santee
H2 Chippewa: We are Ojibwa
H2 Pueblo: The first apartment buildings
H2 Apache: Uncertain origins
H2 Iroquois: Call us Haudenosaunee
H2 Arctic: The Tlingit
PART II: INTERACTING WITH OTHERS (2 pgs) (94 pages total)
From the earliest explorers through today’s Bureau of Indian Affairs, Native peoples
have had to contend with the compassionate and the nefarious; the true and the
treacherous.
Chapter 7: “Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue” (12 pages)
Brave explorer or slave trader? Christopher Columbus still is a touchy subject for Native
peoples. Spain sent Christopher Columbus on an expedition in 1492 to find a new route
to India. He found North America instead. And natives. And gold.
H1 Born to Boat
H2 Columbus’s “Google Maps”
H1 Columbus’s First Voyage
H2 The Capitulations of Santa Fe
H1 Wiping Out the Welcoming Arawaks
H2 “We could subjugate them all”
H2 The Requiremento and Other Bull(s)
SIDEBAR: The Burning of the Bulls
H1 Columbus’s Three Other Voyages
H2 Voyage 2: The first slave roundup
H2 Voyage 3: Mutiny and Insurgency
H2 Voyage 4: Stranded on Jamaica
H1 The Impact of Christopher Columbus
H2 So, was Columbus a genocidal invader or not?
Chapter 8: The Spanish and French Stake Their Claim (20 pages)
Spain and France dominated the New World and its people in the days after Columbus.
H1 Columbus Led the Way
H1 The Major Explorers After Columbus
H2 Amerigo Vespucci: America’s namesake
H2 Ponce de Leon: Conquering the Tainos
H2 Hernando Cortez: Conquering the Aztecs
H2 Francesco Pizarro: Conquering the Incas
H2: Jacques Cartier: Discovering Canada & the Great Lakes
H2: Hernando De Soto: Creating hostile relations with Southeastern Natives
H2: Francisco Vasquez de Coronado: Finding the Grand Canyon
H2: Marquette, Jolliet, and La Salle: Charting the Mississippi
H1 Leaving the Native People Reeling
Chapter 9: Native American Chiefs & Notable Women (22 pages)
The most important and influential players in the story of the Native Americans in the
17th and 18th centuries
H1 Legendary Indian Leaders
H1 The 16th and 17th Centuries
H2 Powhatan (Powhatan, c.1547-c. 1618)
H2 Squanto (Pawtuxet, c. 1580s-1622)
H1 The 17th - 18th Century
H2 Pontiac (Ottawa, c.1712/1725-1769)
H2 Tecumseh (Shawnee, 1768-1813)
H2 Chief Seattle (Suquamish, c. 1786-1866)
H1 The 19th Century
H2 Cochise (Chiricahua Apache, c. 1815-1874)
H2 Geronimo (Apache, 1829-1909)
H2 Sitting Bull (Sioux, Lakota, c. 1831-1890)
H2 Crazy Horse (Sioux, Lakota, 1840-1877)
H2 Chief Joseph (Nez Perce, 1840-1904)
H1 Notable Indian Women: Not Stay-At-Wigwam Ladies
H2 Pocahontas (Powhatan)
H2 Sacagawea (Shoshone)
H2 Wilma Mankiller (Cherokee)
H2 Ada Deer (Menominee)
Chapter 10: Battle Cries and Peace Pipes (24 pages)
Important battles, both Indians fighting Anglos, and Indians fighting Indians.
H1 A Peaceful People at War
H2 Weapons of Choice
H2 War parties weren’t no parties
H1 The Colonial Era from 1621 - 1775
H2 What happened at the first Thanksgiving?
H2 King Philip’s War
H2 The French & Indian Wars
H2 Pontiac’s Rebellion
H1 The American Revolution
H2 The Indian View of the American Revolution
H2 Choosing sides
H1 The War of 1812
H1 Indians in the Civil War
H1 19th Century Wars with the Indians
H2 The Sand Creek Massacre
H2 The Black Hills War
H2 The Battle of Little Big Horn
H2 The Battle of Wounded Knee
H2 Chief Joseph and The Nez Perce
H1 The Lousiana Purchase and what it meant - and didn’t mean
H2 Westward Ho
H2 Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery
H1 Native Americans in America’s 20th Century Wars
Chapter 11: Delving Into the Details of U.S.-Indian Relations (14 pages)
The U.S. executed hundreds of treaties with Native peoples. Many were blatantly ignored.
H1 Tribal Sovereignty: What Does It Mean?
