"It does not require many words to speak the truth." - Chief Joseph, Nez Perce
![Sitting Bull Tatanka-iyotanka (LIBI Archives/Library)](/subjects/tellingallamericansstories/images/sitting-bull.jpg?maxwidth=650&autorotate=false)
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.](/common/uploads/grid_builder/tellingallamericansstories/crop16_9/716E66C9-02E8-F98C-7D1B9C08CECA4E8D.jpg?width=640&quality=90&mode=crop)
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](/common/uploads/grid_builder/tellingallamericansstories/crop16_9/71B6F214-CC85-B779-0747CAECC3A347A6.jpg?width=640&quality=90&mode=crop)
The stories and heritage of the first peoples that inhabited this land run long and deep.
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Indigenous HeritagePlaces
Learn about parks and other places associated with Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian history and heritage
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Indigenous HeritagePeople
Learn about Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian people and their role in American history.
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Indigenous HeritageEducation Resources
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Indigenous HeritageTheme Study
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Indigenous HeritageAdditional Resources
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Last updated: April 21, 2023