Middle school social studies lessons about American Indian people often leave the impression that Indians are part of a historical past that has little to do with America's present. Too often, lessons include information about Indian "extinction" due to diseases and warfare without discussing the ongoing resilience of American Indian…

In this paper, I discuss one photograph from a youth who participated in a 12-week arts based educational program I facilitated for Indigenous Young Adults at the Native Youth Drop-In centre in Toronto, Canada. By being able to communicate through their artwork, the youth shifted away from thinking of themselves as victims, and exuded a sense of…

In an October 2015 professional development and networking conference, 100 school counselors and teachers increased their cultural awareness and knowledge of Native American Indian Tribes and developed skills to support and advocate for their students. This one-page report describes the event, shares initial learnings, and touches on possible next…

Nearly 100 school counselors and teachers convened in October 2015 at the picturesque Tsébii'nidzisgai Elementary School in Monument Valley, Utah, for a "Four Corners Counseling Connection" conference designed to enhance their knowledge and understanding of American Indian history and culture, help them develop skills to support and…

On July 26-27, 2008, FPRI's Wachman Center hosted 37 teachers from across the country for a weekend of discussion on teaching U.S. Military history. Sessions included: (1) The Revolutionary War and Early American Military History (Kyle Zelner); (2) The Mexican-American War (Paul Springer); (3) The Civil War (Mark Grimsley); (4) The Frontier Years…

Alcohol, perhaps more than any other factor, symbolizes the degree of cultural disintegration experienced by American Indians today. It has been recognized as a symptom of the numerous cultural adjustments forced upon American Indians since white contact. Indeed, alcohol among Indian groups was prohibited for a far longer period than the…

After the Comanche Indians split from the Shoshoni-Comanche in the early eighteenth century, the Comanche language underwent several subtle changes in the use and position of directional suffixes. The use of two directional suffixes (-kin, meaning "motion toward" and -kwan, meaning "motion away") illustrates these changes. In…

This paper discusses the history and the impact that current social conditions of Native American people has upon their education, careers, relationships, and physical and mental health, and offers suggestions about how counselors can help Native Americans improve their lives. The structure of the paper includes a brief history of some of the…

Discusses the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Columbus' arrival in the Americas. Criticizes contemporary condemnation of Columbus as unproductive. Acknowledges the deaths of countless Native Americans through disease and warfare. Recognizes that the pre-Columbian Americas did not comprise a paradise. Concludes that commemorating the…

The accounts of the Puritan-Indian relations in the New World consist of ambivalent and paradoxical perspectives, perplexing narratives, often more diametrically opposed to than supporting each other. Among several representative accounts, Alden Vaughn contended that both the Indians and the Puritans in the New World were friendly, cooperative,…

In today's "politics of culture," American Indians demand participation in decision making on scholarship and exhibitions about their history and culture. Exhibits such as this one at Hampton archives replace generic Indians with people with names and individual histories, and link the history of Indian education with American history.…

The history of the lives of non-white peoples in the United States largely has been neglected although the Spanish bureaucrats kept meticulous records of the Spanish Mission period in Florida. These records represent an important source for the cultural history of these groups and offer new perspectives on the tri-racial nature of frontier…

A cursory examination of place names on a map of South Dakota does not reflect the important role that Indians have played in the state and their relation to the land framed by its borders. Only three towns with populations over 1,000 bear names that clearly come from Indian languages: Sioux Falls, Sisseton, and Yankton. The hostile relationship…

The way archaeologists use tools and draw inferences about them to disembed meaning from artworks is examined. The prehistoric rock paintings of the Lower Pecos River (Texas) are used to illustrate these ideas. An overview of this rock art, specifically the Amistad reservoir, is provided. The deductions of archaeologists about the semi-nomadic…

American Indian news as reported in urban newspapers and frontier weeklies during the 1820s and 1830s was shaped by the prejudices of the age as well as by the particular historical circumstances which brought Indians into conflict with White Americans. The press portrayed a culture for which it had little abiding sympathy or understanding,…