Interesting facts on America's First Peoples

(NOTE:  footnoted quotes and facts can be accessed on the "Sources" page)
Around the year 60 B.C.,  two "Indian" men were shipwrecked on the shores of Holland.   These two Indian men,  whose names have been lost to history, discovered Europe approximately 1552 years before Columbus "discovered"  the Americas. 1).
Before a lost, confused, and shipwrecked,  Christopher Columbus was discovered by the Taino People in 1492,  there were between fifteen million and twenty million Native Americans living on the land that is today called the United States and Canada. Including Central and South America the Native populace of the Western hemisphere in 1492 was in excess of 100 million people. In comparison, Europe had a population of approx. 70 million in 1492.  22). 1).
When Columbus landed on Haiti in 1492 he was chagrined to discover the Taino People in possession of spear points made of  an alloy of gold, silver and copper.  The Taino People called this alloy "guanine,"  and told Columbus that they had obtained the spear points from black traders that sailed in from the east and south.  The alloy  used to make these spear points was identical to the alloy preferred by West Africans at the time,  who also called it "guanine."  1).
Over a period of 400 years, it has been estimated that more than 50 million Native Americans perished in the lower 48 states of the US, due primarily to European disease and warfare. By the early 1900's The US Census Bureau counted approximately  238,000 Native Americans survivors (the actual number may have been closer to 400,000).
The European plagues that decimated Native populations came in wave after wave,  with some plagues individually, and others collectively having mortality rates of up to 95%. These diseases were for the most part introduced incidentally,  though at times with purposeful  deliberation,  but nearly always noted with celebration or observed with dispassion and distance.
The stunning death rates of Native Americans to European pathogens was due in part to lack of exposure,  but also due to genetic traits that limited Native Peoples ability to deal with these unseen killers. Native People are free of many genetic diseases but have a relatively narrow genetic range. Four mitochondrial  haplogroups, named A, B, C, and D, 76).account for 96.9% of all Native Americans.  More than 90% of Native People of North American and nearly 100% of Native South Americans have type O blood. Europeans are relatively evenly split between types A and O. More importantly American Indians have only about 17 Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA's) classes as opposed to Europeans having on average about 35 HLA classes. HLA's are one of the human body's two main lines of defense against sickness.   In addition Native Americans HLA profiles are dominated by a small number of types. There is evidence that the other line of defense in humans against disease,  Helper T cells,  are in the case of Native Americans oriented predominately against parasites but not as focused on bacteria and virus'  as are the immune systems of Europeans.
No where in recorded human history has such a catastrophic depopulation of people as befell the Native People of the Western Hemisphere ever been recorded. These plagues rank as perhaps the most seminal events in the recorded history of mankind. 75). .
The first people enslaved by the Europeans in the Americas  were the Taino People, enslaved by the Spanish under the command of Christopher Columbus. The Spanish enslaved millions of Native People across  the West Indies, South America,  Central America, and in the American Southwest and California. Native People were enslaved by nearly every European power that laid claim to the "New World." Native Americans accounted for over 25% of the slaves in the United States as late as the middle of the 18th century.   Many Native People were lawfully enslaved  in the United States until the end of the civil war. 1). 22). 75).
The constitution of the United States is based on "The Great Binding Law," of the League of Iroquois,  6). 19).which was formed sometime around the years 1090 and 1150 AD.  The Haudenosaunee parliament is the second oldest representative parliament in the world second only to Iceland's, Althing,  founded in 930 AD.75).
The first person to propose a union of the original colonies was the Iroquois leader, Canassatego, at an Indian-British convention in Pennsylvania in July of 1744.   6).
In 1754 the gathering of founding fathers that wrote the Albany plan,  was held in Albany at the request of the Iroquois Grand Council. Forty-two members of the Grand Council were in attendance to act as advisors to the founding fathers in founding a confederacy. 6). 19).
The English Proclamation of 1763 was a primary reason that the Colonists choose to over throw the yoke of British rule.  The proclamation forbid further land grants to settlers in the areas west of the Allegany Mountains.  Having access to Indian land cut off  by the proclamation infuriated many colonists.1).
Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, John Adams, William Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson all spent considerable time living among, socializing with, and/or admiring the form of self government as realized by their Native neighbors. 6). 19).
