American Indians and Alaska Natives live and work in the United States and around the world, often leaving their reservations for education and employment. Reservations are areas of land held and governed by a U.S. federal government-recognized Native American tribal nation, whose government is autonomous and subject to regulations passed by the United States Congress and administered by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.
North Dakota currently owns 31,000 surface and 200,000 subsurface acres of trust lands on reservations. The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs has published a series of single and multi-sheet “Highway System Maps” for some 175 reservations since the 1970s. States traditionally were not granted jurisdiction over Native American reservations and other Indian countries within their borders. However, this changed for some states, leading to divisions and enmity among government employees.
A key principle of American Indian law is the right to tribal sovereignty or the power of self-government. Federal statutes are the primary mechanism used by the federal government to regulate Indian affairs. Some Indian reservations are small pockets of land with a range of businesses, while others are large and have a high poverty rate.
The Canadian portion of the Empty Interior is held in its National Park system and is under provincial control. These maps and map series provide detailed coverage of the physical and cultural features of reservations. The checkboard system of land ownership historically left communities and landowners unable to make basic decisions about their land.
📹 Native American reservations explained
Become a patron! Donate to help pay for production of GN. You also get exclusive BTS footage, pics/ and access to other perks!
Are people on Indian reservations US citizens?
American Indians and Alaska Natives are citizens of the United States and the states in which they reside. They are also citizens of the Tribes according to the criteria established by each Tribe. An Indian is someone of some degree Indian blood and recognized as such by a Tribe and/or the United States. No single federal or tribal criterion establishes a person’s identity as an Indian. Government agencies use differing criteria to determine eligibility for programs and services, and tribes also have varying eligibility criteria for membership.
It is important to distinguish between the ethnological term “Indian” and the political/legal term “Indian”. The protections and services provided by the United States for tribal members flow not from an individual’s status as an American Indian but from their special trust relationship with the Tribe.
What is the poorest reservation in the US?
Pine Ridge, the eighth-largest reservation in the United States, is the poorest and most affected by health conditions such as high mortality rates, depression, alcoholism, drug abuse, malnutrition, and diabetes. Access to healthcare is limited compared to urban areas, and many families lack electricity, telephone, running water, or sewage systems. The population has among the shortest life expectancies in the Western Hemisphere, with infant mortality rates five times the national average and adolescent suicide rates four times the national average.
The Pine Ridge Comprehensive Health Facility, run by the Indian Health Service, is the on-reservation hospital. The 110, 000 square feet inpatient hospital includes an outpatient clinic, dental clinic, and surgery suite. The emergency room is staffed by two physicians, two physician assistants, and a hospitalist in triage. The “Sick Kids” clinic is also based at the facility, with pediatricians on staff. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the hospital increased its capacity to provide respiratory and critical care, with assistance from the Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health.
What is the difference between a reserve and a reservation?
Reserves are exclusively in Canada and reservations are only in the United States. Canada can have numerous reserves within treaty boundaries, while reservations cover the entire treaty area in the United States. The current surface area of reserve land in Canada is 8, 866, 668 acres, with a total acreage of 2, 467, 265, 689 acres. As of 2017, only 0. 36 of Canada’s land mass is reserved, largely due to ongoing settlement of Specific Claims called Treaty Land Entitlements.
What are the 3 biggest reservations in America?
The US has 326 Indian reservations, governed by 574 federally recognized tribal entities. The largest is the Navajo Nation in the southwest, followed by the Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Cherokee nations in Oklahoma and the Uintah and Ouray reservation of the Utes in Utah. Indian reservations face high poverty rates and environmental issues. A recent success is the official recognition of reservation land inhabited by the Five Civilized Tribes in Oklahoma. There are 326 reservations under the Bureau of Indian Affairs, along with Alaska Native Village Statistical areas, state reservations in the continental US, and Hawaiian Native home lands.
Which Indian tribe was the most aggressive?
The expansion of mining, ranching, and settling in the American West led to conflicts with the Indian populations. The Sioux of the Northern Plains and Apaches of the Southwest waged the most aggressive warfare, led by militant leaders like Red Cloud and Crazy Horse. The Sioux were relatively new arrivals on the Plains, displacing other Indian tribes and becoming feared warriors. The Apaches supplemented their economy by raiding other tribes and practiced warfare to avenge the death of a kinsman.
During the American Civil War, Army units were withdrawn to fight the war in the east, replaced by volunteer infantry and cavalry raised by the states of California and Oregon, western territorial governments, or local militias. These units fought the Indians and kept open communications with the east, holding the west for the Union and defeating the Confederate attempt to capture the New Mexico Territory. After 1865, national policy called for all Indians to either assimilate into the American population as citizens or live peacefully on reservations.
The 18th and early 19th centuries in Texas were characterized by competition and warfare between the Comanches and Spanish settlements. The Battle of the Twin Villages in 1759 halted Spanish expansion in Texas, while Comanche raids on Spanish settlements and their Lipan Apache allies characterized the next 70 years. In the 1830s, large numbers of Americans began to settle in Texas, encroaching on Comancheria, the proto-empire of the Comanches.
Who is the most feared Indian tribe?
The Comanches, also known as the “Lords of the Plains,” were regarded as one of the most formidable Indian tribes during the frontier era. Cynthia Ann Parker, Quanah’s mother, was abducted at the age of nine by the Comanches and subsequently integrated into the tribe. At the age of 34, she was abducted by Texas Rangers and subsequently restored to her previous way of life.
What is the richest reservation in the United States?
The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, Navajo Nation, Coeur d’Alene, Gila River Indian Community, and Oneida Nation are among the five richest Native American tribes in the US. These tribes have contributed significantly to the country’s culture, history, and economy through land development, tourism, and successful business ventures. However, many Native American tribes in North America still struggle, and the list of the richest tribes is not exhaustive. To learn more about these tribes, continue reading.
Which state has the most Indian reservations?
