Native American History & Cultures

“Before I was six years old, my grandparents and my mother had taught me that if all the green things that grow were taken from the earth, there could be no life. If all the four-legged creatures were taken from the earth, there could be no life. If all the winged creatures were taken from the earth, there could be no life. If all our relatives who crawl and swim and live within the earth were taken away, there could be no life. But if all the human beings were taken away, life on earth would flourish. That is how insignificant we are.”
Russell Means, Oglala Lakota Nation (November 10, 1939 – October 22, 2012)

🔥🔥Red Cloud🔥🔥🔥
Red Cloud (Lakota: Maȟpíya Lúta) (born 1822 – December 10, 1909) was one of the most important leaders of the Oglala Lakota from 1868 to 1909. He was one of the most capable Native American opponents whom the United States Army faced in its invasion of the western territories. He defeated the United States during Red Cloud's War, which was a fight over control of the Powder River Country in northeastern Wyoming and southern Montana. The largest action of the war was the Fetterman Fight, with 81 US soldiers killed; it was the worst military defeat suffered by the US Army on the Great Plains until the Battle of the Little Bighorn 10 years later. After signing the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868), Red Cloud led his people in the important transition to reservation life. Some of his opponents mistakenly thought of him as the overall leader of the Sioux groups (Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota), but the large tribe had several major divisions and was highly decentralized. Bands among the Oglala and other divisions operated independently, though some individual leaders were renowned as warriors and highly respected as leaders, such as Red Cloud.

[This date in American Indian History] On November 6, 1868, Red Cloud arrived at Fort Laramie to sign the Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1868, which created the Great Sioux Reservation, including the Black Hills. The reservation included all of South Dakota west of the Missouri River. Northern Arapaho representatives also signed the treaty. The treaty declared the Powder River country as "uneded Indian territory", as a reserve for the Indians who chose not to live on the new reservation, and as a hunting reserve for the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho. The treaty also accorded the Indians continued hunting rights in western Kansas and eastern Colorado. Most importantly, the treaty specified what Red Cloud sought: "no white person or persons shall be permitted to settle upon or occupy any portion" of the Powder River country" or without the consent of the Indians first had and obtained, to pass through" the Powder River country

LONG HAIR
Traditionally, long hair was always a symbol of masculinity. All of history's great warriors had long hair, from the Greeks (who wrote odes to their heroes' hair) to the Nordic, from the American Indians (famous for their long shiny hair) to the Japanese. And the longer and beautiful the hair was, the more manly the warrior was considered. Vikings flaunted their braids and samurai wore their long hair as a symbol of their honor (they cut their braid when they lose honor).
When a warrior was captured, his mane was cut to humiliate him, to take away his beauty. That custom resumed in what is today military service. There when new soldiers begin their training the first thing they do is cut their hair to undermine their self-esteem, make them submissive and make them see who's boss.
The Romans were the ones who "invented" short hair so to speak, between the 1st and 5th centuries AD.. In battles they believed this gave them defensive advantages, since their opponents couldn't grab them by the hair. This also helped them to recognize each other in the battlefield.
Short hair on men is a relatively new "invention" that has nothing to do with aesthetics.
But today we often see men being humiliated, sometimes called "gay" for wearing long hair, not knowing that short hair is actually the "anti-masculine" and is a repressive social imposition, while long hair symbolizes freedom

I don't know why this hasn't received more publicity, but this fifty-foot sculpture was unveiled recently in South Dakota.
It's called 'Dignity' and was done by artist Dale Lamphere to honor the women of the Sioux Nation

We were told we would see America come and go. In a sense, America dies from the inside out, because they have forgotten the instructions to live on Mother Earth. This is the Hopi creed, it is our creed, that if you are not spiritually connected to the Earth, and you don't understand the spiritual reality of life on Earth, chances are you are not going to make it.
Everything is spiritual, everything has one
Spirit.
We are here on Earth only a few winters, then we go to the spirit world. The spirit world is more real than most of us realize.
The spirit world is everything. Most of our body is water. To stay healthy you need to drink pure water. Water is sacred, air is sacred. Our DNA is made from the same DNA as the tree, the tree breathes what we breathe out, we need what the tree expires. So we have a common fate with the tree. We are all of the Earth, and when the Earth and its water and atmosphere are corrupted, then the Earth will create her reaction. The Mother reacts.
In the Hopi prophecy it says that storms and floods will get bigger.
For me it is not negative to know that there will be big changes. It's not negative, it's evolution. When you look at it as an Evolution, you know it's time, nothing stays the same. You should learn to plant something. This is the first connection. You should look at all things as Spirit, realize that we are family. It never ends. Everything is life and there is no end to life