The classless, egalitarian, society of the Iroquois also inspired the thinking of Frederick Engalls and Karl Marx whose works mutated into to the convoluted, failed society of communism.   6). 19).
The first person to die in defiance of British rule in the War of Independence, was a man named Crispus Attucks, an escaped slave, of African and Native descent,   killed in the Boston Massacre.1).   Attucks, the first to fall in defense of the new nation, was a man whose people were the last to gain citizenship. African-Americans attained citizenship in the Civil War and Native Americans were granted citizenship in 1924 by a Congress that was grateful for the overwhelming  and unmatched contribution of Native People to the Nation's war effort in World War I.
Colonists readily embraced the image of Indians as a symbol of freedom,  and defiance. In 1774 and 1775, Paul Revere produced patriotic,  fashionable,  engravings that depicted colonists as Indians. 64).
For all the help and inspiration given in forming a democracy to the colonists by America's First People,  they were mentioned but once in the Declaration of Independence,  and then as "....merciless Indian Savages." 64).

The first school built to educate women,  west of the Mississippi,  was built by the Cherokee Nation,  which had been removed from their homelands in the South Eastern United States to make way for civilization. 71).
One  of the major reasons our armed forces were victorious in WW I, WW II and the Korean War was our ability to "crack" enemy codes. Our codes were never broken,  in part because we empowered Native American People to devise their own codes based on their Native languages. Thousands of American soldiers owe their lives to these "Code Talkers." It is the highest irony that these codes were based on native languages, banned by law,  and suppressed by the actions of the U.S. government and religious organizations that operated in concert to eradicate and destroy Native  languages, cultures and traditions.
Like the constitution of the United States the founding charter of the United Nations is based in large part on the principles of the Iroquois Confederacy.
Today there are approximately 4,119,301  Native Americans. Of this number 2.5 million claim Native blood as their only race.
Native Americans comprise approximately 1.5% of the total U.S. population. Approximately 515,000 Native People,  or 13%,  live on reservations. 68).
For 500 years the First People of this land have been in decline.  Today,  Native Americans comprise the fastest growing segment of American society.
There are perhaps an additional 1,000,000 certifiable Native People in the U.S.A. and another possible 15,000,000 people that have some degree of Native blood. All told, some degree of Native ancestry can be found in approximately 7% of the U.S. population.
87% of Native American people live and work off reservations. In 1968,   Stan Stiener wrote in his book,  "The New Indians,"  that over 10,000 Indian people representing over 70 different tribes resided in Chicago,  Illinois.  He quoted one of the leaders of that community,  Nathan Bird,  "We don't riot,  so nobody knows we are here."
POSTSCRIPT:    According to the 2000 census 73,000 now reside in Illinois.  Approximately 20,000 of this number reside in Chicago,  Peoria,  or the Quad Cities.
     Largest Tribal populations: 68).
Cherokee (Tsalgi)-          729,533
Navajo (Dine)-                298,197
Latin American-               180,140
Choctaw-                        158,744
Lakota/Dakota/Nakota-  153,360
Anishinabe (Ojibwa)-       149,669
Apache-                             96,833
Blackfoot-                          85,750
Iroquois-                             80,822
Pueblo-                               74,085
562 land areas in the United States exist as federally recognized "Indian Reservations."  68). Contrary to popular public belief only about 30 of these communities receive any form of federal services.
There are over 30 reservations that have state recognition but are not recognized on a federal level.
A number of tribal communities have applied for,  but not yet received Federal recognition.  Many of these non-recognized tribes have waited decades for action on their request for federal recognition.
After the White wars of conquest had forced Native People onto reservations they were reduced to "ownership" of approx. 140 million acres of land.  The Allotment Act of 1887 allowed the U.S. government to "legally" reduce Native land holdings by an additional 90 million acres over a time span of 45 years. 
These  federally recognized reservations account today for 56 million acres.  14 million of these acres are rated as "critically eroded"  by the BIA. 17 million of these acres are rated as "severely eroded,"  and the remaining 25 million acres are rated as "slightly eroded."
Over 11,000,000 million acres, 20% (usually the most productive and desirable), of federal reservation  land is "owned" by non-Indian people. A classic example of this the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota.  Only about 7% of the White Earth Reservation land is held by Indian People.
