· American Indian Environmental Office
· American Indian History & Culture
· American Indian Today - BIA FAQ CD
· The American Indian Tribal Directory
· Brief History of the American Indian Movement
· Bureau of Indian Affairs
·Federal Interagency website "CodeTalk"
· Indian Country Today
· List of Federally Recognized Tribes CD
· Native American Association of Germany e.V. (NAAoG)
· Native American Literature: Remembrance Renewal CD
·Native Americans of North America · ·New York Times > American Indians
· National Congress of American Indians
· Outline of American History CD
· Planet Wissen > Nordamerikanische Indianer
· Portrait of America: Aus vielen eins CD
· Portrait of America: One From Many CD
·U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
· Dawes Act (1887)
· Electronic Text Center. Subject: Native Americans
· Index of Native American Electronic Text Resources on the Internet
· Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties
· Märchen und Sagen der Indianer Nordamerikas
· Native American Anthology Reader
· Native American Documents Project
· Native American Voices
· National Indian Law Library - Online Collection
· National Tribal Justice Resource Center
· Oneida Indian Nation Treaties
· Storytellers: Native American Authors Online
· "Thus Spoke Chief Seattle: The Story of An Undocumented Speech"
· Treaties between the United States and Native Americans
Statistics & Maps
· The American Indian and Alaska Native Population: 2000 CD
· American Indian Population
· American Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States Wall Map
· Facts for Features: American Indian Heritage Month 2008
· Facts for Features: *Special Edition* Opening of the National Museum of the American Indian, Sept. 2004 CD
· Facts on the American Indian/ Alaska Native Population
· Map of American Indian Population. Census 2000
· Mapping Census 2000: American Indian Population
· Maps: GIS Windows on Native Lands
· Tribal Maps - Arizona, California, Nevada
· We the People: American Indians and Alaska Natives in the U.S. CD
Dressed up for the Festivities at the Opening Event of the National Museum of the American Indian. ( Photos by Lloyd Wolf for the U.S. Census Bureau)
The first American immigrants, beginning more than 20,000 years ago, were intercontinental wanderers: hunters and their families following animal herds from Asia to America, across a land bridge where the Bering Strait is today. When Spain's Christopher Columbus "discovered" the New World in 1492, about 1.5 million Native Americans lived in what is now the continental United States, although estimates of the number vary greatly. Mistaking the place where he landed -- San Salvador in the Bahamas -- for the Indies, Columbus called the Native Americans "Indians."
During the next 200 years, people from several European countries followed Columbus across the Atlantic Ocean to explore America and set up trading posts and colonies. Native Americans suffered greatly from the influx of Europeans. The transfer of land from Indian to European -- and later American -- hands was accomplished through treaties, wars, and coercion, with Indians constantly giving way as the newcomers moved west. In the 19th century, the government's preferred solution to the Indian "problem" was to force tribes to inhabit specific plots of land called reservations. Some tribes fought to keep from giving up land they had traditionally used. In many cases the reservation land was of poor quality, and Indians came to depend on government assistance. Poverty and joblessness among Native Americans still exist today.
The territorial wars, along with Old World diseases to which Indians had no built-up immunity, sent their population plummeting, to a low of 350,000 in 1920. Some tribes disappeared altogether; among them were the Mandans of North Dakota, who had helped Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in exploring America's unsettled northwestern wilderness in 1804-06. Other tribes lost their languages and most of their culture. Nonetheless, Native Americans have proved to be resilient. Today they number 4.5 million (about 1.5 percent of the total U.S. population), and only about one-third of Native Americans still live on reservations.
Countless American place-names derive from Indian words, including the states of Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, and Idaho. Indians taught Europeans how to cultivate crops that are now staples throughout the world: corn, tomatoes, potatoes, tobacco. Canoes, snowshoes, and moccasins are among the Indians' many inventions.
The American Indian and Alaska Native Population 2000. U.S. Census Brief
Exhibits - Digital Images
· American Historical Images on File: the Native-American Experience
· American Indian History and Culture
· American Indians and the Natural World
· American Indians of the Pacific Northwest
· Columbus and the Age of Discovery
· Edward S. Curtis Gallery
· Edward S. Curtis's North American Indians
· Images of Native Americans
· Kunst und Kultur der Indianer Nordamerikas
· Pictures of Indians in the U.S.
· Smithsonian Institution: National Museum of the American Indian Multimedia
· Omaha Indian Music (American Folk Life Center, Library of Congress)
For High School Students
· Kid's Trail: Native Americans
· Meet Amazing Americans: Pocahontas
· Native American Cultures
· Native American History
· Native Stories, Many Truths
· Stories and Legends
· Turtle Tracks. A Native American Youth Newsletter
· Circle of Stories. Lesson Plan
· Declarations of Independence. Exploring American Indian Rights to Self-Governance
· Explore National American Indian Heritage Month
· Great Sites for Teaching about Native Americans
· Indian Removal Act. Lesson Plan
· Native American Cultures Across the U.S.
· Native American History. Lesson Plan
· Native American Religion in Early America
· Native Americans and the Land
· Native Americans: Teaching & Learning Resources
· Not 'Indians,' Many Tribes: Native American Diversity
· Reservation Controversies, Then and Now
· Teaching With Documents: Maps of Indian Territory, the Dawes Act, and ..