This is a picture of Standing Holy, who is listed as Sitting Bull's daughter. It brings to mind the traditional Oceti Ŝakowiŋ style of parenting. The first time that Sitting Bull traveled and observed non-Native people spanking their children, he was shocked.
There was never a need to continually scold a child, belittle them, or strike them. They cuddled their children from birth to about seven because they believed crying wasn't good for children.
Often, if a child did not stop crying, some grandmothers would cry along with them to help them get over whatever had made them sad.
At an early age, they begin to take on the responsibility of their clothing and bedding. Our people traveled with the buffalo and had to be mobile. By the age of 10, most of our children knew how to take care of the materials needed for travel.
Love, teaching, structure, and community raised our children.
Colonization tells us that physical discipline helps shape our children and turn our boys into men. Yet, without ever being spanked, we produced the greatest warriors that ever walked this land.
Our lifeways and ceremonies through the different stages of life were more valuable than anything colonization offered

These four Chiefs were Chief Joseph, Sitting Bull, Geronimo and Red Cloud. Each of these forefathers played an important role in shaping their tribe's customs and history. Because of their influence over the shaping of Native American history, they are often referred to as the real founding fathers.!
Left-Right : Chief Joseph, Sitting Bull, Geronimo, and Red Cloud.

This beautiful sculpture was built by the Irish people in their own country to honor the American Choctaw Indian tribe. They were grateful because in 1847 the Choctaw people sent money to Ireland when they learned that Irish people were starving due to the potato famine. The Choctaw themselves were living in hardship and poverty, having recently endured the Trail of Tears.
And that is a lesson in how to be a person in this world.
Kindred Spirits is a large stainless steel outdoor sculpture in Bailick Park in Midleton, County Cork, Ireland. The shape of the feathers is intended to represent a bowl of food

𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐇𝐀𝐌 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐄🪶🪶🪶
GRAHAM GREENE - Born June 22, 1952, on the Six Nations Reserve in Ohsweken, Ontario, Mr. Greene is a 68 year old FIRST NATIONS Canadian actor who belongs to the ONEIDA tribe. He has worked on stage, in film, and in TV productions in Canada, the U.K., and the U.S. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his 1990 performance in "Dances with Wolves". Other films you may have seen him in include Thunderheart, Maverick, Die Hard with a Vengeance, the Green Mile, and Wind River. Graham Greene graduated from the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in 1974 & immediately began performing in professional theatre in Toronto and England, while also working as an audio technician for area rock bands. His TV debut was in 1979 and his screen debut in 1983. His acting career has now spanned over 4 decades & he remains as busy as ever. In addition to the Academy Award nomination for Dance with Wolves, he has been consistently recognized for his work, and also received nominations in 1994, 2000, 2004, 2006, and 2016. Graham Greene lives in Toronto, Canada, married since 1994, and has 1 adult daughter

"Before our white brothers arrived to make us civilized men,
we didn't have any kind of prison. Because of this, we had no delinquents.
Without a prison, there can be no delinquents.
We had no locks nor keys and therefore among us there were no thieves.
When someone was so poor that he couldn't afford a horse, a tent or a blanket,
he would, in that case, receive it all as a gift.
We were too uncivilized to give great importance to private property.
We didn't know any kind of money and consequently, the value of a human being
was not determined by his wealth.
We had no written laws laid down, no lawyers, no politicians,
therefore we were not able to cheat and swindle one another.
We were really in bad shape before the white men arrived and I don't know
how to explain how we were able to manage without these fundamental things
that (so they tell us) are so necessary for a civilized society."
- John (Fire) Lame Deer, Sioux Lakota - 1903-1976