Native American reservations are primarily located in the western United States, with California having 103 recognized reservations, including over 55, 000 residents. Other states like Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico also have large numbers of reservations, with some crossing state lines. Other states with at least ten Native American reservations include Oregon, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, and Washington. The western states are home to tribal lands of the Northern Paiute, Coquille, and Umpqua tribes, while the midwestern states are home to the Ojibwe tribe and the Potawatomi.
Are there any Indian reservations left in the US?
The United States has approximately 326 federally recognized Indian Reservations, with most of the tribal land base designated as Native American Reservations. In California, half of these reservations are called rancherías, while most are called Pueblos in New Mexico. In Nevada, there are Native American areas called Indian colonies. The total population of these reservations is 1, 043, 762. Alaska Native Village Statistical Areas are geographical areas used by the US Census Bureau to track demographic data, representing permanent or seasonal residences of Alaska Natives.
These areas contain a significant proportion of persons who are members of or receive services from a defining Alaska Native Village for at least one season of the year. All but one small Alaska Native Reserve were repealed with the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971.
What is the most violent Indian reservation in the United States?
The Wind River Reservation in Wyoming faces significant challenges, including a high dropout rate of 40, a higher than the state average of Wyoming, and a high crime rate. Native Americans are more likely to commit suicide than other young adults within the reservation, and the crime rate is five to seven times the national average. The reservation also has a history of gang violence.
Some contributing factors to the reservation’s issues include lack of adequate physical infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, public water supply, sanitation facilities, and education. The Wyoming Department of Education collaborated with the North Central Comprehensive Center to improve the reservation’s education system through multiple listening sessions. Parents and students agreed that schools needed more Native American teachers, increased security measures to reduce bullying and gangs, and more Native American-relevant courses, such as their Native American language. Students and parents also wanted a standard for academic expectations that should be held within all schools within the reservation.
Preliminary data from Folo Akintan, a medical doctor and epidemiologist from the Rocky Mountain Tribal Epidemiology Center, shows that four out of ten Wind River Reservation residents have had a relative die from cancer. Many believe it is due to a uranium mill and contamination plume near St. Stephens. The DOE found that soils, surface water, and shallow groundwater were contaminated, and in 2010, levels of contamination were 100 times higher than what is allowed by the USEPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for drinking water. Tribal officials were concerned about their water sources being contaminated by these deadly toxins.
The DOE placed plastic PVC for the water pipeline, but it has broken multiple times within the past year. Residents have become fed up with the DOE due to lack of cleanup, poor pipeline equipment, and lack of spreading data about the high levels of contamination from flooding. Although it is hard to suggest that a uranium tailing site is causing an increased cancer rate, Dr. Akintan suggests it is a risk indicator. The cancer rates on the reservation are higher than the national and state average.
How many Indian reservations are left in the United States?
The US Census Bureau provides statistical data on 566 federally recognized Indian tribes, 325 American Indian reservations, and 618 legal and statistical areas, including reservations, off-reservation trust lands, Oklahoma tribal statistical areas, and more.
📹 The Awful Reality of Life On Native American Reservations
How do we still allow Americans to live like this? Now I’ve been to some sad places, and I’ve seen way more than my fair share of …
I currently live on a native American property 55 km or about 35 miles away from Russia. We are closer to Russia than to mainland Alaska. I hesitate to call it a reservation because under Alaskan law, it’s not considered a reservation because it is privately owned by the natives cooperation. I am a teacher on this island.
Another important factor of US-Indigenous history to mention is the boarding school system. For around a century, indigenous children were forced to go to boarding schools where the US attempted to forcibly eradicate all aspects of Indigenous cultures. There was a lot of abuse and neglect, a lot of kids died. This era is why so many languages have so few speakers and also why so many Indigenous communities struggle with inter generational trauma
The Hopi trying to reclaim land from the Navajo Reservation has been a long legal battle for over half a century now, so I’m glad it got mentioned. And interestingly the ancient Apache-Navajo started their migration from Upper White River region of Alaska following a volcanic eruption from Mount Churchill.
I lived and worked in the Chickasaw Nation for years. During the initial covid times, the casino I worked at had to close for almost two months. In spite of them being closed, they didn’t lay anybody off and I kept still got paid, including getting 80% of what the average tip pool was. Consider my hourly pay was almost entirely consumed by taxes, tips were almost my entire income.
As a fellow Californian, I’m surprised you didn’t mentioned the mission system. yeah, it was under the Spanish (and later Mexican) government, but it still had HUGE impact: many Californian tribes aren’t federally recognized, and many Californians actually protested when father Junipero was sainted! the history of native suffering under the mission is a big, sad part of our state history!
In Hawaii we grew up learning about hawaiian history from ancient native hawaiian society and culture through hawaii’s take over to now.. comparing that to where I live now in Pennsylvania, where I’m told at least the history of the lenape and Delaware weren’t taught, it makes me proud to have been a local, which is what we called people from Hawaii who weren’t native hawaiian 🙂
Having visited the Navajo Nation in my trip to the US (I’m from Australia) last year I fully agree with his assessment of how good fry-bread tastes. I’m visiting Canada later this year and looking forward to having it again there. Interesting re the languages with their own writing scripts. I did the Navajo tree (more like a bush) on Duolingo during a lockdown in 2020 and was pleased to have a crack at speaking (mainly just ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’) when I was on the Reservations last year. But to discover that not all of the Native American languages (in the US – Í’m aware that the Inuit in Canada have their own script) use the Latin script was interesting.
This is the thing I’m most excited for in the USA episode! I’m a history nerd in addition to being a geography nerd, so the major well-known US history kind of bores me just because I’ve studied it so much in school. I love learning about the cultures of the Indigenous population of different countries, so I’m super excited to learn more
I was ten, when our local German TV website aired the French animation series “Once Upon A Time… The Americas” (Il était une fois… les Amériques). It’s actually part of an educational franchise directed by Albert Barillé. It was also the first Western production I watched, that didn’t show American natives as primitive or violent. And it touched on every aspect of life of the people who colonised the American continent. From all the achievements to the most unpleasant topics.
Correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t the word Indian derived from the fact they where looking to reach India or the indies by sailing west instead east. Thus landing on the American continent and naming the indigenous people Indians because they where under the impression to have hit India / the indies.
I have heard about reservations for Native Americans in America. Good that you explained. 👍. There are Navajo and Mohawk tribes. Any country having a tribe is best. In my country India there are lots of tribes but there is no reservation land for them. Tribals in India are found in all parts. But in your country USA there are specific locations for tribals.
As a member of the Mescelaro Apache and Toas Pueblo people, I want to thank you for doing a great job on accurately portraying the reservations. I have been keeping up with your website for some time now and am so glad this episode was made. Keep up the good work and it would be and honor if you came and visited the Toas Pueblo, the oldest inhabited area in North America.
You could do a whole episode just on the Native Californians, ’cause that’s a whole ‘nother ballgame. There are multiple dozens of tribes and sub-tribes. I live in the area of the Chumash people, whose language family is believed to be even older than the ones you mentioned, making them among the oldest inhabitants of the region.
I follow the YouTube website “Navajo Traditional Teachings” hosted by Navajo historian Wally Brown. It’s a fascinating website that seeks to preserve the oral traditions of the Navajo people. Highly recommend to anyone who is curious! (FYI, according to Mr. Brown, the Navajo came from the East, not the North; it’s something he’s very insistent on 😂)
I’m in education, which has recently privileged me to attend a meeting w Gilbert Whiteduck and members of the Mohawk, Algonquin, and Schenectady tribes. We participated in a smudging ceremony with a fire fanned by an eagles feather and passed a talking stick around to talk about our lives, our ideas for education, or our relation to native life. The whole thing was rather eye opening. The teacher I work with presented a project we’re doing in which students from a upper-middle class elementary school collaborated with a nearby indigenous elementary school in creating a song together. The kids played, did activities, had lunch together, and took time to write lyrics in groups. The lyrics spoke of the tragedies of the past while also speaking about a brighter future once we sort the information. The meeting confirmed to me that we can teach the future generations the truth in what happened and other sensitive topics without making anyone feel bad or uncomfortable! The truth may be ugly but it’s the only thing that will set us free from it
1:43 Archaeologists held on to the 10,000 years ago Beringia theory for the arrival of the first Americans for a long time, but there’s now convincing evidence that people lived at sites like Monte Verde in Chile and Meadowcroft Rock Shelter in Pennsylvania closer to 20,000 years ago and likely long before then. Linguists noted a long time ago that 10k years wasn’t a realistic time frame to develop the extreme linguistic diversity of the continents from a single migratory group. The YouTube website Ancient Americas has a fantastic article about it and other indigenous history topics.
Thanks for the overview. I would suggest a deeper dive into some of the nations, but the selection process would take decades, no? PS. Like so many Usonians, even those of us with immigrant backgrounds, I have a story: my father was born in Comanche County on a reservation in a house built by members of the Kiowa nation. His father was in the US Army there. Like everything else with the People of the Land, it’s a nuanced and difficult history.
Bravo sir, well done, It is a complex issue and really needs to be talked about more – I’ve lived and worked in and around two reservations and find each has its complexities, like here by the Great Lakes and adjacent waterways its fishing rights that tends to be a serious concern. Yes, fry bread is awesome.
2:01 One note is that there wasn’t an “ice bridge” connecting Asia and North America at the end of the Ice Age (Pleistocene Epoch), but a land bridge that different animals migrated across. This landmass connected both continents because of the lowering of sea level that was caused by glaciers and ice sheets all across the world during that time.
Sorry, Just FYI for anyone interested… I am Northwest Florida Mvskoke (Muscogee Creek), which is not on your map. During the Indian Removal act the mvskoke from as far away as “Little Tallasee” (near present-day Montgomery, Alabama) Joined with the Tribe in Pensacola, Florida where they remained with a group led by Osceola drawing the federal troops away from them down into the everglades and taking the name “Seminole”. A lot happened between then and the 1940’s and 1950’s to try and become recognized, and finely in 1974, the State of Florida created the Northwest Florida Creek Indian Council under Florida Statute 285 to deal with Creek Indian issues, and in 1986 a treaty was finally signed and the Senate and the House of Representatives for the State of Florida passed concurrent Resolutions that recognized us as a tribe. Our land is not a reservation however, it is called “Tribal Land” and is composed of large areas of land privately purchased and shared among the tribe.
I’m from a reservation in Lakeside, California, my grandmother was full blooded Diegueno AKA Kumeyaay. We’re a relatively small tribe, we have a hotel and casino, since I live in Missouri, I pay both state and federal taxes, if you live on the reservation, you only have to pay federal taxes, at least in California, I’m not sure about other states.
Love this article. I am part Native American from the Gros Ventre tribe (yes I know the translation of the name from French and they did name it). Our reservation is in Montana however it’s technically not our homeland. Our homeland is in present day Canada and when the border was established in the 1800s the Americans wouldn’t let us cross back into Canada
Didn’t really touch on the distinction between fee land and title land. Some tribes/individuals hold land in fee simple allowing for the highest level of land ownership recognized in the US, while title land is owned by the federal government, but is made available for tribes to use such land. Fee land may or may not be taxed locally depending on whether it is held in trust by the government on behalf of the owner/owners. Title rights to land may be taken away at a moments notice without much recourse.
Miigwech for making this article!! I think it’s really important to acknowledge that not all indigenous tribes were the same or even symbiotic in any way. A lot of people have this weird idea that all native peoples have one look and one combined story. My dad is Dakota and my mom is Ojibwe. They were married for 20 years and even they couldn’t get along lmao (it’s funny because haha enemy tribes) If you like frybread and are ever up north, you should try to find some bannock bread. It’s bigger, thinner, and I think it’s baked? It’s not the same of even comparable to frybread, but it’s really good and deserves a try! Sidenote: In some areas that are surrounded by reservations, you can find some signs written in different indigenous languages. I live in MN and a lot of our welcome or restroom signs are written in English and Ojibwe.
