In the years after the defeat of the British and their Indian allies in the War of 1812, the nature of the U.S. government’s Indian policy and the goal of treaty-making became increasingly hostile toward Native Americans, opening the door for the removals of the 1830s. The federal government was no longer interested in negotiating treaties that just arranged for …
A plant used to refer to the environmental conditions of a certain place. An example of an indicator plant would be Menomen or wild rice (Zizania spp.). Menomen is one of the most well-known indicator plants for the Neshnabek. Menomen is arguably the most significant cultural plant and it requires very clean, clear water that flows gently and does not …
Culture, warfare and assimilation all play significant parts in the history of Native Americans and infectious disease, spanning from the 1600s to present day. Scarce medical records among Native Americans prior to Europeans’ arrival make it difficult to know the severity of communicable illnesses before contact. Indigenous peoples’ settlement patterns that included dispersed communities and significant travel time between locations …
Iowah was a young and influential headman among the Wabash Potawatomi. He was the nephew of headman and principal orator Naswawkay. Along with his brother M’joquis, he led a younger faction of Potawatomi who allied themselves with U.S. Indian agents. Together, the allies conspired and unlawfully sold reserve lands belonging to leaders who refused to cede their reservations to the …
The Iroquois Confederacy or the Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse), was made up of five tribes, Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and the Seneca originating from New York. In 1722, the Tuscarora tribe, who originated from North Carolina, joined the Confederacy. The nations of the confederacy saw themselves as the important parts that hold up the one united longhouse. They were …