Native American tribes represent a rich tapestry of cultures and traditions across the United States. Over nine million people come from various nations and have diverse cultures and traditions across the United States. They have lived on the continent for centuries, from Alaska to the Gulf Coast of Florida, leaving a lasting impact on American history and heritage.
1. Native Americans Spoke Over 300 Languages.
North America had over 300 spoken languages, with some estimates suggesting up to 500 across the continent. In the Arctic region, the Eskimo–Aleut languages were spoken, including Aleut, Yupik, and Inuit languages. English is the most widely spoken language in North America, followed by Spanish and French, all brought by European settlers during colonization.
The languages of South America offer a wide range of diversity as it blends indigenous languages with those brought over from Europe. Portuguese and Spanish are the most commonly spoken languages, stemming from the region’s history of colonization. Alongside these, various European languages like English, French, Dutch, and German also made their mark.
However, many of these languages have disappeared due to government assimilation policies. In 1868, President Ulysses S. Grant declared, “In the difference of language today lies two-thirds of our trouble… their barbarous dialect should be blotted out and the English language substituted.”
In the 1800s, Native Americans were forced from their communities and placed onto reserves. Children were sent to Indian boarding schools where they were educated in English. It wasn’t until 1972 that Congress allowed Native American tribes to teach their own languages.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 169 Native languages spoken in the United States as of 2013. However, many of these languages have very few speakers. To address this issue, Congress passed the Native American Language Act in 1990, which aims to support the preservation and revitalization of Native American languages. This support is crucial because almost all Native American languages are at risk of disappearing completely by 2050.
2. The First Newspaper In A Native American Language Was Published In 1828.
Before Europeans arrived, Native American languages were passed down orally. But after colonization, some tribes began to use writing systems. Sequoyah, a Cherokee, spent 12 years creating a writing system for his people. He finished in 1821 with 86 characters.
“There are many syllabaries—the Japanese hiragana is the most famous one,” says Dr. Ellen Cushman, a member of the Cherokee Nation and professor at Northeastern University. “But Cherokee is the only one that was invented by a Native person, for Native people.”
Because Sequoyah designed the syllabary to match Cherokee sounds, it was easy for them to learn. “Within a span of three to five years, the tribe could read and write,” says Cushman.
It began on February 21, 1828, printing articles in both English and the Cherokee language using the Cherokee syllabary invented by Sequoyah. Although it stopped publication in 1834 due to the forced relocation of many Cherokees, it was revived later. Today, it continues to be published and is four pages long, featuring content in both English and the Cherokee syllabary. One of its significant focuses is “The Case of the Cherokee Nation Against the State of Georgia.”
3. The United States Recognizes 574 Tribes Under Federal Law.
In the United States, Native American tribes have their own governments and are recognized as sovereign entities. As the Department of the Interior explains, “federally recognized tribes are recognized as possessing certain inherent rights of self-government (i.e., tribal sovereignty)….
In January 2015, the Federal Register published a list of 566 tribes officially recognized as Indian Entities Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs. Later, in July 2015, the Pamunkey tribe in Virginia was federally recognized, bringing the total number of recognized tribes to 567.
In 2018, six more tribes from Virginia were added to the list, and in 2020, the Little Shell Chippewa were also recognized, bringing the total number of federally recognized tribes to 574. Among these, 231 are located in Alaska.
Federally recognized tribes have a government-to-government relationship with the United States, like other sovereign nations. However, many tribes do not have federal recognition, which means they are not eligible for government programs and support.
As of 2020, 66 tribes had received state recognition in 13 states. State recognition does not always guarantee tribes access to state or federal benefits, but it does acknowledge their historical and current existence.
4. Native Americans Cultivated Many Of The World’s Most Important Crops.
Native Americans cultivated many of the world’s most important crops. About three-fifths of the world’s agricultural crops came from the Americas. They farmed various plants that are now common foods globally.
Different Native American tribes had different diets based on their local foods. Many tribes farmed crops we still eat today. In 2016, about 60 % of the world’s food came from crops originally from North America.
Corn, for example, was developed by Indigenous farmers in southern Mexico and Guatemala around 10,000 years ago. When European settlers came to North America, Native Americans had been growing corn for thousands of years. They also grew beans, squash, potatoes, tomatoes, chili peppers, and cacao.
