Pre-columbian indigenous languages-

Other maps:

USGS Map of Native languages

Descriptions of Indigenous languages

Models of Migration - First Peoples

While the debate still rages over where America's first peoples came from, significant progress has been made in narrowing down the possibilities. The integration of archeology, physical anthropology, DNA analysis and linguistics all play an important role in current understanding.

Click here for an overview of these models.

Just for Fun - Pre-columbian Legends of Bigfoot

A startlingly comprehensive look at some of the legends of Big-foot like creatures from tribes across the American continent. When studying native peoples, with young people especially, this information is interesting reading but also a useful tool for conveying the importance of story-telling to native cultures that had no written language.

Pre-Columbian and Early American Legends of Bigfoot-like Beings

Horses and the Native American People

Many American's associate the horse with Native American Indian people, yet the horse did not play a role in Indian culture until the early 1800's. Dr. William Robbins in this short piece traces that history. View clip.

The Trail of Tears

The Trail of Tears is the path and the Indian conceptual description of the removal and relocation of certain Native Americans, including many members of the Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, and Choctaw nations among others in the United States, from their homelands to Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) in the Western United States. The phrase originated from a description of the removal of the Choctaw Nation in 1831.[1] Many Native Americans suffered from exposure, disease, and starvation while en route to their destinations, and many died, including 4,000 of the 15,000 relocated Cherokee.

Wikipedia Description

Trail of Tears Historical Overview from the Sequoia Institute

Black Indians - Cultural Mixing

The experience of a modern day Pow Wow will reveal an often ignored melding of Indian and African cultures particularly among the Tribes of the south where escaped and freed slaves sought refuge and protection.

Black - Indian History - The Sequoia Institute

Jefferson Defines a Vision for Indian Integration

Thomas Jefferson was the first American president to lay out a coherent policy with respect to the Indian nations of America. Jefferson's optimism about the assimilation of Indian people however, did not recognize the clash of cultures that would continue for nearly 100 years beyond.