43% of reservation populations are of non-Native descent. 68).
Over 60% of Native people marry outside their race.  This compares with only 1% of White and 2% of Black people that marry outside their race. Native American cultures are, as a rule,  less concerned with the "color of one's skin than with the content of one's character."  This explains the fact that mixed race people in Native societies were,  and are,  accepted to a degree that to this day has not been matched by our society as a whole.  For example,  John Ross, principal leader of the Cherokee people during the time of their forced removal to Oklahoma,  was  but 1/8  Cherokee.  The mother of Quanna Parker, leader of the Comanche people in the late 1800's,  was a white captive that refused to return to her own culture.  Seminole leader,  Osceola,  married an escaped African slave.   Mainstream society in America has historically had difficulty accepting this precept. The Wampanoag people for example have intermarried frequently with African-Americans.  When the Wampanoag were in the early stages of opening  a casino in Connecticut, opponents derided their ancestry, claiming they were more African than Native.  These opponents, to their eternal shame,  contemptuously referred to the Wampanoag as the "Mo-Nig People."
Over 75% of the U.S. population of Native Americans live in cities  or in the eastern United States.
There were over 600 separate and distinct Native American tribes living in the U.S. when the Europeans arrived.
Of the over 300 Native American languages  and dialects once spoken in North America, (over 900 were spoken including South America)76).  less than 200 are still used. Until recently it was against the laws of the U.S. for a Native American to speak their original language or practice their cultural and religious beliefs. As a result of these laws, it has been estimated that within a generation, perhaps less than 50 Native languages will still be functionally utilized. These disturbing trends may be slowed or stopped by the Native American community's accelerated efforts to revitalize their language and cultures.
Here in Illinois, in Cahokia, is the worlds largest collection of pyramids ever constructed in one place. Over 120 pyramids were constructed in Cahokia, including Monks Mound, which ranks a base and total volume greater than the pyramid of Khufu (or Cheops), the largest pyramid in Egypt. No other structure approached the size of Monks Mound in the United States, until the 20th century.75).
Of the over 120 pyramids that once stood at Cahokia, 75 have been destroyed by agriculture, industry and looters. Only 46 remain today.
Cahokia, at its heyday in approximately 1250 AD, was larger than London, England. Estimates of Cahokia's population at it's height, range from 20,000 to 40,000 people.75).
Due to accidental disinterment, archeological excavations and official U.S. government policy of collecting the remains of Native People from battlefields, massacre sites and from gravesites, over 200,000 sets of Native American human remains rest in governmental institutions and museums. Many thousands more reside in private collections and institutions. Repatriation of these remains is a very strong cultural concern of Native People.
Here in Illinois, over 6000 sets of Native remains rest in boxes stored in Springfield.  Over 2000 sets of Native remains rest in storage at Chicago's Field Museum.  Illinois has not set aside any state ground for reburial of these remains and has resisted efforts to improve its policies and laws concerning Native burial sites.

Over 55 laws and bills protect cemeteries in Illinois. However no law protects Native burial sites and burial mounds. The repatriation process in Illinois ranks very poorly as a result.
The practice of grave-robbing of Native burial sites is a chronic and continual problem. The highly controversial Slack Farm Site across the river from Illinois in Kentucky is a graphic example:  In 1987 area residents swarmed over the burial site and plundered nearly 1000 graves, selling the artifacts removed from the graves. Only after the American Indian Movement (AIM) mobilized  and intervened, was the plunder stopped.
AIM is often depicted as a controversial organization because of its perceived militancy and confrontational tactics. However AIM mobilized only after repeated appeals by Native Elders to respect the dignity of these burial sites was ignored on a wholesale scale.
On April 1st, 1999, on the Illinois side of the border, Native remains were discovered by an artifact collector. Before the local coroner and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service people had concluded their investigation, two groups of collectors had to be turned away. There is evidence that three graves may have already been destroyed or removed at this point. 20).
Grave robbing of Native burial sites began with the earliest European contact.  The Pilgrims looted gravesites in search of tools and food caches,   the starving Jamestown settlers looted gravesites of Native People and engaged in cannibalism.75).  
