Maya and Aztec

Ancient Mesoamerican civilizations

Archives for the ‘z North America’ Category

The Native Americans

Category: History

Who were the first Americans? They were aboriginal dark-skinned people, called by Columbus “Indians”, in the mistaken belief that he had reached the East Indies. The other names for them are “Native Americans”, “Amerindians”, “American Indians”, “indigenous Americans” and “aboriginal Americans”. Their ancestors came to the continent from Asia, Siberia. They crossed the Bering Strait […]



The Navajos

Category: History

The Navajos, the biggest tribe of Indians in America, occupy a reservation that is roughly a hundred miles square. It is a sparse, dry land. Most of it is in Arizona, but it extends into Utah and New Mexico. The Navajos are a pastoral people, constantly moving with their sheep and cattle and horses. They […]



American Indians

Category: History

Many Indian tribes were removed from their homelands and their lands taken by whites in the nineteenth century. After the passage by Congress of the General Allotment Act of 1887,” Indian lands were cul down by 1930 from 139 million acres to 47 million acres. This destruction and scattering of the tribes had a devastating […]



The history of North American Indians

Category: History

By the time America was discovered by Europeans it had been populated with many American Indian peoples. The majority of researchers recognize that this settling was the result of several migratory waves of small groups of Paleolithic hunters from Northeastern Asia along the bridge of Bering. The question of time of the settling hasn’t finally […]



The period before the arrival of Europeans

Category: History

The vast territory between Northern and South Carolina and the central part of the state of New England were similar concerning their environment. It was covered with immense woods. Marshy coastal plains, wide in the south, were narrowed up to a narrow strip in the north. Having cleared away the ground felling and burning trees, […]



The first contacts. The period of trade (1550-1700)

Category: History

Events, during which there were first contacts between groups of people’s alien to each other, are very important for understanding the subsequent process of interferences. But what should we consider as the first significant contact in the area of the Midatlantic coast of America? This event took place, perhaps, during a not very clear period […]



The world of Indians is narrowed: the period of agricultural colonization (1620-1700)

Category: History

Arrival of Europian colonists and gradual distribution of their settlements were one of the reasons of movement of white traders up the rivers. The difference in interests of traders and colonists frequently made their relations tense. The number of the English immigrants shortly before the middle of XVII century was more than 30 thousand people. […]



Boundaries have remained behind: the period of integration (1650-1800)

Category: History

The prominent feature of the third period of historical changes in the life of Indians to the north and to the east of the river Delaware was their acquaintance with Protestantism. It is not surprising that the earliest activity of missionaries among Indians failed. The American Indian culture was still absolutely untouched, and Indians kept […]



The period after 1800

Category: History

In the beginning of XVIII century the public and cultural life of Indians of the mid Atlantic coast was on the lowest level of development. Their modern history is a slow and hurting process of awakening of their national consciousness as reactions of Indians to the attitude to them prevailing among the white population. If […]



Indian Reorganization Act of 1934

Category: History

A survey in 1926 brought into clear focus the failings of the previous 40 years. The investigators found most Indians “extremely poor,” in bad health, without education, and lacking adjustment to the dominant culture around them. Under the impetus of these finding and other pressures for reform. Congress adopted the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, […]