There is a wild diversity across the various tribes/reservations and their mentalities, beliefs and feelings both now and historically. In example, almost all of the tribes and their reservations in the Pacific Northwest don’t think about and don’t really care about a lot of the historical stuff like bad blood, slurs, terminologies, etc, and don’t think it is anything to care about, except just one – The Umatilla. Did you know they’re the ones behind the national push to make it federal to rename many places due to historic use of the names as slurs? Without them making such a big to-do over it, I would have never known what any of the names and terms even meant, let alone their historical hijacking to be used as slurs in the first place, nor would most people. In example, they’ve been focusing most heavily on changing the names of places with the word “Squaw”. They directly acknowledge that Squaw was/is a Iroquois word meaning “Woman”, but was later hijacked and used by settlers as a slur instead. And it is because people used to use it as a slur they decided to still take offense to it and demand its removal as a name, term and word. I find this ironic given that A) they’re the Umatilla, a tribe of the Pacific Northwest and Columbia River Basin, FAR away and removed from anything Iroquois, yet are taking complete control of a Iroquois word because they, the Umatilla, feel offended by its misuse way back in history, and B) The term as a slur has not been used by anyone for at least a good 70-80 years, if not longer, to the extent I guarantee not a soul even knew of it being used as a slur, what the slur form meant, nor what the actual word itself even means, so by making such a big deal out of it, they’re actually actively re-birthing that meaning, advertising it, and thus potentially will cause more people to use it as a slur all over again, even if in a attempt to make a joke.
I never understood how people in these comments think they can speak for their people, I have Cherokee heritage, I live in an areas heavily populated with Choctaw people, I have lived on the lummi reservation in Washington, went to Indian education in California and attended several powwows, one thing I can tell you for certain is no one person can speak for their people, they all have different opinions, different views, different political leanings. The diversity within a single tribe is as it is among any town, city, county. There are those who hold grudges, there are those who use past atrocities as excuses, those who rise up and become successful. What happened in the past happened and nothing can change that, all those responsible are long dead. Any decent person while acknowledging the past concentrates more on looking to the future. It is true that many tribes are plagued with substance abuse and it is my opinion that people fixating on the past contributes to this. By reading these comments it is clear that many still view native Americans almost like some roadside sideshow, they are your neighbors, fellow Americans, fellow humans.
Hail from Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands’ largest island and “capital island”). I would definitely love an in-depth analysis article of the individual Native American tribes, but that would be a huge undertaking. Fun fact: Calvin Coolidge was the president who FINALLY acknowledged Native Americans as American citizens.
***Land bridge not ice bridge. Beringea is a land bridge between Alaska and Asia. It’s under water except during ice ages. People lived there for millennia (animals for millions of years). That’s how my Native American ancestors came here. You can walk across ice but there isn’t enough food for the millions of people on it. Most of us walked on land to get here not ice.
Aho. I am Nakoda from the Fort Peck reservation in Montana/ Canda and wanted to bring another very important part of our culture. Sign language. Sign or plain language was the most common form of communication in between tribes especially those with language barriers. It was used in hunting, war communication, and hand games. It was even utilized in WWII trenches as a language no axis forces would understand. This is a very brief rundown of plain and urdge ppl to also research more
Why don’t you expand your Geography Now website’s articles to talk about each traditional country (beyond the normal nation-states we usually talk about) ? So, countries like Tsalaguwetiyi (Cherokee Country), Euskal Herria (Basque Country), Kurdistan (Kurdish Country), Dinétah (Navajo Country), Iñupiaq Nunaŋat (Iñupiaq Country), etc.
Hey, Geography Now, have you read the book 1491 about the pre-columbian americas, I’m almost finished with it and it’s really good. Among many things, it talks about how the pre-columbian americas were actually descently densely populated, and a lot more densely populated than most people picture them or what is generally taught in schools.
The stories behind the current state of the Seminole and Comanche tribes have always been the most fascinating to me despite being polar opposites. The Seminole tribe has land in Florida and Oklahoma to accommodate the people who were forced out of Florida with the trail of tears and those who retreated to the everglades and were never removed. The Seminoles also own the Hard Rock franchise so anytime you go to a Hard Rock hotel, casino, or restaurant anywhere in the world you’re doing business with the Seminole tribe. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Comanche tribe. The Comanche’s history was that of horseback nomads and raiders in the Texas/Oklahoma border region and after being defeated and forced onto a reservation they had trouble adapting to the new way of life as all they had known was a nomadic and raider lifestyle where many of the tribes in the region would just take whatever they needed from each other. When they attempted to return to this way of life they were beaten into submission once more, had their reservation seized by the government, and were forced to move into what is now the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache reservation. The half white Quanah Parker, last chief of the Comanche tribe, became a wealthy rancher and his house is still standing on the reservation where it is known as the “Star House” due to the ten white stars painted on the roof to symbolize his status as war chief and therefore outranking any US general.
I’m from Venezuela, I live in Colombia, I’ve always had a superficial knowledge about the United States, this part of the United States is something new to me, I didn’t imagine this level of organization of the Native Americans, Definitely much more organized than the natives of my home country. are they like a country apart from the United States of America?
OMG i recently got back into the native american algorithm and hearing BIA just brought back memories of my sociological qualitative research class. We partnered with the Nez Perce tribe in Idaho and man I knew some of the downfalls of the reservations due to socioeconomic and historical/political issues but seeing it in person, meeting/talking with the people, and THEN coupled with ALL the data given from the BIA site — it really really opened my eyes. Also just being from the PNW – I feel like we have a decently strong culture of preserving our coastal tribes influence. Although I’ve never visited reservations outside of WA state and would love to visit those areas in Oklahoma, New England, New Mexico, Mississippi, etc. and see where we’re lacking.