In the late 1800's thousands of Native gravesites were looted in search of human bones to help supply the button industry. "The New York Dailey Tribune,"  in 1874 reported that,  "The Indian skull is said to be worth $1.25 for combs,  and the Indian thigh makes knife handles that are beautiful to behold." 55).
In the late 19th century it became official policy of the United States Army to ship bones of Naive People back east for scientific study. 64).
In the 1940's and 1950's an epidemic of tuberculosis swept across Alaska.  Many of the sick were flown to a sanitarium in Sitka, Alaska. Over 133 people, mostly Native People,  died at this sanitarium and their remains were interred in a pair of concrete bunkers near Sitka's airport. Many of the families of these victims never were informed as to what happened to their loved ones  remains.  In 1998,  after an expansion project at the airport was undertaken,  the forgotten remains were discovered.  Due to the legal requirements of the Native American Repatriation Act the remains of the victims are now being returned to their relatives.  Fifty to sixty years after the deaths of these people, all but two of the victims were able to be identified and returned to relatives or tribal officials.  
Of all ethnic groups in the United States, Native People are the most economically disadvantaged,  22% live below the poverty level,  nearly double the national rate of 12.4%.
Seven of the ten poorest counties in the United States fall within various "Indian reservations." Of these seven poorest counties,  three are on the reservations within the borders of the state of South Dakota, home to many of the Lakota people.
Over the the last forty years, Shannon County in South Dakota, has been our country's most poverty stricken county. Shannon county is comprised of The Pine Ridge Reservation.
Pine Ridge has the nation's lowest per capita income, the highest percentage of families below the poverty rate, the highest percentage  (63.1%)  of persons below the poverty level, and the second highest percentage of children below the poverty level.
Indian Health Services reports suicide rates that are triple that of the national average.
Harvard School of Public Health reports that the life expectancy of Lakota People living on Pine Ridge Reservation to be the lowest in the United States,  and only in Haiti is the life expectancy lower than the Lakota of Pine Ridge in the entire Western Hemisphere.
The average life expectancy of a man on Pine Ridge is 61,  16 and 1/2 years lower than the national average. At 70 years of age the life expectancy of a Lakota woman on Pine Ridge is 13 and 1/2 years less than the national average.
Unemployment on Pine Ridge Reservation ranges between 80% and 95% of the population of about 22,000 people.
The average household occupancy on Pine Ridge is 17 people. There are over 900 families on waiting lists for housing. Many of those fortunate enough to have a house live in sub-standard structures.
Thirty-three percent of homes do not have electricity or running water. Twenty-two percent of all homes are in need of major repairs or need to be replaced.
Seventy percent of Lakota people living on Pine Ridge Reservation do not have access to transportation.
Nationally, telephone service reaches 98% of the populace. On reservations phone service only reaches between 46% and 55% of Native people. On the Pine Ridge Reservation more than 70% of the homes are without phone service.
Native People are victimized by violent crime at a rate that is more than twice the national average. Approximately 70% of these violent crimes  against Native People are committed by people of a different race. This cross-race victimization  rate of Native People is substantially higher than black or white victims.
Approximately 30% of all Native People have been a victim of violent crime. This figure is probably much lower than reality however. Many Native People are reluctant to report crimes because of indifferent or racist attitudes they face in the criminal and the judicial systems.
It has been estimated that nearly 20% of American Indian deaths are alcohol-related. This compares to a national average of 4.7%.  64).
It has been estimated that over 54% of American Indians  abstain from alcohol entirely,  this compares with 27% for the general population.
82% of all rapes and sexual assaults against Native women are committed by whites, 6% of sexual assaults against Native women are committed by blacks. Indian Nations have no legal jurisdiction over White people or other non-Native People. Even if a crime against  a Native Person is committed on reservation land, and if the perpetrator of that crime is a non-native person,  justice must be sought in the white dominated justice system. Consider for a moment some hypothetical questions:  If over 80% of all rapes and sexual assaults committed against White women were committed by Indian men,  what would mainstream American society's reaction and attitude towards Indian men be?  And what if a White woman,  assaulted by an Indian man,  could only seek justice in tribal courts?  Would  such an intolerable reality engender feelings of resentment and revenge,  anger and apathy,  hostility and hopelessness? http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/072707P.shtml   74).
