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Glossary 355
13 Contemporary Issues 339 References and Suggested Readings 358
Index 380
Sovereignty and Decolonialism 340
Tribal Recognition 341
Land Claims and Settlements 342
Contents vii
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Preface
One of the major goals of this fourth edition was to reorganize and expand the chapter
on Contemporary Issues; add some new photos; correct errors; and update all of
the other materials in the book, particularly the sections on prehistory. The recently
published A Prehistory of North America (Sutton 2010) is also organized by culture
area and can serve as a companion volume to this edition of An Introduction to Native
North America.
Acknowledgments
A number of colleagues have taken the time to suggest improvements to this book,
and I am indebted to them for their efforts. Excellent suggestions were provided by the
reviewers of this edition: Joseph Wilson, University of Florida; Stephen Saraydar, State
University of New York; Jeanne Saint-Amour, Glendale Community College; Alston
Thoms, Texas A&M University; Katherine Woodhouse-Beyer, Rutgers University, New
Brunswick. In addition, I benefited from the thoughts and advice of Jill K. Gardner,
James Helmer, Brian E. Hemphill, Henry C. Koerper, William L. Merrill, and Richard
H. Osborne.
M.Q.S.
ix
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1 Introduction
In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed west from Spain, looking for a shorter and
more direct route to the Indies. Instead, he landed on a small island in the Caribbean
and encountered a New World occupied by many millions of people belonging to
many hundreds, perhaps as many as a thousand, different cultures. These cultures
were incredibly diverse, ranging from very small groups of hunters and gatherers to
large groups of farmers living in cities, and having social and political institutions of
varying complexities comparable to any in the world.
Europeans wanted to believe that they had “discovered” a new land, untouched
and pristine, a land occupied by wandering, primitive savages who did not “prop-
erly” possess the land. They believed it their duty to drag these native peoples from
their state of savagery into the light of civilization. These beliefs served to justify
the conquest of the New World and are still widely held today. But despite the
onslaught of Europeans, native peoples have survived.
Why are we interested in learning about Native North America? In the abstract,
Native American culture is part of the larger human experience. Each culture is unique
and the more we know about different cultures, the more we know collectively
about all people. Anthropology holds the view that all cultures are valid, that they
have the right to exist, and no one has the right to suppress them. Following this,
the more that is known about a group, the better it is protected.
Another tenet of anthropology is that no culture is better or worse than any
other (with some exceptions such as Nazi Germany) and that cultures should not
be judged. We all live in a multicultural world and it is important that everyone
comprehend and appreciate cultural diversity so that bias, ethnocentrism, and rac-
ism can be conquered. As all cultures are unique, each has lessons to teach others
and there is much (good and bad) that Native Americans can offer, such as their
environmental practices, philosophy, literature, and the like. Their knowledge is
useful to everyone and we can all learn from their successes and failures.
A bit closer to home, American culture has been shaped, in part, by contact
and interaction with native peoples over hundreds of years and an appreciation
1
of that history can help to better understand where we all are now and how we
got here. It is important for everyone to grasp the issues that surround minorities
within a larger dominant culture, and to look for solutions to problems inherent
in that situation. Many native peoples have gotten a “raw deal” and everyone should
understand how that happened and what can be done about it. In some cases,
the culture and practices of some native peoples were, at least in part, preserved
for later generations by anthropologists. Lastly, Native American cultures are not
“vanished races” consigned to natural history museums but modern, active, and
vibrant groups. Everyone should celebrate the survival and revival of those cultures.
FIGURE 1.1 Simplified map of the world, showing both New and Old Worlds
2 Chapter 1 Introduction
FIGURE 1.2 Major cultural divisions of the
New World
The New World is often described as comprising two continents: (1) North
America, which extends from the Arctic to Panama, and (2) South America,
which runs from Colombia to the southern tip of Chile. However, it is now com-
mon for the New World to be thought of as three regions: North, Central, and
South America. Many people consider North America to consist of the United
States and Canada, Central America to include Mexico and all the countries
south through Panama, and South America to extend from Colombia to the
southern tip of Chile. A third way to conceptualize the New World is based on
broad cultural distinctions, leading to the specification of three somewhat differ-
ent regions: North America, Mesoamerica (meso meaning “middle”), and South
America (Fig. 1.2). According to this frame of reference, the southern boundary
of North America is located in northern Mexico; this definition is used in this
book. The modern border between the United States and Mexico is not relevant
to a definition of past cultures.