· Teaching With Documents: Sioux Treaty of 1868
· Teaching with Historic Places: American Indian History
· Trails of Understanding: The Earliest Immigrants
· U.S. History - Native American: Lesson Plans
· American Indian Heritage Month LInks
· American Indian Studies
· Index of Native American Resources on the Internet
· Indianer Welt
· Indians/ Native Americans (NARA)
· Learning Page: Native Americans
· Native American & American Indian Web Sources
· Native American Authors
· Native American Studies
· Native Americans
· Native Americans and the Environment
· Index of Native American Resources on the Internet
· Smithsonian: Native American Resources
· Yahoo! Native American
Texts are abridged from U.S. State Department IIP publications and other U.S. government materials. Feature Articles
Indigenous People Today
eJournal, June 2009
Indigenous People in the 21st Century
Wilma Mankiller. eJournal, June 2009.
Being an indigenous person in modern times means balancing revered traditions, culture, and languages with the demands of a world dominated by technology. Mankiller is former chief of the Cherokee Nation.
Living Traditions of Native America
Gabrielle Tayac. eJournal, June 2009
Coming to terms with a rich and ancient tradition, years of struggle and discrimination, and life in modern times, Native peoples must juggle the valuable old with the new. Historian Tayac is of Piscataway descent.
U.S. Honors Contributions of American Indians, Alaska Natives
America.gov, November 3, 2008.
Each November, National American Indian Heritage Month pays tribute to the legacy of the American Indians and Alaska Natives — the first Americans — and celebrates their enduring contributions to the history and culture of the United States.
Today, there are nearly 5 million American Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States, or 1.6 percent of the total population, and this is expected to jump to 8.6 million, or 2 percent of the population, by 2050.
Most American Indians live in metropolitan areas and not on the 227,000 square kilometers of land held in trust for reservations. The states with the highest percentage of American Indians and Alaska Natives are Alaska (18 percent of its population), Oklahoma (11 percent) and New Mexico (10 percent).
There are 562 federally recognized Indian tribes in the United States. The largest, by far, are the Cherokee and Navajo nations, according to the 2000 U.S. census....
Navajo Textbook Aims to Preserve Language, Culture
New Mexico is first state to approve Native American language text. By Jeffrey Thomas. America.gov, August 5, 2008.
In many countries with indigenous populations, how these groups adapt to the modern world while protecting their own cultures is an important question. It therefore was reported widely when New Mexico in July became the first U.S. state to approve a textbook that teaches a Native American language -- Diné Bizaad Bínáhoo'aah or Rediscovering the Navajo Language. Native North American languages are spoken by about 380,000 Americans, according to the 2000 census. The Navajo Nation numbers almost 300,000 people, of whom about 178,000 speak the Navajo language, making it the most widely spoken Native American language....
American Indians Seek Greater Understanding, Recognition
By Jeffrey Thomas, America.gov, October 18, 2007.
“Maybe you should just tell them that we still exist,” an American Indian told the moderator of a focus group during a recent study that not only has highlighted continuing misconceptions about American Indians, but also has revealed the sympathy with which many Americans view Indians’ history and desire to learn more about their past and present...
National Powwow Honors American Indian Cultural Traditions
By Lauren Monsen, America.gov, August 14, 2007.
Since the late 19th century, powwows have been a significant social and cultural force in the lives of the indigenous people of North America. Bringing together American Indians from different tribes to dance, sing and share traditions, these social events are held throughout the United States from March to September, but the largest on the East Coast is the National Powwow, a biennial event in Washington that attracts members of some 250 tribal nations from the United States and Canada...
Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, right, a Northern Cheyenne Indian, applauds W. Richard West Jr., a Southern Cheyenne, who is the director of the new National Museum of the American Indian, at the dedication ceremonies for the museum on the National Mall in Washington, September 21, 2004. (© AP Images)
United States Respects Indian Tribes' Right to Self-Determination
Indian tribes retain unique sovereign status as "domestic dependent nations". By Peggy B. Hu and Jeffrey Thomas. America. gov, November 6, 2006.
Many people are puzzled when they hear the U.S. president use such phrases as “government-to-government basis with tribal governments,” “tribal sovereignty” or “self-determination” for American Indians. Isn’t the United States “one nation ... indivisible," as the Pledge of Allegiance says?
The answer is more interesting than a simple “yes” or “no.” According to the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Tribal Justice, American Indian tribes are considered "domestic dependent nations" within the United States. As such, they retain sovereign powers over their members and territory except where such powers specifically have been modified by U.S. law. American Indians are more than members of a racial minority group in the United States; they are indigenous people of the Americas with a status akin to dual citizenship.
Laws Reflect Changing Status of American Indians in U.S. History. America.gov, November 6, 2006
The history of U.S. legislation regarding American Indians reveals changing societal attitudes on their status -- from members of fully sovereign nations, to dependents of the U.S. government, to holders of a quasi dual-citizenship.
What kind of information materials are available?
CD: These documents are available in fulltext format on the About the USA CD-ROM. Teachers: Request a copy for classroom use.
L: Selected documents are available in German as well as other languages, including Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish, Persian and Turkish.
Any reference obtained from this server to a specific commercial product, process, or service does not constitute or imply an endorsement by the United States Government of the product, process, or service, or its producer or provider. The views and opinions expressed in any referenced document do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government.
U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Germany /Public Affairs/ Information Resource Centers
Updated: July 2009