Table of Contents
Foreword Kevin Gover, Director, National Museum of the American Indian xiii
Introduction Wilma Mankiller, Former Principal Chief, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma xv
American Indian Cultures
Do Indians celebrate Thanksgiving? 2
What is the importance of music to Native people? 5
What musical instruments do Native people play? 7
What did Indians use for paint and dye? 10
What are kachina dolls? What are they used for? 12
Did all tribes have totem poles? Does anyone still carve them? 14
Do Indians make art? 17
How do I know if something I purchase is really made by an American Indian artist or tribe? 20
Why are there different spellings for words-such as tipi and teepee-in Native American languages? 23
What is a powwow? 26
Did American Indians invent lacrosse? 28
What was the first game ever played with rubber balls? 30
Did early Mesoamericans practice human sacrifice during their ball games? 32
Did any Indians practice cannibalism? 34
What did Indians really smoke in those peace pipes? 35
What is "counting coup"? 37
Do Indians do rain dances? 39
Are dream catchers an authentic tradition? 41
Why are most Indian ceremonies and dances off-limits to non-Native audiences? 43
What is the Native American religion? 45
How can I find a shaman (or medicine man) who will teach me? 48
Do Indians have funerals? 50
Was Tonto a real Indian? 52
Why did carved wooden Indians stand outside cigar stores? 55
How authentic are contemporary movies that try to tell stories from a Native perspective? 58
Time, Continuity, and Change
Where did Indians come from? How did they get to the Americas? 62
How many Indians lived in the Western Hemisphere when Columbus arrived? 65
Is it true that Indian languages are now extinct? 67
Did Indians have alaphabets and writing before contact with Europeans? 70
Did Indians really help the European settlers? 72
Is is true that Pocahontas saved John Smith from execution? 75
Is it true that Indians sold Manhattan for twenty-four dollars worth of beads and trinkets? 78
Did Europeans purposely use smallpox to kill Indians? 80
Was Sacagawea really all that important to the Lewis and Clark Expedition? 82
What happened to white people captured by Indians? 84
Is it true that white people invented scalping, or did the practice originate with Native Americans? 87
People, Places, and Environments
What is the relationship of Native Americans to the environment? 90
Were the Americas a vast, untouched wilderness when Europeans arrived? 93
Did Native people and European colonists have different perspectives about land? 96
Do Alaska Natives really have hundreds of words for snow? 98
Did Indians really use smoke signals? Do they today? 100
Did Native Americans use sign language? 102
What kinds of foods do Indians eat? 105
Before contact with Europeans, did Indians make all their clothing from animal skins? 108
Is it true that Native people used all parts of the animal? 110
Is it true Native Americans hunted a great number of large animals to extinction? 113
Why do Indians wear feathers? Why are eagle feathers important to Indians? 115
How did Native Americans acquire horses? 117
Where did Native people get glass beads to decorate their clothing? 119
Do Native American parents still put their babies in cradleboards? Are the cradleboards comfortable? 122
Are Indians more prone to certain diseases than the general population? Why? 125
What are the rates of alcoholism, drug addiction, and suicide among American Indians? 127
Do all Indians live in tipis? 129
Individual Development and Identity
What is the correct terminology: American Indian, Indian, Native American, or Native? 132
Should I say tribe or nation? 134
Why do many tribes have more than one name? 136
How do I prove my Indian ancestry and enroll in my tribe? 138
Did Native American tribes have royalty? 140
Why is the word squaw offensive? 142
Why is the word Eskimo sometimes offensive? 144
What's wrong with naming sports teams Indians, Braves, etc.? 145
What is the origin of the term redskin? Why is it offensive? 148
Why do some people believe there are no "real" Indians left? 149
Why are coming-of-age ceremonies important? 152
How have Native Americans viewed sexuality and gender? 155
Why do some Native people not like having their photo taken? 158
Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
Before the arrival of formal schools, how were Indian Children taught? 162
Why did the U.S. government force Indian children into boarding schools? 165
What distinct roles did men and Women play in Native communities? 168
Why was the Navajo language chosen for military code in World War II? Were all Indian "code talkers" Navajo? 172
How did some tribes get a reputation as warlike and others as peaceful? 175
Did any Indian Groups practice polygamy? 177
Power, Authority, and Governance
What are the Indian populations of the United States, Canada, and Latin America? 180
How many Indian tribes are officially recognized in the United states today? Why is recognition important? 181
Why didn't Indian tribes band together to fight off Europeans? 183
What was the Iroquois Confederacy and how did it contribute to democracy? 186
Are Indians U.S. citizens? 188
Did Native Americans own slaves? 190
Did women serve as chiefs and leaders of Native American tribes? 193
Can Indians leave the reservations? Why do reservations still exist? 196
Why do American Indians run casinos? 198
What happens to the revenue from Indian casinos? 200
Do the rich casino tribes help out the poor tribes? 203
Why is there still poverty on some reservations? 206
Why benefits do Indians receive from the U.S government? 209
Do Indians have to pay taxes? 212
Do Indians have to follow state hunting and fishing regulations? 214
Do museums have to give back everything in their collections that was taken from tribes without permission? 216
Science, Technology, and Society
What were some of the accomplishments of Native Americans at the time Europeans first arrived in the Western Hemisphere? 220
Did Indians have mathematics before contact with Europeans? 223
How did foods native to the Americas influence global cuisines? 226
Who really built the mounds? 229
Further Reading 233
Index 241