After defining the southern boundary of North America, the question arises as
to whether to include Greenland to the north. Some researchers consider Greenland
a part of Europe, others a part of North America, while most simply ignore the
problem. In this book, Greenland is considered a part of North America, primar-
ily because the Inuit that inhabited much of Arctic North America also lived in
Greenland.
The geography of North America is complex, and many regions can be defined
within it, based on a number of criteria. For the purposes of this book, seven gen-
eral natural areas are defined (Fig. 1.3); these overlap with the culture areas defined
later. In the far north lies the Arctic, a largely treeless region covered with snow and
ice for most of the year, roughly corresponding to the Arctic culture area. To the
Arctic
Mount
C
on
ai
Fo ifer
ns
re ou
st s
Pacific
Coast
Plains
Temperate ATLANTIC
PACIFIC
Forest
OCEAN OCEAN
Desert
0 500 1000
Miles
Kilometers
0 500 1000
FIGURE 1.3 Major natural areas
of North America
south of the Arctic lies a region containing mountains and a vast, cold, coniferous
forest with thousands of lakes that generally coincides with the Subarctic culture
area. Farther south, and east of the Mississippi River, lies an extensive temperate
forest, much of which has been destroyed over the past 150 years, and this region
is divided into the Northeast and Southeast culture areas. West of the Mississippi
River, an immense region of grasslands called the Plains (both the geographic re-
gion and the culture area) extends west to the Rocky Mountains, which run north
to south along much of North America. The Plains is now mostly covered by fields
of corn and wheat. A large desert occupies much of western North America and
includes both the Great Basin and Southwest culture areas. Lastly, the Pacific coast
lies along the western boundary of North America and encompasses the Northwest
Coast, California, and Plateau culture areas.
Culture Areas
Researchers recognized early on that cultures in similar environments tend to be
similar to one another, sharing some aspects of economy, politics, and even lan-
guage. Large-scale geographic regions where environment and culture were similar
were defined in the late 1890s and called culture areas, first in North and South
America (Mason 1894), then in other areas of the world. The definition of a culture
area is never precise, and there is considerable argument over how many there are,
where their boundaries are, which groups should be included in each, and even
4 Chapter 1 Introduction
Russia
Asia
ARCTIC
OCEAN Greenland
Arctic
Subarctic
North America
au
Plate
Northwest
Coast
Great Northeast
Basin
Plains
California
ATLANTIC
t OCEAN
as
the
Sou
Sou
thw
PACIFIC
est
Gulf of
OCEAN Mexico
N
Mesoamerica
CARIBBEAN FIGURE 1.4 Culture areas of North America
0 1000500 SEA
Miles Adapted from Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 4,
Kilometers History of Indian-White Relations, W. E. Washburn, ed.,
0 500 1000 p. ix; copyright © 1988 by the Smithsonian
Institution. Used by permission of the publisher.
whether culture areas should be defined at all. Ten culture areas are defined herein,
following the Handbook of North American Indians (see Fig. 1.4).
Using the culture area concept gives anthropologists the opportunity to com-
pare societies within broadly similar environments and to determine the extent of
influence from groups outside a particular culture area (diffusion, migrations, etc.).
In spite of many weaknesses—such as defining a single area that contains consider-
able cultural and/or environmental diversity, the use of somewhat arbitrary criteria,
the assumption that a static cultural situation exists, and the tendency to equate
environment with cause—the culture area concept continues to be useful as a point
of comparison and reference. Most anthropologists use this concept, even if infor-
mally, to refer to geographic regions and general culture. Most laypeople also inher-
ently recognize culture areas, having, for example, at least some idea that the native
peoples of the Plains are different from those of the Arctic.