And then We were found
The one thing we’ve learned, is there’s one thing for sure
that history is there’s who would write it
That those who would rule, would give us their truth
and force us all here to recite it
From Ancient Greek cultures, to grand Persian sultans
to empires of Egypt and Rome
and China’s great wall, speaks nothing at all
of culture and history at home
Was ours not worth knowing? Our people, our story?
Of customs that long had been here
Of a world that was true, and not really brand new
On record for thousands of years
Their history portrays, we were sadly misplaced
When three Spanish ships ran aground
And five hundred nations received their salvation
after waiting so long to be found
But we did pretty good for being ‘lost in the woods
dating back to 10 thousand BC
Our writings were words, not hieroglyph forms
like those found in Egypt and Greece
Our writings have shown, this long had been home
and something the Maya were proud of
For infinite seasons, their garden of Eden
was one they were never cast out of
The Anasazi had built a palace with cliffs
which spirit inspired the thunder
This great canyon remains in four-corner states
A Mecca they simply called Wonder
So why weren’t we schooled of this nation of jewels
with traditions we still remember?
A culture so near that in twelve hundred years
we’d be taking a train up to Denver
Fort Ancients evolved with what they would call
Three Sisters of corn, squash and beans
And before they were found, their Great Serpent Mound
was crowned at Ohio Brush Creek
The Cahokian tribes built their cities astride
the greatest American rivers
One village maintained, and completely sustained
thirty nine thousand civilians
But one of the greatest nations of Natives
emerged from a Nahua reliance
From the Mexico Valley stood a glorious palace
brought forth by the Aztec alliance
The pyramid culture was left for the future
which spoke of the people’s creator
And we’d truly admired the Incan Empire
which prospered around the equator
Before they were found the Taíno were strong
and harvested land and the sea
They used ancient ways for travel and trade
while maintaining the guidelines for peace
For thousands of years, these nations were here
with resources, wealth and with power
Sharing assets abound, before they were found
Before the fruit had turned sour
Then Columbus showed up with three loads of nuts
The Taíno received them as friends
The white folks had thought the Natives were lost
And Natives were sure it was them
Though cordial at first, this visit got worse
They resembled those guests we all know
They wear out their welcome, won’t do what you tell them
and seems like they’ll never go home
On their very next trip they had seventeen ships
and the Natives would soon to discover
they weren’t here to trade, but to kill and enslave
and make riches for only each other
In a four year time two-thirds of them died
a genocide in a full swing
Slaying young and the old, for God and for gold
for them was that’s very same thing
The Columbus regime, was a killing machine
that ruled with terror and fear
This man once admired was finally fired
so brutal he scared his own peers
But his rule still applied that all Natives must die
throughout the Caribbean nations
And a million once strong were soon dead and gone
through murder, disease and starvation
We were much better off back when we were lost
back when we could truly excel
One way or another all Natives discovered
Columbus was sent here from hell
And this is the case to destroy a whole race
with no trace of hundreds of nations
Telling natives in class, enshrined Euro-trash
is honored for killing relations
And by teaching our youth their version of truth
is keeping their legend intact
They're entitled to keep the opinions they reap
but never entitled to facts
And that’s where it’s at, they’re ashamed of the facts
of what they had done to the Natives
they can’t figure out, just how to slide out
from lies that they’ve created
So on Columbus day we’ll rain on parades
To compete with the lies and distortion
The facts they’re bending denies ethnic cleansing
that happened in massive proportions
If it’s Columbus you want, he’s yours but don’t flaunt
by teaching this perjury in class
Though Natives are known for signals of smoke
We don’t need it blown up our Ass

(Author) Daaxkoowadein

"I am an old woman now. The buffaloes and black-tail deer are gone, and our Indian ways are almost gone. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I ever lived them.
My little son grew up in the white man's school. He can read books, and he owns cattle and has a farm. He is a leader among our Hidatsa people, helping teach them to follow the white man's road.
He is kind to me. We no longer live in an earth lodge, but in a house with chimneys, and my son's wife cooks by a stove.
But for me, I cannot forget our old ways.
Often in summer I rise at daybreak and steal out to the corn fields, and as I hoe the corn I sing to it, as we did when I was young. No one cares for our corn songs now.
Sometimes in the evening I sit, looking out on the big Missouri. The sun sets, and dusk steals over the water. In the shadows I see again to see our Indian village, with smoke curling upward from the earth lodges, and in the river's roar I hear the yells of the warriors, and the laughter of little children of old.
It is but an old woman's dream. Then I see but shadows and hear only the roar of the river, and tears come into my eyes. Our Indian life, I know, is gone forever."
Waheenee - Hidatsa (North Dakota)