H2 Finders, Keepers
H1 The 7 Ways the U.S. Has “Dealt” with Indians
H2 Treaties (1608-1830)
H3 Such a Deal
H3 The Treaty with the Delware Indians
H3 The Treaty of New Echota
H2 Removal (1830-1850)
H3 President Andrew Jackson’s Pleasure
SIDEBAR: Appeal of the Cherokee Nation
H2 Reservations (1850-1871)
H2 Assimilation (1871-1928)
H3 The Meriam Report of 1928
H2 Reorganization (1928-1942)
SIDEBAR: The 7 Types of Indian Lands
H2 Termination (1943-1968)
H2 Self-determination (1968-Present)
SIDEBAR: Sacred Lands
H2 Insisting on Identity
H1 Major Recent Acts of Congress Concerning Indiands
H2 The Indian Self Determination and Education Assistance Act (1975)
H2 The Indian Health Care Improvement Act (1978)
H2 The American Indian Religious Freedom Act (1978)
H2 The Indian Child Welfare Act (1978)
H2 The Native American Graves and Repatriation Act (1990)
PART III: WORKING FOR A LIVING (2 pgs) (58 pages total)
The different ways the Native peoples lived and worked was unimaginable to the
Europeans, and surviving writings are replete with their admiration of what today we
would call their “lifestyle.”
Chapter 12: Mother
Love (16 pages)
Hunting, farming, fishing, and trading.
H1 A Mother Feeds Her Children
H1 Food on Four Legs
H2 Hunting for survival
H2 Hunting practices today
H3 Sport and trophy hunting
H3 Subsistence hunting
H3 Commercial hunting
H1 Making Good Use of Rich & Fertile Land
H2 The first crops
H2 Do Native Americans today still farm?
SIDEBAR: The Keepseagle Case
H1 Seeking Seafood
H2 Cod is God
H2 Fishing for fin and profit
H1 The Skin Biz: the lucrative fur trade
Chapter 13: Dressing for Purpose and Pride (12 pages)
Native American clothing was both functional and ceremonial, and used as its source the
natural resources around them.
H1 Clad to Hunt
H2 Loincloths
H2 Deerskin shirts
H2 Deerskin leggings
H1 Ceremonial Garb
H2 War shirts
H2 Robes
H2 Animal maskes
H1 Native American Accessories
H2 Belts
H2 Feathers
H2 Beads
H2 Footwear
H2 Headdresses
H1 Remembering the Past: Traditional Dress Today
H2 Dressing for a Powwow
H2 Fashion looks to the past
Chapter 14: Home, Native Home (14 pages)
Native people lived in a wide range of dwellings.
H1 Gimme Shelter
H1 Wooden Homes
H2 Plank Houses
H2 Longhouses
H2 Hogans
SIDEBAR: The Blessingway Song
H2 Chickees
H1 Tipis
H2 The 15 poles
H1 Other Indian Dwellings
H2 Wigwams
H2 Lean-tos
H2 Igloos
SIDEBAR: The Native American Sweat Lodge
H2 Earth Homes
H1 The Earliest Apartment Buildings
SIDEBAR: The Aztec Ruins National Monument
H1 Native American Housing Today
H1 The Mohawk Steelworkers
SIDEBAR: A Resume To Be Proud Of
Chapter 15: Trapping, Toting, Totems, and Transport (14 pages)
Working, traveling, and defense.
H1 Going After Prey
H2 Bows & Arrows
H2 Knives
H2 Traps
H1 Carrying the Load
H2 Baskets
H2 Bowls
H2 Other Containers
H1 The Totem Pole
H2 The giant trees used
H2 What totem poles meant
H3 House posts
H3 Funeral markers
H3 Symbols of a family’s heritage (moved to 18)
H1 Travel Plans
H2 Dugout and bark canoes
H2 Kayaks and umiaks
H2 Balsa boats
H2 Bull boats
H2 Snowshoes
H2 Plank boats
H2 Travois
H2 Sleds and toboggans
PART IV: ALL IN THE (NATIVE AMERICAN) FAMILY (2 pgs) (46 pgs total)
Chapter 16: The Structure of Tribes, Clans, and Bands (14 pages)
The hierarchy of Native American societies.
H1 Coming to Terms in Indian Society
H1 Men Ruled the Roost? Not Really
H2 Typing family types
H1 The Role of Women
H2 Homebuilders
H2 Farmers
H2 Craftspeople
H1 Children
H2 Child’s play
H2 Becoming an adult
H2 Rituals and trials
H3 Vision quest
H3 Endurance feats
H3 Physical pain and mutilation
Chapter 17: Talk, Talk (But Not Write, Write) (14 pages)
How Native peoples communicated.
H1 Spoken Languages
H2 The 300 languages
H2 The slow extinction
H1 Sign Language
H2 Gestures and hand signals
H2 Smoke signals
H1 Little Written Down?
