Indigenous Heritage

"It does not require many words to speak the truth." - Chief Joseph, Nez Perce

Sitting Bull Tatanka-iyotanka (LIBI Archives/Library)
Sitting Bull Tatanka-iyotanka

Little Bighorn Battlefield Archives/Library

There are many stories about the first people who lived on the North American continent. One tells of the Great Spirit who collected dust from the four winds to create the Comanche people. The Hopi people tell of two brothers who slashed open great swaths into the ground and sowed powerful stalks of cane so the ancient people living beneath the earth could climb above ground.

Archaeologists research migrations of peoples from north central Asia across a land bridge that stretched across the Bering Strait between modern-day Siberia and Alaska during the Pleistocene Ice Age—some 13,000 years ago. Read more »

Man walks in front of tipi with Washington Monument in background.
THE STRUGGLE FOR SOVEREIGNTY

THE STRUGGLE FOR SOVEREIGNTY: AMERICAN INDIAN ACTIVISM IN THE NATION’S CAPITAL, 1968-1978

O'odham women and girls in colorful skirts holding baskets for O'odham basket dance
American Indian Heritage

The stories and heritage of the first peoples that inhabited this land run long and deep.

Last updated: April 21, 2023