In spite of all that has happened to the First Peoples of this land they remain extremely patriotic. In WW I, 7 of 10 (compared to 3 of 10 eligible men of the general population) eligible Native men joined the war effort as soldiers. This, in spite of the fact that they were not yet citizens of the United States.

While being the most economically depressed ethnic group in the country, Indian people during the first World War bought war bonds in far higher proportions than did the general populace.

A grateful Congress bestowed citizenship on the Native People in 1924. New Mexico and Arizona refused to acknowledge this act and did not recognize citizenship of Native People until much later, after a similar dramatic contribution by Native People to the nations war efforts in WW II.  Arizona extended the right to vote to Native People in 1948 and New Mexico denied  Native People the right to vote until the year 1962.
I
In 1964 two Navajo men Monroe Jymm and James Atcitty, were elected to the state legislature in New Mexico.  Both were welcomed with motions to unseat them. After a long legal battle they were able to validate their right to serve as state legislators. Later, another  Navajo man,  was barred from taking his elected seat in the state legislature in New Mexico because he appeared in traditional dress. The governor was forced to apologize.
In 1956 the state of Utah revived a state statute that prohibited Native People that resided on reservations from voting.  The law was upheld by the State Supreme Court.  Only after howls of protest did the legislature retreat and repeal the law.
"Literacy Laws" were exploited to deny many Native people the right to vote until the middle 1960's. 
It was a federal crime for a Native person to consume alcohol until the year 1953.
While the men of these First Nations were overseas, engaged in our war efforts in WW I and WW II, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), convinced many Native men (many who could not read or write and spoke English as a second language), to sign over grazing rights to White farmers for rates that fell far below market value. The BIA told these Native men that if they were to die in the war, the grazing fees would provide for their families.
When the surviving Native veterans returned home after the war they found that they had signed leases that were as long as 100 years in length and were renewable at the discretion of the holder of the lease. This is one of the many ways in which most of the land on reservations is often worked and controlled by white farmers and ranchers. This also is in part why some reservations have a greater population of non-Indian people than Indian peoples.
In 1943, 250 families on the Pine Ridge Reservation were given 10 days or less to leave their homes and ranches in the outlying Badlands area of Pine Ridge. The government was to use this area as a bombing range for the Rapid City Air Base. The government offered these 250 families no other place to live.
Many of the men of these families were overseas fighting for this country. They returned home to find their ranches bombed out and some found their families living in tents in ghetto areas of Rapid City and other towns in the Black Hills area and scattered across the reservation . No compensation was awarded to these families. And although the U.S. government promised to return this land to the Lakota residents after the war ceased, 56 years later, much of this land remains in control of the military.
Pine Ridge was not however, singled out. Seventy-nine other reservations faced this same situation, a situation that can only be compared to the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII. These Japanese-Americans received an apology and compensation from the U.S. government. The Lakota and other First Nations received neither the monetary compensation nor the apology. The Lakota are in fact still waiting for return of the land and the removal of the unexploded bombs and ordinance.
 

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), founded in 1824,  is the oldest bureaucracy in the federal government.  It has more employees serving fewer citizens in proportion than any other government agency. Vine Deloria, the noted Lakota/Dakota writer once said that if ever there was a great earthquake he would run right for the BIA because nothing could shake it.

Today over 90% of BIA employees are of Native descent and the Bureau is slowly gaining respect among Native People.  But considering the BIA's long record of incompetence,  ineptitude,  intransigence,  arrogance,  corruption,  and collusion with government policies of termination and assimilation,  gaining respect  and trust among Native People will be difficult. 
In the 1930's the U.S. government became aware that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), which was mandated to oversee trust accounts for various Native People,   (in part because Congress regarded the Native People as incompetent in financial management),   had lost track of many of these trust funds.
For the next 64 years, Congress, the executive branch, and the BIA ignored the problem, despite continual protest by Native People. In 1994 the "Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act" was passed. However by 1999 the amount of money in these trust funds, the BIA could not account for, had risen to 2.5 billion dollars (some estimates range as high as 10 billion dollars) .
