United States of America

History

Native American history stretches back many centuries and continues until the present day. There are many tribes and climates where indigenous populations left their mark in the form of artifacts, traditions and records made by white explorers. Native American history begins before European explorers arrived on American soil and deals with the culture of tribes as far north as modern day Canada, to Indians in Peru and Mexico. Each tribe has its own distinct history and culture, and to learn more about Native American history, it is worthwhile to concentrate on individual tribes.

When European explorers settled the continent, many tribes who once fought against each other were joined by a common enemy. However, some tribes were so at odds that they joined settlers in a fight against other colonists just to fight a tribe allied with the other side. For instance, during the French and Indian War, tribes chose to side with the British or French based on which tribe was on the opposition. Native American History is rich with such rivalries and alliances.

Native American History includes many unhappy episodes beginning with the European settlers. Many Native Americans died because they had no immunity to the settler’s small pox. Some American Indians cooperated with the settlers and others fought them. However, Native American History records tragic events, such as the Trail of Tears, when American Indians were forced to march westward, and many died on the way.

LONG BEFORE the white man set foot on American soil, the American Indians, or rather the Native Americans , had been living in America. When the Europeans came here, there were probably about 10 million Indians populating America north of present-day Mexico. And they had been living in America for quite some time. It is believed that the first Native Americans arrived during the last ice-age, approximately 20,000 - 30,000 years ago through a land-bridge across the Bering Sound, from northeastern Siberia into Alaska . The oldest documented Indian cultures in North America are Sandia (15000 BC), Clovis (12000 BC) and Folsom (8000 BC)

Although it is believed that the Indians originated in Asia, few if any of them came from India. The name "Indian" was first applied to them by Christopher Columbus , who believed mistakenly that the mainland and islands of America were part of the Indies, in Asia.

So, when the Europeans started to arrive in the 16th- and 17th-century they were met by Native Americans , and enthusiastically so. The Natives regarded their white-complexioned visitors as something of a marvel, not only for their outlandish dress and beards and winged ships but even more for their wonderful technology - steel knives and swords, fire-belching arquebus and cannon, mirrors, hawkbells and earrings, copper and brass kettles, and so on.