The People
It seems impossible to find an objective, universally accepted term for the indig-
enous inhabitants of the Americas (see discussions in Churchill [1999]; and Yellow
Bird [1999]). Some use Native American, but others have argued that such a category
includes Native Hawaiians (although Hawai’i is not in North America and Native
Hawaiians are technically Polynesian) or even anyone born in North America
regardless of his or her ancestry. The widely used term Indian is sometimes considered
inappropriate since it is not even a native term, as it was misapplied by Columbus,
who thought he was in the East Indies. It is also possible to confuse Indians of the
New World with the people of India. The term American Indian would bypass those
issues but the people of the Arctic (e.g., the Inuit) are not biologically or culturally
Indian although they are still Native Americans. The terms Native Peoples and
Native Nations suffer from similar problems. Some prefer the term First People to refer
to indigenous people in general, a term that could include Native Americans. In
Canada, the term First Nations is commonly used. The term aboriginal is also used in
that same manner. Many Native Americans, such as Hopi, want their specific group
name to be used. In this book, the very general terms Native American, native peo-
ples, and Indian will be used and will apply to those people who were indigenous
to North America prior to the European invasion. Where possible, specific group
names will be used.
In the United States and Canada, native people are viewed as distinct from
the majority, non-Indian population. However, the situation is quite different in
Mexico, where Indians comprise the vast majority of the population. Some 75 per-
cent of Mexicans are of mixed Indian and non-Indian heritage (called mestizo),
about 20 percent are full-blooded Indian, and some 5 percent are white, mostly
of Spanish heritage (West and Augelli 1989:291). In Mexico, most people identify
themselves as Mexican and only those who speak native languages are considered
“Indios.”
Over time, many non-Indians intermarried and had children with Indians.
Escaped black slaves sometimes found refuge with native peoples (most Indians
6 Chapter 1 Introduction
were not concerned about skin color). Soon, people of mixed native–black heri-
tage, the Black Indians, came into existence (not limited to North America; see Katz
[1997]). In North America, Black Indians formed an important part of a number of
native groups in the American Southeast, including the Seminole (see Chapter 12).
Political Entities
As with the people themselves, it is difficult to find an accurate term for their
political units. Perhaps the smallest political unit is the band, typically a small group
of families living by hunting and gathering. The term tribe is often employed, but
it carries a certain anthropological meaning that does not apply to all groups (dis-
cussed later). Nation could be (and often is) used, but that term could imply an
organization and political autonomy that is not true of all groups. In this book the
generic term group will be used, and wherever possible, the appropriate political
term (e.g., tribe).
In the United States, about 900 groups claim native status. As of 2010, 564 tribes,
including some 229 groups in Alaska, have been formally recognized as having a
special “government-to-government” relationship with the United States (for a listing
of federally recognized groups, log on to www.bia.gov/idc/groups/xofa/documents/
document/idc012038.pdf). As of 2008, approximately 250 additional native groups
(about 50 of them in California) have applied for federal recognition (the number
changes frequently as applications are accepted, denied, submitted, or withdrawn).
Many other North American groups exist in Canada and northern Mexico.
Population
The native population of North America prior to 1492 has not yet been accu-
rately determined. It was first thought that there were about 500,000 native people
before the arrival of Columbus. This low estimate was made partly to minimize
native occupation of the land, further justifying European intrusion. In the early
1900s, however, this view began to change as a result of detailed work on popula-
tion by researchers from the Bureau of American Ethnology, who estimated that
perhaps as many as three million Indians existed in North America before 1492.
Today, after much more work, estimates of the native population of North America
just prior to the time of Columbus range from about eight million to eighteen
million (see Thornton 1987, 1997; Stannard 1992; Ubelaker 1992; Reddy 1995;
Ogunwole 2006). However, a recent analysis of archaeological data (Milner and
Chapin 2010) suggested that the population of North America at about A.D. 1500
was between 1.2 and 6.1 million, well below the other estimates. After 1492, it
has been argued (e.g., Stannard 1992:268), there was a population decline on the
order of about 95 percent before the trend was reversed and populations began to
recover (see Table 1.1).