Fun fact: 27 of the 50 U.S. states have names of Native origin. Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Hawai’i, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
I’m Navajo and majored in Native American Studies at an Ivy League college, and I had a professor who preferred the term American Indian for it’s specificity, mostly in academic/legal contexts. If you say Native or Native American, there are many other groups of people who could argue that they too are Native to this continent if they and their grandparents were born here. If you say Indian, you could be referring to Indians from India or Indian-Americans. If you say Indigenous, you could be referring to any Indigenous group in the world or run into the same issue as Native. But there’s no other group of people you could be talking about when you say American Indian. Which is why I think it’s still the term used by the federal government. But that being said, I’d say we’d rank our preferences by 1. Our actual tribe, 2. Native or Native American, and 3. Indigenous. Increasingly, Indian is a term we use amongst ourselves but other people shouldn’t.
As well, members of certain Indian Nations travel on their own National passports rather than their US passport to selected countries. I spoke last year here in Geneva with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Representative to the UN. He entered Switzerland via Zurich on his Haudenosaunne passport; he showed it to me with its official entrance stamp by Switzerland immigration. The Haudenosanee (sometimes know as Iroquois) are officially recognized by the Canton of Geneva but are not yet recognized by the UN as an independent nation, so the visit protocol was a mix of official state business and “just another tourist”. I learned a bit about their nation during the Geneva welcoming ceremony. As Paul says, talking is the best way forward. The Representative wasn’t so clear, but I suspect he entered back in New York on his US passport rather than his Haudenosaunne.
My great grandmother’s family was forced on the Trail of Tears. Most of her relatives left for Oklahoma prior to that because they could see the writing on the wall and knew it was coming. My grandfather was the first one in his family born off the reservation since the tribe was forcibly removed. I get emails from the tribe every so often inquiring if I’d like to move onto the tribal lands. I plan to visit one day, but actually moving there is probably something I will not do. I’ve taken my son to see different Indian ruins in Arizona north of Flagstaff, and we spent time on the Apache reservation near Sedona. I plan to take him to see the Navajo nation in the next year or two. There’s so many things to see and the history is vast. The central and south American tribes, their art, and history has always fascinated me. One day I’ll make plans to visit the ancient ruins there too.
I know there is a so much information about the native people and this article is only the tip of the iceberg but it would’ve been to cool to mention the sport of Lacrosse! It is the oldest sport in North America and was played primarily by the tribes in the Northeast and along the great lakes. You mentioned them in the article but the Iroquois have their own team and compete at the international level and are one of the best in the world. Lacrosse has such a rich history and I encourage anybody to watch a game or some highlights. It is such a unique and fun sport and currently on the rise in popularity
Thanks for the useful info! Although there is apparently no official Native land in Virginia, there are still regions that hold many descendants from the same tribe, such as the Monacan tribe around Amherst. I used to deliver newspapers there, and on the few occasions that we met, they were always very nice to me.
Pueblo Nation in New Mexico have remained in the same area only the American whites have established boundaries around the pueblos.We continue to thrive in our traditional heritage. We have ceremonial dances n feast days which have existed for centuries unlike pow wows these are quite different. We are the first nation to defeat a European country (Spain)to maintain our freedom n heritage. Although Spain reentered our area with a different attitude 12 yrs later they did not try to again to destroy our heritage.
And just so people know, not all native Americans live on the reservations (obviously). many end up leaving and taking advantage of what the larger US has to offer. In fact, many natives are thankful for the USA. While some are still resentful of what happened to certain tribes in the past, many natives have moved on, and actually have developed a love for the USA, just like many other ethnic groups that move here. Edit: Oh, and btw, My Mexican family (I’m part Mexican) is actually a large part “native”. Part of their bloodline comes from Aztecs that migrated from what is modern day Mexico, and part of the ancestry is also “native Mexican” having lived in California before way before it was a state. Essentially, while there was some Spanish blood mixed in, my Mexican family was native Californian/Mexican and native Central American. Yes, its a different kind of “native” from what’s discussed in the article, but there is some nuance to it.
In Ukrainian we have two different words. Indiytsi – people of India. Indiantsi – native Americans. So at least in my language there is clear distinction. In English language I personally use each tribe name separately, but if I have to talk collectively I say Native American, because in every demographic statistics from the US it says so. But if they are ok with Indian I am okay with it.
I live in Nevada… Try telling a Paiute person that their ancestors walked to Nevada from Russia… They simply don’t believe it. They say they were created here, and that they didn’t come from anywhere else. Same with the Washoe (wa she shu) people… They don’t believe in the “land-bridge/Siberia” theory, AT ALL! I don’t argue with them, even though I was taught contrary notions in school… I trust them to know their own history, rather than blindly believing the colonialist version of history that was imposed on them. Red headed giants!
I grew up in Tucson, though i am not a part of the tribe my half-brothers are Yaqui me myself I’m 42% indigenous my grandfather was a mayo Indian in Sinaloa. A lot of Hispanic/Latino people in the US could be considered mestizo Half native/European. The south-west will always be my home. These deserts are hot but the culture and people make it worth it.
Let me complicate things for you. There are “American Indians” that do not live in America. The Native diaspora that occurred during early colonization sent the “original People” into areas and territories occupied by others outside of the United States even before there was a Untied States. Often natives were given tribal names that were not their own just to confuse matters. A Pequot/Mohegan could be a Brotherstown, Praying Indian or perhaps a Stockbridge before heading west. Along the journey the Mohegans called the Magua ~Mohawks meaning Man Eaters (an Insult but the Name stuck) Then they named the Seneca (Snake Heads meaning crazy) that name stuck. Haudenosaunee was a better name than Iroquois given to them by the French. and MUCH better than Huron meaning Pig Men by them as well. Many of these tribes including Delaware ((Not their name) Munsee and Tuscarora were all American Tribes that entered into Canada. So many American Indians have a sort of dual citizenship role not shared between every nation. Many Nations including Sioux were in Canada for a time but I doubt that they now have special status with the Crown. I hope this makes things as clear as MUD. 🙂
The Native People’s, that have been educated with their own Traditions and Oral History (and have also choose University + have a familiarity with General Quantum Physics), have to often find themselves “shaking their head”, applying Compassion, and carrying on with their Conscious Higher Minded Journeying in Bliss. 😘 (I’m partial to the Iroquois, Cherokee,, and Navajo), I have a wee bit of the former and I share Basque with the latter, Irish largely, of Basque genetically, lineage County Kerry, Ireland) ☘️ 🇮🇪
Wonderful over you here in the Antelope Valley in Palmdale California I had in youth belong to,I’m a white guy, OK my background is my dad was Swiss German and my mother was Danish in Norwegian however here we had something called the Indian guides which was better than the Boy Scouts and we learned a little bit about Indian culture and the local American indigenous Indians and I even found a quartz arrowhead out in our yard when I was young and I’ve always been interested in it and I am still learning about it and I realize it’s very complicated but this a article that you made was very informative and I realize it’s a very complex subject And I really love the article
I would like to point out that migrations to the US did not only come from Siberia but also sailors from the islands of Oceania and there is also strong evidence to suggest there were even migrations from the west coast of Africa via boat as well. This happened of course 15-10,000 years ago – there is Archaeological evidence to validate all these claims as well.
