Database Highlight #19: We've got the Cultural History for That
November is National American Indian Heritage Month! Oklahoma has done much to preserve American Indian culture and customs but, of course, this wasn’t always the case. Learn about Oklahoma’s past, as well as other state’s histories in American Indian History Online. This database connects members with primary sources, maps, videos, and much more. Search by keyword, topic, resources, and eras.
American Indian History offers fast access to more than 15,000 years of culture and history, covering more than 600 Native American groups, through tablet/mobile-friendly videos and slideshows, images, biographies of key people, event and topic entries, primary sources, maps and graphs, and timelines. With a user-friendly interface, this award-winning database allows for an interactive, multifaceted look at the indigenous peoples of the Americas. An important feature is full cross-searchability across all the Infobase history databases for an even more comprehensive view of history. – from the vendor
This week, in place of an open site, I’d like to recommend David Grann,’s meticulously researched and thrilling, Killers of the Flower Moon - ebook, eaudio, book, cd. While most Oklahomans are familiar with the murders, few know the full, horrifying story.
“In the 1920s, the Osage found themselves in a unique position among Native Americans tribes. As other tribal lands were parceled out in an effort by the government to encourage dissolution and assimilation of both lands and culture, the Osage negotiated to maintain the mineral rights for their corner of Oklahoma, creating a kind of “underground reservation.” It proved a savvy move; soon countless oil rigs punctured the dusty landscape, making the Osage very rich. And that’s when they started dying.” - Amazon
Action Steps
- Using American Indian History Online, choose a culture area or an era
- List one interesting fact about a tribe or an event – link to your source if you like!
Free notebooks for all commenters!
- Log in to post comments
Comments
I chose the Southwest Culture Area and read about the Keres.
Interesting fact: "The ancient sun symbol of the Zia as drawn on a pot by an anonymous potter [...] was altered to a red sun against a field of gold without the eyes and mouth to serve as the state of New Mexico's flag, starting in 1925. The Zia Indians use the sun symbol against a field of white and without the eyes and mouth for their own flag."
Source: Waldman, Carl. “Keres.” Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, Third Edition, Facts On File, 2006. American Indian History, online.infobase.com/HRC/LearningCenter/Details/6?articleId=191199. Accessed 14 Nov. 2017.
I chose Monacan. I discovered possible links to them when doing genealogy on my daughters.
A Siouan-speaking tribe of the Southeast Culture Area, located on the upper James River in present-day Virginia. The Monacans actually were a confederacy of subtribes, allies of the Manahoacs to the north and enemies of the Powhatans to the east. They probably merged with the Saponis and Tutelos. Monacan, if Algonquian-derived, means "digging stick," but it is more likely from their own Siouan dialect.
Source: Waldman, Carl. “Monacan.” Word Dance: The Language of Native American Culture, Facts On File, 1994. American Indian History, online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/187413?q=monacan. Accessed 14 Nov. 2017.
I chose the Great Plains Culture Area and then read about the Sioux.
Two of the most famous incidents in Indian and American history—Custer's Last Stand (also called the Battle of Little Bighorn) and Wounded Knee—involved the Sioux.
Waldman, Carl. “Sioux.” Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, Third Edition, Facts On File, 2006. American Indian History, online.infobase.com/HRC/LearningCenter/Details/6?articleId=191202. Accessed 14 Nov. 2017.
I chose the Choctaw.
Interesting fact: "During World Wars I and II, the U.S. government used members of the Choctaw Nation for secure communication. The Native language was used as a code to help the military safely move men and supplies. They became the first code talkers. In 2004, the Choctaw code talkers and those of other tribes finally received recognition and medals for their service."
Source: Waldman, Carl. “Choctaw.” Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, Third Edition, Facts On File, 2006. American Indian History, online.infobase.com/HRC/LearningCenter/Details/6?articleId=191190. Accessed 14 Nov. 2017.
I chose the Arctic cultural area and read about the Aleut.
I learned so much! The Aleutians live in the westernmost part of Alaska. Their actual name for themselves is "Unangan" which means coast or seashore.
This was my favorite fact: "Aleut made shallow and long kayaks with one, two, or three holes for seating. A hunter's kayak had one hatch for seating, while the Aleut used three hatched boats for carrying officials or warriors. Every hunter built a one-hatch kayak to fit his own body measurements. Each man equipped his kayak with his hunting weapons, spear thrower, double-bladed paddles, a wooden tube for bailing water out of the vessel, stones for ballast, a flat wooden seat, utensils for heating and eating, and a sea mammal stomach float to help support himself while righting a turned boat. Like the Inuit, Aleut kayakers would lash their kayaks together in dangerous conditions. Men learned to navigate foggy or nighttime conditions by only the feeling of currents and the wind, which they learned to do with much practice."
Pretty cool!
Source: Fay, Anissa. "Aleut." Encyclopedia of Native American History, Volume 1. Facts On File, 2011. Accessed November 16, 2017. http://online.infobase.com/HRC/LearningCenter/Details/6?articleId=358878.
I also read about the Arctic Culture Area in general, and was especially interested in how the homes in those regions were constructed.
"Where there were forests, they lived in above-ground wooden houses. Still other Alaskan Inuit inhabited semi-underground wood-and-sod houses. The Greenland Inuit lived in stone-and-turf houses with gut-skin windows. ... Most Aleut lived in sod houses."
Source: Waldman, Carl. "Arctic Culture Area." Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, Third Edition. Facts On File, 2006. Accessed 18 November 2017.