Today, the number of people who identified Native American as their “race”
in the United States census has increased to more than 2.4 million people, plus
another two million more who identified Native American as one of their races
(Ogunwole 2006: Table 1). The criteria for classifying a person as an Indian or
a member of a specific group can vary, depending on the group, the census, the
political climate, or other factors (see Weaver 2001). Also, people who are Indian
but have only recently listed themselves as Indian on the census create an illu-
sion of population increase. Nevertheless, it is clear that native populations are
increasing rapidly.
8 Chapter 1 Introduction
FIGURE 1.5 General distribution of major language groups in North America
Adapted from Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 17, Languages, Ives Goddard, ed., map in rear pocket;
copyright © 1996 by the Smithsonian Institution. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
Group Names
Each Native American group has always had a name for itself, a name that often
translates to something like “The People.” However, groups have often been known
to the outside world by other names, often applied to them by someone else only
to officially become their name, regardless of the wishes of the groups, assuming
they even knew about it. As time passed, many of these names stuck and now even
the Indians themselves often use them. In many cases, the new name applied to a
group was derogatory. For example, the group known as the Sioux (a Plains group;
see Chapter 10) actually encompasses a number of related groups with other names,
10 Chapter 1 Introduction
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
another, as a complimentary mark of friendship. "Inquire," directs
he, "what gallants sup in the next room; and if they be of your
acquaintance, do not, after the City fashion, send them in a pottle of
wine and your name." Then, we read of Master Brook sending to the
Castle Inn at Windsor, a morning draught of sack.
Ned Ward, in the London Spy, 1709, describes several famous
taverns, and among them the Rose, anciently, the Rose and Crown,
as famous for good wine. "There was no parting," he says, "without
a glass; so we went into the Rose Tavern in the Poultry, where the
wine, according to its merit, had justly gained a reputation; and
there, in a snug room, warmed with brash and faggot, over a quart
of good claret, we laughed over our night's adventure."
"From hence, pursuant to my friend's inclination, we adjourned to
the sign of the Angel, in Fenchurch-street, where the vintner, like a
double-dealing citizen, condescended as well to draw carmen's
comfort as the consolatory juice of the vine.
"Having at the King's Head well freighted the hold of our vessels
with excellent food and delicious wine, at a small expense, we
scribbled the following lines with chalk upon the wall." (See page
98.)
The tapster was a male vendor, not "a woman who had the care of
the tap," as Tyrwhitt states. In the 17th century ballad, The Times,
occurs:
Pepys was told by a waterman, going through the bridge, 24th Feb.
1666-7, that the mistress of the Beare Tavern, at the Bridge foot,
"did lately fling herself into the Thames, and drown herself."
The Bear must have been a characterless house, for among its
gallantries was the following, told by Wycherley to Major Pack, "just
for the oddness of the thing." It was this: "There was a house at the
Bridge Foot where persons of better condition used to resort for
pleasure and privacy. The liquor the ladies and their lovers used to
drink at these meetings was canary; and among other compliments
the gentlemen paid their mistresses, this it seems was always one,
to take hold of the bottom of their smocks, and pouring the wine
through that filter, feast their imaginations with the thought of what
gave the zesto, and so drink a health to the toast."
The Bear Tavern was taken down in December, 1761, when the
labourers found gold and silver coins, of the time of Elizabeth, to a
considerable value. The wall that enclosed the tavern was not
cleared away until 1764, when the ground was cleared and levelled
quite up to Pepper Alley stairs. There is a Token of the Bear Tavern,
in the Beaufoy cabinet, which, with other rare Southwark tokens,
was found under the floors in taking down St. Olave's Grammar
School in 1839.
MERMAID TAVERNS.
The celebrated Mermaid, in Bread-street, with the history of "the
Mermaid Club," has been described in Vol. I. pp. 8-10; its interest
centres in this famous company of Wits.
