Indigenous People of…
UNITED STATES
Timeline of NA Activism
NA History & Culture
A Brief Chronology
True/False History Quiz
Legal/Law Chronology
1941, a book by Charles Mann, offers this timeline
CANADA
First Nations People Timelines
First Nations People History
General History of Canada
SOME MISSING HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Slavery
Genocide
Another way to think about some historical events:
1492 - Columbus sails from Spain and “discovers” a new land - effectively denying the existence of a people already here on the islands (and eventually a continent).
1492 - The concept that all lands belong to the invading conquerors of Europe is established.
1492 - The word “Indian” misnames the Nations of the western hemisphere.
1492 on - Extermination of the Indigenous People begins. They can no longer lay claim to their lands and culture.
circa 1550 - Since they are not mentioned in the Bible, a gathering in Rome of religious clerics argues whether the Indigenous People of the western hemisphere have souls, in order to be Christianized, or if they are “beasts who talk”.
circa 1770 - The Revolutionary War ensures western expansion on to lands that were guaranteed to Indigenous People who had treaties with England.
Imposed boarding schools forbid children to speak their own Nation’s language.
“The Bering Landbridge Migration” perspective denies Indigenous Nations’ their own views of their origins.
1924 - Citizenship is imposed as a way to negate treaties and deny Nations their sovereign rights.
Movie imagery depicts Indigenous People as “half-naked,” “brutal,” “blood thirsty” with limited English.
Sources:
Meighan, Clement. “Burying American Archaeology.” Archaeology. 1994, Nov./Dec., 64-68.
Zimmerman, Larry. “Sharing Control of the Past.” Archaeology. 1994, Nov./Dec., 65-68.