“A lot of the domestication and breeding that resulted in today’s major food crops, the important initial work was done by Indigenous people,” says Jules Janick, an emeritus professor of horticulture at Purdue University. “That was their contribution to world agriculture.”
5. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy Is One Of The Oldest Living Democracies In The World.
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy, also known as the Iroquois, is the oldest continuous democracy in the world. It served as a model for the United States Constitution and its representative form of government organized on the local, state, national and international levels. The Confederacy has been in existence for over 1,000 years, with some believing it was founded in 1142. Confederacy itself says it has existed since time immemorial.
“Many tribes were democratic, but the Haudenosaunee Confederacy brought people together across a large geographic expanse. That’s part of what makes them unique,” says Dr. Donald A. Grinde Jr., the author of Exemplar of Liberty and a professor with Yamasee heritage at University at Buffalo.
Grinde’s research has focused on the influence of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy on the United States Constitution. “There were three major contributions,” says Grinde. “First, that sovereignty resides in the people. The second is the separation of powers, the distinct branches of government. And the third is the constitution itself, with articles that can be cited, similar to how the Haudenosaunee recited their Great Law of Peace each year.”
A lesser known and powerful story is that the Haudenosaunee were the source of inspiration for the Founding Mothers of the Suffrage Movement, laying the foundation for women’s rights globally.
6. The Indian Relocation Act Of 1830 Led To The Forced Displacement Of Native Americans.
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830. It was driven by the desire of white settlers to cultivate cotton in the South, particularly on the fertile lands occupied by Native American tribes such as the Choctaw, Cherokee, and Creek.
According to Congress, the law provided “for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for their removal west of the river Mississippi”. The act resulted in the forced removal of Native Americans from states like Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. They were resettled in designated “Indian territory” located in present-day Oklahoma.
7. Native Americans Were Granted American Citizenship In 1924.
On June 2, 1924, Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act, granting citizenship to all Native Americans born in the U.S. Some Native Americans were already considered U.S. citizens, because of the 1887 Dawes Act, which granted citizenship to those who accepted land grants.
However, the right to vote were determined by state law, and until 1957, some states banned Native Americans from voting. In a WPA interview from the 1930s, Henry Mitchell describes the attitude toward Native Americans in Maine, one of the last states to comply with the Indian Citizenship Act:
“ One of the Indians went over to Old Town once to see some officials in the city hall about voting. I don’t know just what position that official had over there, but he said to the Indian, ‘We don’t want you people over here. You have your own elections over on the island, and if you want to vote, go over there.’
Just why the Indians shouldn’t vote is something I can’t understand.”
States also used discriminatory practices to restrict voting, like literacy tests, which kept Native Americans and others who couldn’t read or write English from voting. These practices lasted until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed.
8. The Navajo Nation Has The Largest Tribal Land In The United States.
The land area of the Navajo Nation is over 27,000 square miles (70,000 km2), making it the largest Indian reservation in the U.S. It is approximately 8,000 km2 larger than the state of West Virginia.
In the 1980s, a conflict over land shared by the Navajo and Hopi tribes. The U.S. Department of the Interior wanted to move Navajo people living in the Navajo-Hopi Joint Use Area. This led to a lot of legal battles and social problems between the two tribes and their neighbors. Eventually, President Barack Obama helped resolve the conflict with “The Bennett Freeze” Agreement in July 2009. This agreement gave Navajo people a 75-year lease on land they had claims to before the U.S. took over the area.
About half of Navajo tribe members don’t live on the reservation. In 2011, the total enrolled population was 300,048. By 2016, 173,667 Navajo lived on tribal lands.
9. Not All Native Americans Tribes Have Their Own Land.
There are around 326 tribal land areas in the United States, compared to 574 federally-recognized tribes. On average, tribal land is only about 2.6 percent as large as the territory they occupied before colonization. Many tribes forcibly relocated by the U.S. government were left without any land of their own.
It’s often said that only 22 % of Native Americans live on tribal lands, according to the 2010 Census. However, a 2014 study by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that 68 % of Native Americans and Alaskan Natives live on or near their homelands.