There was another Mermaid, in Cheapside, next to Paul's Gate, and
still another in Cornhill. Of the latter we find in Burn's Beaufoy
Catalogue, that the vintner, buried in St. Peter's, Cornhill, in 1606,
"gave forty shillings yearly to the parson for preaching four sermons
every year, so long as the lease of the Mermaid, in Cornhill, (the
tavern so called,) should endure. He also gave to the poor of the
said parish thirteen penny loaves every Sunday, during the aforesaid
lease." There are tokens of both these taverns in the Beaufoy
Collection.
The above property was for many years sublet to the family of the
author of the present Work, at the rent of 150l. per annum; the
cellar, finely vaulted, and excellent for wine, extended beneath the
entire court, consisting of two rows of tenements, and two end
houses, with galleries, the entrance being from the High-street. The
premises were taken down for the New London Bridge approaches.
There was also a noted Boar's Head in Old Fish-street.
Can he forget who has read Goldsmith's nineteenth Essay, his
reverie at the Boar's Head?—when, having confabulated with the
landlord till long after "the watchman had gone twelve," and
suffused in the potency of his wine a mutation in his ideas, of the
person of the host into that of Dame Quickly, mistress of the tavern
in the days of Sir John, is promptly effected, and the liquor they
were drinking seemed shortly converted into sack and sugar. Mrs.
Quickly's recital of the history of herself and Doll Tearsheet, whose
frailties in the flesh caused their being both sent to the house of
correction, charged with having allowed the famed Boar's Head to
become a low brothel; her speedy departure to the world of Spirits;
and Falstaff's impertinences as affecting Madame Proserpine; are
followed by an enumeration of persons who had held tenancy of the
house since her time. The last hostess of note was, according to
Goldsmith's account, Jane Rouse, who, having unfortunately
quarrelled with one of her neighbours, a woman of high repute in
the parish for sanctity, but as jealous as Chaucer's Wife of Bath, was
by her accused of witchcraft, taken from her own bar, condemned,
and executed accordingly!—These were times, indeed, when women
could not scold in safety. These and other prudential apophthegms
on the part of Dame Quickly, seem to have dissolved Goldsmith's
stupor of ideality; on his awaking, the landlord is really the landlord,
and not the hostess of a former day, when "Falstaff was in fact an
agreeable old fellow, forgetting age, and showing the way to be
young at sixty-five. Age, care, wisdom, reflection, begone! I give you
to the winds. Let's have t'other bottle. Here's to the memory of
Shakspeare, Falstaff, and all the merry men of Eastcheap."[30]
The Fellows of the Royal Society dined at Pontack's until 1746, when
they removed to the Devil Tavern. There is a Token of the White
Bear in the Beaufoy collection; and Mr. Burn tells us, from
Metamorphoses of the Town, a rare tract, 1731, of Pontack's "guinea
ordinary," "ragout of fatted snails," and "chickens not two hours from
the shell." In January, 1735, Mrs. Susannah Austin, who lately kept
Pontack's, and had acquired a considerable fortune, was married to
William Pepys, banker, in Lombard-street.
The Old Swan Tavern and its landing-stairs were destroyed in the
Great Fire; but rebuilt. Its Token, in the Beaufoy Collection, is one of
the rarest, of large size.
Hence, perhaps, the Salutation of the Virgin was exchanged for the
"booin' and scrapin'" scene (two men bowing and greeting),
represented on a token which still exists, the tavern was celebrated
in the days of Queen Elizabeth. In some old black-letter doggrel,
entitled News from Bartholemew Fayre it is mentioned for wine:—
ALDERSGATE TAVERNS.