In late February of 1999,  a federal judge took the unusual step of holding the Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbit,  Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin, and the assistant secretary of the BIA,  Kevin Gover in contempt of court for failing to provide documents that pertain to this mess. While Rubin, Babbitt, and Gover are currently, "holding the bag," the massive mismanagement of this problem goes back to the 19th century and may never be reconciled.
In 1959 The United States Court of Appeals of the 10th Circuit held that tribes were sovereign nations within the nation, and that these "nations with-in the nation" had a higher legal status than that of states.  In spite of this established law,  Indian Nations are constantly under assault by state and local governments as well as attempts by Congressmen and Senators at the federal level to diminish the Sovereignty of Indian Nations.  While most of us are free to move ahead, Native Peoples are locked in an on-going struggle to protect and affirm their past and present legal status.
In the spring of 2000,  George W. Bush,  Republican candidate for President,   stated that in his opinion, state law has precedent over tribal sovereignty.  This statement, in clear contrast to long established constitutional law,  is indicative of the ignorance and hostility that the First Nations of this country must deal with in a never ending struggle to maintain their rights.
In July of 2000,  at the  Washington State Republican Convention, the Skagit county delegate, John Fleming, introduced a resolution that called for termination of all tribal governments.  Of the 1300 Republican delegates in attendance at the convention only two were opposed to this outrageous proposal.  After the resolution was passed, Mr. Fleming stated, "We think it can be done peacefully." But he added that if the tribes were to resist, "...then the U.S. Army and the Air Force and the Marines and the National Guard are going to have to battle back."  9).
After news of the resolution became known, a firestorm of protest, outrage and condemnation of the resolution forced Washington State Republican officials to issue a half-hearted defense of the proposed act.  Delegate and sponsor of the resolution , John Fleming,  still expressed hope that the resolution would be introduced and accepted in the National Republican convention that is to be held in  Philadelphia, in August of 2000, (it was not).  National figures within the Republican Party expressed doubt that the resolution  reflected the views of the majority of the Republican party.  Those that note the nearly unanimous vote in favor of the resolution at the state level are less confident that this outrageous proposal does not enjoy the tacit support of many within the Republican Party and within our society at large.
In 1992  officials at the EPA set allowable levels of the deadly poison dioxin  from paper mills in the Northwest at levels based on consumption of 6.5 grams of fish per day.  These same EPA officials knew that the local Native consumption of fish was up to 150 grams per day. The EPA in effect allowed Native People to be exposed to a cancer risk of 8,600 per million.  The risk allowed by law is 1 per million. 
The Bureau of Indian Affairs operates 185 schools to fulfill the governments treaty obligations to educate the children of some tribal nations. One-hundred and forty-four of these schools are located in the states of Arizona, New Mexico, South and North Dakota, states with little political clout. A result of this reality is, according to the General Accounting Office, 79% of all BIA schools have substandard structures, 94% of all BIA schools have substandard environmental factors such as asbestos insulation, poor heating, substandard plumbing and wiring, lead paint, poor ventilation, unusable fire escapes.
The BIA school's operation and maintenance funds are funded by Congress at about 70% of what is considered adequate. According to federal reports 50% of all BIA schools need extensive repairs. The remaining 50% need demolition and replacement. These reports indicate that 1.2 billion dollars is needed in repair and construction. This year, 1999, Congress appropriated 82.3 million dollars for repairs and construction, less than 10% of what is required.
Some schools have been on waiting lists for over 15 years with no hope in sight. Some teachers and principals have resorted to using their own money to effect add-hoc repairs and improvements in their schools.
While politicians would never subject their own children to such inadequacies they subject over 53,000 Native children to permanent underclass status. It is not a surprise then when one faces the reality that Native Children face the highest dropout rates of any ethnic group in America and among the lowest achievement scores. And when one considers that the entrance exams of Native students ranks equal with the general populace one can only conclude that it is the system that fails the Native children and not the failure of the children to learn.  And it has been noted with some irony that the highest recorded IQ rating, of any living American,  is held by a young Navajo boy.