Reservations are virtually equal and separate from states. This is a concept many non-natives have problems understanding. That’s why a Rez can have a casino when the state that surrounds them can’t. State officials are usually not allowed on reservations in an official capacity without permission. (Equal to state/ sovereign status cross over) The sovereign part is the other thing that non-natives don’t understand either. When I lived in Minnesota, people would throw a fit over Natives traditional fishing methods and the number of fish they could catch.
As a native American apache San Carlos I personally think you did this well side note: you should think as the 1800s as if the us were Nazi for example the native school witch you forgot to mention and tis the reason for why I don’t have a ponytail not know the language 2nd you also didn’t show any leaders but I’m guessing my complaints where either going to get the article demonetized or might be in the America episode or would have made this episode too long
European settlers killed 56 million indigenous people over about 100 years in South, Central, and North America. Some 100,000 American Indians were forcibly removed from what is now the Eastern United States to what was called Indian Territory including members of the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes. Thanks (being a smartmouth here) to Andrew Jackson, who led the country from 1828 to 1837, the Trail of Tears (1837-1839) was the forced westward migration of American Indian Tribes from the South and Southeast. Somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 of the Cherokee Nation alone was lost as a result of the Trail of Tears. It was morally wrong because the arguments used to justify the move were based on falsehood. It was wrong both morally and legally. Based on part, on an invalid treaty. A sad story about how a group that had power gained at the expense of a minority unable to defend itself. If this sounds familiar, it should. Just look at where our country is headed now. 🪶 👆 Golden Eagle 🪶 Georgia
It was a great article. However, there is Duck, Duck, Go instead of using a third party! Another comment is that answers in Genesis have extended information on Indians in the Americas. They believe the Nephilim, a giant peoples came before them and the migration of Indians in America is discussed too, as he alluded to about the Hopis. A last comment is about the book, Black Elk Speaks, written in the early 1900s by Black Elk, grandfather of Charlotte Black Elk, who was a Lakota medicine man. It is very accurate and very interesting.
You know that we still need informative books about Native/indigenous Americans, which can answer questions like the ones you answered here. You gave a very good stream of tangible information. I want to hear more about all aspects of Native American history, culture, language, and life. That book you recommended would clearly be a good start.
What I really appreciate is the neutral informational presentation for this. The Native American topic is a pretty controversial one. And when discussing it, it often can fall into two extremes: ignoring the past to not address uncomfortable topics or only focusing on it (and potentially blaming my people for the events of my ancestors from long before anybody I know was born). I think it’s good that it was addressed, but the article focused how things are now and explaining things in a non-emotional way. I appreciate it despite me seeing this article a few months late! Love the website!
I wish the Gullah people could use the same legislature to have a place for their members they are unique culture that never asked to be here and their culture is being demolished if they could do some offshore cause he knows to make some money. I think it would be great to see Gullah culture survive.
for your info John Smith…before he came to the Americas he was fighting for the Hungarian Bathory Transylvanian Army as Johan Smith…and he once was in a duel against 3x TURKS and Johan did cut them down…so he become a Captain and had his coat of arms…three Turk heads LOL…and he is the founder of America
I was once told that 5 or 6 clans of Anasazi merged with the Navajos for protection. Do DNA test lie…? How come Hopi dilect is aztecan language. How come there are northern native woodcarvers… totem poles. Native art show in Mount Pleasant Michigan …the best stone and woodcarvers. Wood and stone carving is global ARTS.
Great vid, but a few nitpicks… I’m glad you suggested that people refer to people as their tribe first rather than just the collective “native American” or whatever other phrase people use. (Personally it doesn’t really matter to me as long as you don’t call me a slur.) However, I would point out that the reason you will see tribes continue to use “Indian” is because it is a legal term of art defined within the United States code. So in legal and formal governmental matters the usage of Indian is actually significant and important. I’m fairly certain all federal laws apply with reservations, it is state law that does not apply. They refer to themselves as nation because each tribe are their own sovereign government and group of people that predate the United States. This is different from the reservation. At times in the article it felt like you conflated tribes with reservations. Not all tribes or nations have reservations. Reservations are areas of land reserved by the tribes and Congress as set forth in their respective treaties and legislative acts for the tribes to reside. Also it is important to note that they are federal lands because they are held in trust by the federal government for the benefit of the tribes. However not all tribal lands are trust lands.
I’m actually shocked and surprised you discussed this topic. Native indigenous people had a tragic history throughout the us expansion of the country. Another Mount Rushmore was native sacred mountain before it was stolen by white extremists and carved it to the founding father. Another is the us violated 300 peace treaty that causes many to leave their lands. Yea native Americans have a really dark history. That we should never forget, I Honor my native American brothers.
Just a heads up – there have been implements unearthed in Zacatecas, MX recently. The sediment associated with the artifacts is, at the youngest, 12000 ybp and may be close to 33000 ybp. For humans to be that far south right around the time of the Younger Dryas ending suggests that anyone who crossed the Bering land bridge did so well before then. Plus, comparative genetic archaeology has some interesting insights regarding the Bering land bridge theory – suggesting Pacific Islanders made it to the Americas sometime before the end of the Younger Dryas. Cool!