Two early houses of entertainment in Aldersgate were the Taborer's
Inn and the Crown. Of the former, stated to have been of the time of
Edward II., we know nothing but the name. The Crown, more
recent, stood at the End of Duck-lane, and is described in Ward's
London Spy, as containing a noble room, painted by Fuller, with the
Muses, the Judgment of Paris, the Contention of Ajax and Ulysses,
etc. "We were conducted by the jolly master," says Ward, "a true
kinsman of the bacchanalian family, into a large stately room, where
at the first entrance, I discerned the master-strokes of the famed
Fuller's pencil; the whole room painted by that commanding hand,
that his dead figures appeared with such lively majesty that they
begat reverence in the spectators towards the awful shadows. We
accordingly bade the complaisant waiter oblige us with a quart of his
richest claret, such as was fit only to be drank in the presence of
such heroes, into whose company he had done us the honour to
introduce us. He thereupon gave directions to his drawer, who
returned with a quart of such inspiring juice, that we thought
ourselves translated into one of the houses of the heavens, and
were there drinking immortal nectar with the gods and goddesses:
Far more celebrated was the Mourning Bush Tavern, in the cellars of
which have been traced the massive foundations of Aldersgate, and
the portion of the City Wall which adjoins them. This tavern, one of
the largest and most ancient in London, has a curious history.
The Bush Tavern, its original name, took for its sign the Ivy-bush
hung up at the door. It is believed to have been the house referred
to by Stowe, as follows:—"This gate (Aldersgate) hath been at
sundry times increased with building; namely, on the south or inner
side, a great frame of timber, (or house of wood lathed and
plastered,) hath been added and set up containing divers large
rooms and lodgings," which were an enlargement of the Bush.
Fosbroke mentions the Bush as the chief sign of taverns in the
Middle Ages, (it being ready to hand,) and so it continued until
superseded by "a thing to resemble one containing three or four
tiers of hoops fastened one above another with vine leaves and
grapes, richly carved and gilt." He adds: "the owner of the Mourning
Bush, Aldersgate, was so affected at the decollation of Charles I.,
that he painted his bush black." From this period the house is
scarcely mentioned until the year 1719, when we find its name
changed to the Fountain, whether from political feeling against the
then exiled House of Stuart, or the whim of the proprietor, we
cannot learn; though it is thought to have reference to a spring on
the east side of the gate. Tom Brown mentions the Fountain
satirically, with four or five topping taverns of the day, whose
landlords are charged with doctoring their wines, but whose trade
was so great that they stood fair for the alderman's gown. And, in a
letter from an old vintner in the City to one newly set up in Covent
Garden, we find the following in the way of advice: "as all the world
are wholly supported by hard and unintelligible names, you must
take care to christen your wines by some hard name, the further
fetched so much the better, and this policy will serve to recommend
the most execrable scum in your cellar. I could name several of our
brethren to you, who now stand fair to sit in the seat of justice, and
sleep in their golden chain at churches, that had been forced to
knock off long ago, if it had not been for this artifice. It saved the
Sun from being eclipsed; the Crown from being abdicated; the Rose
from decaying; and the Fountain from being dry; as well as both the
Devils from being confined to utter darkness."
Twenty years later, in a large plan of Aldersgate Ward, 1739-40, we
find the Fountain changed to the original Bush. The Fire of London
had evidently, at this time, curtailed the ancient extent of the tavern.
The exterior is shown in a print of the south side of Aldersgate; it
has the character of the larger houses, built after the Great Fire, and
immediately adjoins the gate. The last notice of the Bush, as a place
of entertainment, occurs in Maitland's History of London, ed. 1722,
where it is described as "the Fountain, commonly called the
Mourning Bush, which has a back door into St. Anne's-lane, and is
situated near unto Aldersgate." The house was refitted in 1830. In
the basement are the original wine-vaults of the old Bush; many of
the walls are six feet thick, and bonded throughout with Roman
brick. A very agreeable account of the tavern and the antiquities of
neighbourhood was published in 1830.
"THE MOURNING CROWN."
In Phœnix Alley, (now Hanover Court,) Long Acre, John Taylor, the
Water Poet, kept a tavern, with the sign of "the Mourning Crown,"
but this being offensive to the Commonwealth (1652), he substituted
for a sign his own head with this inscription—
"There's many a head stands for a sign;
Then, gentle reader, why not mine?"
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