One of the greatest obstacles to higher education among Indian People has been cultural and institutional indifference to the sensitivities of Native students. The BIA estimates that between 80% to 90% of  Oglala Lakota that attend off-reservation colleges drop out.  By comparison over 93% of the Lakota that attend Oglala Lakota College,  the largest tribally run college in the United States,  go on to higher education or find jobs. Considering they enter a job market that has over 80% unemployment rates this is truly a testament and tribute to culturally relevant and sensitive educational techniques.  And when one considers that funding per student is considered appropriate at approx. $6000.00 per student but has never been much above $3000.00 per student in the last twenty years this achievement is truly remarkable. The website of the Oglala lakota College is http://www.olc.edu/

Until 1963 Monacan Indians were not admitted to public schools.  Up to that time the Monacon Indian children were only given a 6th grade elementary-level education,  provided by the Episcopal Church. To view more on this subject view the fine website     http://www.geocities.com/littlewolfg.geo/monacanchildren.html 
Contrary to European society, accumulation of wealth or material things was not a socially acceptable symbol of status among many American Indian cultures. A person gained status and respect in direct regards to the amount of giving to others within the society. Co-operation not competition was the preferred method of social interaction.
Over 2000 years ago the Hohokam people constructed a sophisticated canal system in the desert southwest of the area now known as the United States. Lined with clay this canal system had over 150 miles of canals as wide as 25 feet and as deep as 15 feet. The modern city of Phoenix, Arizona is built at the heart of this canal system. Many portions of these canals are still in use today.  18).
Over 2000 years ago these same Hohokam people played a game in which a ball was kicked, hit or thrown into goals at either end of a field. The players wore protective gear made of leather. This game was not unlike the game of football that is today still played.  18).
The mound building cultures of the Southeastern United States built over 100,000 mounds for religious and cultural purposes. Some were quite large while others were of a smaller nature.
During the late 1700's the unrest between the Muskogee-Creek people and the United States was fueled in large part by a strong opposition to the institution of slavery by the Muskogee-Creek people. This aversion to slavery was shared by most all cultures of the Indian people of North America.
The languages of the First People are sometimes considered crude as compared to English. Examination of the facts leads one to another conclusion. The average language of Native People consists of about 20,000 to 22,000 words, hardly a crude language base by any definition.
English on the other hand consists of about 32,000 words. However over 2,200 of these English words come from Indian languages and many more English words are archaic and seldom used anymore. If one were to subtract the English words borrowed by English speaking people from the people they have subjugated and further subtract the archaic words in the English language then this difference in these two language bases is rendered insignificant.
There exists one true difference between the language of the Native populace of North America and English. English is ever changing, the vernacular of spoken English of only 200 years ago is barely understandable today, while the spoken language of Native cultures has remained constant over the centuries.
The oldest continuously inhabited village in North America is the Hopi village of Old Oraibi, which was first occupied in about 1100 ad. 18). 19).
65% of the United States uranium deposits, 35% of its strippable coal and 5% of its natural gas lie below Indian lands.
NATO, in the past conducted low altitude bombing training runs over Holland and Germany. The people of Holland and Germany rose up in protest over the earth shaking sonic booms that resulted from these training runs. NATO acknowledged the legitimacy of these protests and changed the site of these tests. NATO today, conducts over 10,000 of these earth shaking runs per year over the land of the Innu people in Labrador, Canada. The Innu people are less than satisfied with this "improved" arrangement. 19).
More than 50% of the state names of The United States have their origin in the languages of the First Nations of the land. Over 10,000 places in The United States take their name from Native origin. 5).
45% of the 562 Federally recognized tribes have gaming industries. "Indian gambling"  often referred to as the "economic buffalo,"  comprises a small percentage of "legal" gaming in the US but its impact on Native America has been remarkable.  "Indian gaming"  is generating about 15 million annually into Native and surrounding communities.  Indian owned business in these areas has rapidly increased.  Concerns about intrusion by state and federal  governments in gaming compacts,  into Native sovereignty, and moral issues, continue to be raised from within the Native community over this controversial issue. There remains one salient point when comparing "Indian Gaming"  with other legal gaming operations.  Non-Native gaming operations pour the profits into the hands of a few,  "Indian Gaming"  has uplifted the many. 68).
Native People were the worlds greatest botanists.  Today over 60% of the world's food sources come from Native American origin.  In the 515 years since Columbus crashed into a reef off Hispaniola,  no native plant has been found  suitable for cultivation that had not already been grown,  cultivated,   and utilized by America's First Peoples.  6).1).