You forgot the Seminole tribe. They inhabited most of Florida but were kicked out during the Seminole wars. They still exist although they still have a reservation somewhere near Miami with the Seminole Hard rock hotel and Casino. You can tell because of the giant glass Guitar just there. Not many Floridians have Seminole blood anymore and what is left was diluted over time by mixing with normal people. honestly the tribe is at its last legs genetically and those with maybe a little seminole blood keep the traditions alive but barely.
European decent American here. Had an Apache roommate in college who preferred American Indian albeit a misnomer. He said if someone called him Native American he wasn’t going to correct them or make a fuss, but he felt it was just as much a misnomer and less descriptive, as technically anyone born on American soil is a native American. Didn’t know the Navajo weren’t indigenous to American Southwest. Learn something everyday.
As someone who lived near the Pine Ridge Reservation, amd who at one of the area walmarts (at least the one the natives went to in Nebraska) I have found they want to be called by b their name which is Ogallala Lakota, not the government which is Sioux. The issue is I cannot remember which one is the overarching term which one is the more local term, as there are technically there are 7 tribes of Sioux nation.
The crow creek sioux Indian reservation of SD. Is the only Dakota sioux indian reservation still has its reservation border lands. The fort Totten Dakota sioux Indian in North Dakota and the three in South Dakota, the flandreau santee Dakota sioux indian reservation and the Sisseton Wahpeton sioux Indian reservation and the Yankton Nakota sioux Indian reservation and the three Dakota sioux Indian reservations in Minnesota. Don’t have there reservation border lands. Just checkered border lands. The American civilians own most of the lands. Seriously true about this kind of situations! My historical information for today. Have a great fabulous wonderful day. Ready just below this sentence….
Visited NC Smokey Mts. area Cherokee Reservation around 10 years old and saw the theatrical play “Unto These Hills” that ended with the Trail of Tears scenario…and I cried! Actually have pix somewhere with a tribal leader. Also drove through Navaho Rez starting in Gallup, NM, up to around Shiprock. Then later visited Idaho’s Nez Perce. Also know some part-Cherokee neighbors. History of Iroquoi vs. Algonquians (grew up in NY state) interesting. And thanks to Johnny Cash and his immortal song to an American hero, Pima native Ira Hayes! Long live Native Americans! And First Nation Canadians as well…RIP Gordon Lightfoot!
It’s actually very heavily disputed about when the Natives arrived in the Americas. I’m no expert, and nothing has been confirmed, but supposedly an artifact was found in South America some 20ish thousand years earlier than the earliest artifact found in the Alaska Canada region. Maybe the original people who arrived in the Americas came by boat.
Check out the history of Sarah Winnemucca and her family. Her father was the Paints War Chief, Winnemucca. Her maternal grandfather was Truckee, aka Old Winnemucca. Truckee, California is named for him, as well as the Truckee River. He was a trail marker and helped make the maps of the Sierras as well as other places. Sarah was passionate about education and founded several schools for the native children. She also was the first to put the Paiute language in the Latin alphabet. She wanted all Paiutes to be able to read and write. Sarah worked for the federal government for many years. There is a statue of her in Statutory Hall in Washington DC.
Please be sure to mention to the audience that the United States Of America is no longer a complete or accurate description of that nation since the State of Hawaii joined the Union in 1959. Hawaii is NOT a part of America. It is a part of Pacifica. So, the name of that nation, where I am a citizen and where I reside, ought to be the United States Of America And Pacifica.
I lived near walker Minnesota for a few years after college; volunteered with leech lake band ojibwa members while working with the forest service. I was there to teach but id argue i learned alot more useful knowledge than they learned from me. It was such a meaningful part of my life truthfully, and i plan to one day move back and hopefully spend the rest of my life continuing to enrich myself in their culture
1:18 It comes down down to the fact of what we are forced by law to be called While Native American Indian is one of those turns It is also the name of a Group of Dark Age Europeons who fought for more rights than we have, Those Dark skinned Europeons where called Native American Party. But law does state Native American Indian in the code because they called us it before the Europeons called themselves it, But Idios or Indian is the next term that is legally used, But in truth The Tribe is what most of our people i assume would rather be called as thats who they are. 3:42 Thats not correct though It went from Tribe to Nations not by our will but because we were forced to allow outsiders into parts of the land, So it became Nations because Nation means anyone living on the Land where as Tribe means Race or Blood Lineage. But it was not our choice to go by Nations that was thrusted upon our peoples, Which in large is still controlled in most area’s by the chief who typically is of Primarily Europeon decent & when they are not you find they are well paid off in alot of cases. 4:10 & most casino’s on Most reservations are either made by Italians during the time of the Mafia or are ascociated with them in some way. Mainly the name on the Ownership is not always the owner, This is well known to the US government & was where trumps they don’t look like indians to me sir quote came from as he urged the Government to give our peoples aid as to kick the Italians off the Reservations, in which the US government turned a blind eye.
You tell this story in a hurry. LOL Everyone is Cherokee. At least where I’m from. My grandfather was full blood Cherokee and never signed his name to anything with the word Cherokee on it. Just White. i don’t know why. All I know is my former sister in law is trying to get money or land from our family and she is upset that she can’t prove our lineage..YEY. She’s from the state of NY and 2nd born generation American because her grand parents were born in England and Germany. My famiy has been here over 400 years. that’s all.