“Before I was six years old, my grandparents and my mother had taught me that if all the green things that grow were taken from the earth, there could be no life. If all the four-legged creatures were taken from the earth, there could be no life. If all the winged creatures were taken from the earth, there could be no life. If all our relatives who crawl and swim and live within the earth were taken away, there could be no life. But if all the human beings were taken away, life on earth would flourish. That is how insignificant we are.”
Russell Means, Oglala Lakota Nation (November 10, 1939 – October 22, 2012).

I don't know why this hasn't received more publicity, but this fifty-foot sculpture was unveiled recently in South Dakota.
It's called 'Dignity' and was done by artist Dale Lamphere to honor the women of the Sioux Nation.

SAY WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR ...
Positivity changes a mind,
A kind word lifts many burdens,
A good deed makes a heart heal,
A gentle voice lifts many broken hearts,
Always say something nice,
Always say something with care,
Always say something in kindness,
Always say something genuine concern,
Always say something with compassion,
Always lift someone up,
Always give what you've got,
Always extend an out reached hand,
Always try to patch, mend broken hearts,
Always do something to heal shattered souls,
What goes around,
Eventually comes full circle,
What's unleashed is delivered,
Someday,
You might be needing,
To hear echoes of yourself ...
NEMESIS
The warrior
The messenger
Copywritten by Larry John Adams
From 2 pages that I've created called
Native/ inuit Canadian poetry writer
And
Thoughts poems songs and writings

These are the one's who discovered America
And should be taught in our history books
Not the false storyline they give about Columbus discovery America

Popcorn has long been associated with the movies, or in recent years, the microwave, but although many of us may have wondered why popcorn pops, few of us have asked where popcorn actually came from.
The Indigenous people of the Americas first domesticated the strain of corn which produces popcorn thousands of years ago.
Europeans learned about popcorn from Natives. When Cortes invaded Mexico, and when Columbus arrived in the West Indies, each saw natives eating popcorn, as well as using it in necklaces and headdresses.
In fact, popcorn artifacts dating back to 6,700 years ago were discovered in Peru. So the next time you grab a handful of your favorite snack, remember it’s not just Orville Redenbacher you should be thanking.

In 1975 when the Gunsmoke TV Series ended...Lorne Greene bought The Buckskin Horse whose real name was Danny, that he and James Arness shared riding in between Studios from 1959-1973...Lorne kept him until 1979 then he donated Danny to a Therapeutic Riding Center. where the Horse taught mentally and physically challenged children to ride until his passing in 1992 at the age of 45, an unusually long life for a horse. to live,-Dave. - +

In 1975 when the Gunsmoke TV Series ended...Lorne Greene bought The Buckskin Horse whose real name was Danny, that he and James Arness shared riding in between Studios from 1959-1973...Lorne kept him until 1979 then he donated Danny to a Therapeutic Riding Center. where the Horse taught mentally and physically challenged children to ride until his passing in 1992 at the age of 45, an unusually long life for a horse. to live,-Dave. -

Yakama Women and Their Important Roles:
Women in the Yakama society were equal to men. They could earn the title of War Women and sit in councils as equals. This privilege led an Irishman named Adair who traded with the Cherokee from 1736-1743 to accuse the Yakama of having a "petticoat government".
Clan kinship followed the mother's side of the family. The children grew up in the mother's house, and it was the duty of an uncle on the mother's side to teach the boys how to hunt, fish, and perform certain tribal duties. The women owned the houses and their furnishings. Marriages were carefully negotiated, but if a woman decided to divorce her spouse, she simply placed his belongings outside the house. Yakama women also worked hard. They cared for the children, cooked, tended the house, tanned skins, wove baskets, and cultivated the fields. Men helped with some household chores like sewing, but they spent most of their time hunting.
Yakama girls learned by example how to be warriors and healers. They learned to weave baskets, tell stories, trade, and dance. They became mothers and wives, and learned their heritage. The Yakama learned to adapt, and the women were the core of the Yakama

Yakama women and a Nez Perce man pose in ceremonial clothing, Washington, probably between 1894 and 1899