H2 Hieroglyphs
H2 Knotted cord “books”
H2 Talking to Each Other
H1 Talking to the White Man
H2 Translators
H2 The power of silence
H2 Misinterpretations & mixed signals
Chapter 18: The Faith of Their Fathers ... and Faiths Today (16 pages)
The Native Americans’ religious beliefs, sacred customs, traditions, Gods, symbols, and
rituals.
H1 In the Beginning ... Native Peoples’ Creation Myths
H2 Re-creating creation
H2 The elements and the deities
SIDEBAR: Authors Who Have Used the Wendigo Legend in Their Own Stories
H1 Spiritual Rituals & Traditions
H2 The Medicine Man
H2 The Sweat Lodge
H2 The Vision Quest
H1 Tools of the spiritual trade
H2 Peyote
SIDEBAR: The Native American Church
H2 Musical instruments
H3 Hide drums
H3 Flutes
SIDEBAR: Thanks to Woody?
H3 Rattles
H3 The human voice
H2 Foods
H2 Stone & wood fetishes
H2 Garments
H1 The Totem Pole
H2 The giant trees used
H2 What totem poles meant
H3 House posts
H3 Funeral markers
H3 Symbols of a family’s heritage
H1 Christian Indians? Isn’t that a contradiction?
H2 Civilizing “savages” through Christ
H2 Native American Christians Today
PART V: IN A MODERN WORLD NOT OF THEIR MAKING (2 pgs) (46 pages
total)
The proclamation “We’re still here” is heard often these days, issuing proudly from the
lips of the more than 4 million Native Americans. And, yes, they’re still here, but in many
ways, their society and culture are troubled and scarred.
Chapter 19: The Slow Dwindling of Native Americans (12 pages)
The Native American population dwindled from diseases they weren’t immune to, from
wars with the European, and from government removal. A look at the slow vanishing of
Native Americans over the past 200 years, and where the remaining 4 million Native
peoples now live.
H1 Defenseless Against Dastardly Diseases
SIDEBAR: Taking Precautions
H2 The First Epidemics
H2 Smallpox during the American Revolution
SIDEBAR: George Washington, the Inoculator
H1 Relentless racism
H1 Extermination
H2 Smallpox
H2 Influenza
H1 The Final Battle Body Count
Chapter 20: What’s a Tribe, Who’s an Indian, and What’s the BIA Got To Do
With It (12 pages)
What it takes to be officially called a tribe, how the BIA manages tribal lands, and how
the Office of Indian Gaming Management determines which tribes can open casinos.
H1 The Creation of the BIA - the U.S. Takes Charge
H2 The earliest Indian agencies
H3 The 1775 Continental Congress addresses “the Indian problem”
H2 John C. Calhoun’s bold move
H2 What the BIA Does
SIDEBAR: Cobell v. Kempthorne: Bad News for the BIA?
H1 What It Takes to Be Officially Designated a Tribe
H2 What it takes to be officially designated a Native American
H2 Blood quantum quandries
SIDEBAR: Oklahoma Tribal Blood Quantum Requirements
H2 When the BIA says No
SIDEBAR: The Nipmucs: The State? Yup. The Feds? Nope.
H1 How Native Americans Ended Up in the Casino Business
H2 The Seminoles were first
H2 The 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
H2 Sharing the wealth?
Chapter 21: Native Americans: Today and Tomorrow (16 pages)
Native American population is projected to grow through 2050. What is on the horizon
for this ancient ethnic group, now an American minority?
H1 An Indian By Any Other Name ...
H2 I’m an Indian. Case closed.
H2 I’m a (fill in the blank with the name of your tribe). Case closed.
H1 Repatriation: resting in peace
SIDEBAR: A Touchy Subject
H2 How remains are defined
SIDEBAR: Inventory and Assessment of Native American Human Remains from the
State of Connecticut in the National Museum of Natural History
H1 Native American Stats
H2 Income
H2 Education
SIDEBAR: Graduation Day
H2 Occupations
H3 Indian businesses
H1 Alcoholism and the Native American
H2 Have a drink, why doncha?
H2 Is it in the genes?
H1 Mineral Wealth & Offshore Banking: Native American Economic Bright Spots
H2 The banking Blackfeet
H2 Money from mineral rights
SIDEBAR: Navajo Uranium Woes
H1 The Top 10 Tribes Now
H2 Cherokee
H2 Navajo
H2 Sioux
H2 Chippewa
H2 Choctaw
H2 Pueblo
H2 Apache
H2 Lumbee
H2 Iroquois
H2 Creek
PART VI: THE PART OF TENS (2 pgs) (16 pages total)
Chapter 22: Ten Native American Museums & Cultural Centers (4 pages)
Chapter 23: Ten Great Movies & Documentaries About Native Americans (4 pages)
Chapter 24: Ten Great Books About Native American History (6 pages)
APPENDIX