I consider myself a wild mix yet full blown Indian. My fathers people were Lumbee/Cherokee mix from the Carolinas and my mother’s people are Taino from Puerto Rico. People forget the Taino are Natives also. My family history goes back a long ways on both sides. My Mother’s people are from the place were the Revolt started against the Spanish rule. My fathers people are traced back before the Civil War and where they were from in NC fought against the Clan and white suppression. My family were fighting up until modern times on both sides against being ruled by other nations. I make sure I keep our oral traditions going by my children knowing there history and who they truly are and where their ancestors come from. I need to write a book about it with info from both nations of my blood. LoudLove
Hi, thank you for this article… Since I was a kid, about 30 years ago… I wanted to know about this… I remember having some encyclopedia with general reservations mapped, I had books on mythology and tales of Natives… I could learn some tribes and regions and some linguistics… But never there was the amount of data there is now online. Btw, I had my first computer whenI was 13… No wiki and everything in English only. All I needed is this article you made where you briefly put everything in, regions, history, genetics, reservations etc. Well thanks a lot 🙏🏼
Yes come to Albuquerque for the Gathering of Nations! It’s the world’s largest Pow-Wow, it’s mainly Tribes from the US and Canada. They do have Aztec style dancers who are Mexican, but they are paid to be there. That is a common form of street busking in Mexico, and Aztecs aren’t recognized as “Tribes” even though most Mexicans have more Indigenous DNA than many US and Canadian Natives, they aren’t recognized, and instead are put in cages when they try to migrate North, even though they’ve been doing that long before Europeans arrived and instated Indian laws.
I would like to say that im 39 and from the Navajo Nation. I truly have never understood the Hopi agenda towards us. The Hopi are also not from North America. So who do you think you’re fooling?! You’re just creating division like “best-selling” author Dinesh D’souza. That guy that says Native Americans have no right to anything because we were savages….. is that who you worship?
“Indian” is the name given to the inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent since Antiquity. It comes from the Indus River (now mostly in Pakistan) and the civilizations that have risen in its valley. We are talking about things that go as far as 4000 years before any European set foot in the Americas and called its indigenous people anything.
I was told by an elderly gentleman and his wife in the Navajo Nation to just say ‘Indian”… he said to not worry about kids getting their feelings hurt over words 😅.. then proceeded to praise the Texas hill country when I told him we were from Texas. I was NOT expecting that… but I suppose he’s of a less politically correct generation like everyone else his age.
Efforts to address the historical injustices faced by Native Americans and improve conditions on reservations continue, with initiatives focused on economic development, healthcare access, and education. Additionally, many Native American communities are actively working to assert their sovereignty and self-determination, playing a crucial role in shaping their own destinies. Understanding the complexities of Native American reservations requires recognizing the historical context and ongoing challenges they face, while also acknowledging the strength and determination of indigenous peoples to maintain their cultural heritage and build brighter futures for their communities.
Good article! I was raised in Tulsa, Okla area so grew up with many Creek Indians. My home town of Sapulpa, Ok was named after a chief and I went to school with his grand-son. Question: How can most of Oklahoma be Indian Reservations but most of the land and especially the cities are privately owned. There are no dedicated reservations with only Indians living on them to my knowledge.
Translations of Columbus’s log use the word ‘native’ to describe the local people that he met. This makes me wonder if the word ‘Indian’ is a corruption of ‘indigene’ meaning an indigenous person. What is the difference between native American reservations and the much criticised Black African Homelands that existed in apartheid South Africa?
I know that Navajo Nation has a type of Homesite least if a person wants a homestead but it’s a long process & fees added along with many red tapes. They also provide housing but geared to low income families, this creates a long waiting list for many families. Housing provided is very limited in that the need for a house is far greater.
Thank you for the research and very educating article. Particularly, thank you for not making any of it political, but reporting as how things are and leaving it at that for people to just be educated not made to feel divided – because with all said, it’s all about humans — of every kind — who are always fluid and moving — eventually this won’t even be a predominantly Anglo-European continent (of my ancestry) but entirely Latin dominated as their populations increases — for better or for worse, is for everyone to decide themselves — but, as with most lands across the world, I had always changed hands, and will never stop changing hands, as it does nearly all places in world history. One added mention, do you think the American-Indian tribes would have been reserved any land at all had Asian, Russian, or Latin races dominated the continent ahead of, or instead of, Anglo-Europeans? You don’t see as much civility I hear, with countless take over migrations throughout the history of the world as you do in America of the last centuries. I think that says at least something of civility is better in some places than others. We can only hope for more of it throughout the world.
I often visit the Qualla Boundary, the home of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians. The history of this particular reservation is unique. It is safe to say that Andrew Jackson is one of the most hated men in Cherokee culture. I know my mother had little praise for him. He was the engineer of the removal act and subsequently the Dying Time. (White folks call it the Trail of Tears, and some Cherokee do too. The old folks called it Dying Time.) But today the Eastern Band has so many portraits of ‘Ol Hick’ry they have to count them by machine. They come into the casino every day by the thousands. At least one or two of those portraits came from me. Hehe! That is the ultimate example of the Cherokee spirit. Doing well and making it look easy is the ultimate revenge.
Nobody has yet been able to sufficiently explain to me why Oklahoma sovereignty did not overtake local tribal sovereignty at the time of statehood in 1907, especially since it was the tribes’ failure to implement the state of Sequoyah that drove them to support an inclusive Oklahoma statehood. I would argue that it did indeed replace sovereignty of those tribes, legally speaking. The McGirt decision baffles me because logically it tells me that the decision either means the court got it really wrong, or it renders the Muscogee, and potentially other tribes, as essentially non-residents of the state.
The birds from the forest are going to follow me they’ve even landed on airplanes when I’ve been traveling to somewhere else they tried to deport me I’m from here and I’ve been registered to the reservation since the day I was born I’m the Her Majesty I’ll take a teepee or a tent after what they did I landed on the United States Navy aircraft carrier and Yemen fired on the aircraft carrier I was only captured for 4 days but while I was captured they stole everything houses and roads on my farm Forest swamp and Marsh I’m terrified for the forest animals in for the Mongoose that live in the swamp now how do I evacuate mongoose they’ll tell you something and then you die 6 hours after you look at a mongoose you’re not supposed to be in a swamps
Explained by who? Why are you a expert on my history? Tell us why you stole the land from indigenous, you took pristine nature and turned it into the Hudson River.. from coast to coast. Then boast about that being important ‘progress’ and now you’re trying to return it to the condition when you stole it, going green? WOW your karma is huge