Lenta, 2906 Shadeland Avenue Suite B1, Indianapolis, IN (2026)

10/31/2022

Native American Face Paint | War Face Paint

While many of the traditions concerning Native American face paint been taught to me by Northern and Southern Tribal Elders, I prefer to maintain their privacy. Therefore, I have only used literary sources for references.

For years I have heard different generations ask about the practice of face painting by men dancing at inter-tribal pow-wows or formal southern war dances. So, in this article, I will try to answer some of these questions. However, since this is sometimes a very complex topic with a great deal of cultural nuance, I would still suggest the reader do further study on their own, including talking with recognized elders within the tribal traditions about what dance styles and dance clothes in question may represent.

Obtaining War Face Paint
The oldest materials used in Native American face paint were derived from animal, vegetable and mineral sources, with earth or mineral paint being the most common.

White and yellow paint was obtained from white and yellow clays along river beds, and buffalo gallstones produced a different kind of yellow. Green paint was obtained from copper ores.

One type of blue paint came from drying a certain type of duck manure, and some tribes would combine a bluish mud and yellow clay to make green paint.

Powdered charred wood and black earth were used in making black paint.

The base for red paints, probably the most commonly used color, were crimson-colored clay.

A brownish-red paint could be obtained by baking yellow clay over ashes until it turned red. A description of this is described by Frances Densmore in her work titled Teton Sioux Music,

“On the Standing Rock Reservation is found a yellow ocherous substance which, after being reduced to a fine powder, is used by the Indians in making yellow paint. This substance, when treated by means of heat, yields the vermilion used on all ceremonial articles as well as in painting the bodies of the Indians. The baking of this ocherous substance – a process which requires skill – is done by the women. First, the substance mixed with water is formed into a ball. A hole is dug in the ground in which a fire of oak bark is made. When the ground is baked the coals are removed, the ball is placed in the hole, and a fire is built above it. This fire is maintained at a gentle, even heat for about an hour, which is sufficient for the amount of the substance usually prepared at a time. The action of the heat changes the color of the substance to red. When the ball is cold, it is pounded to powder. In the old days this red powder was mixed with buffalo fat in making the Native American face paint, but at present time it is mixed with water. White, black and blue paints were obtained by mixing colored earthy substances with buffalo fat. The blue was found in Southern Minnesota and required no treatment by heat, and the white and black in North Dakota.” (Densmore, 1918, p. 116)

To prepare them for use, most of the raw colored earth or clay deposits were baked and then ground into a powder. The powder was kept in a small buckskin bundle and would have been put into a larger decorated paint bag with other bundles of different colors with perhaps a bone or wooden applicator and a small mirror. When used they would either apply the paint dry or mix it with bear grease, buffalo tallow, or water to achieve the desired effect.

Because of the religious significance and the ceremonial uses many tribes had for red paint, the bright vermilion red paint offered to tribes by European fur traders was highly sought after at a very early date. According to J. Frederick Fausz, Ph.D., in his published curriculum for the 2004 course titled The Louisiana Expansion at the University of Missouri – St. Louis, he states that long before French explorers met them in 1673, the Osage had moved onto the central plains along with the related, neighboring tribes of Kansas (aka Kaw), Omaha, Ponca, and Quapaw.

When St. Louis was founded in 1764, it is said that the Osage used their talents and knowledge to make the fur trade profitable because they were considered the best fur producers south of Canada. Therefore, the Osage received many European items in trade including Chinese vermilion (aka mercury sulfide face-paint).

Even among the Omaha, there is evidence that paint was obtained at a very early stage from traders, as evidenced by the following,

“Another saving of labor in comparison with old methods was involved in buying paints from the traders. The paint was sold in small packages not much larger than a paper of darning needles.” (Fletcher & Laflesche, 1911, p. 615)

Older Uses of Native American Face Paint
The painting of a man's face and body among the plains tribes during the buffalo days was said to be a form of mental conditioning. Warriors would paint themselves with personal protective designs and colors before they engaged in battle with an enemy. Hence the stereotypical term “war paint.”

It was believed that Indians' prayers were put into the paint, and when applied, the power of the prayers were conveyed upon the wearer.

Other times there might even be special songs sung when paint was applied. Some applied the paint themselves; others preferred to be painted by a holy person or medicine man. Frances Densmore in Teton Sioux Music again states that among the Teton Lakota:

“Little Buffalo (Tatanka-cikala) was a man who ‘made medicine' for the warriors. Using blue clay mixed with ‘medicine', he painted a band across the man's forehead with a branching end on each cheek bone, the painting being done only in war. Bear Eagle (Mato-wanbli), who had been painted in this manner by Little Buffalo, recorded the two following songs. He said that the first one was sung by Little Buffalo alone as he painted them, and the second by the warriors after the painting was finished.” (Densmore, 1918, p. 350)

Face painting was, at other times, not connected with war preparation, as designs of various kinds were used to designate membership in societies; used when participating in different celebrations; used as marks of achievement; and used in mourning for the dead.

According to Oglala Lakota Holy Man, Nicholas Black Elk in Joseph Brown's work titled, The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux,

“By being painted, the people have been changed. They have undergone a new birth, and with this they have new responsibilities, new obligations, and a new relationship.” (Brown, 1953, p. 111)

Returning warriors of many plains tribes, who had taken scalps of their enemies, often painted their faces black before returning to their camp.

It has been said that the crow believed that a blackened face symbolically represented the fires of revenge that had burned out after vanquishing their enemy.

The Pawnee scouts would paint their faces white to symbolize the wolf, whose spiritual power was considered to be of great help for a scout.

According to Fletcher & Laflesche in their work titled The Omaha Tribe, among the Omaha,

“Men generally painted their faces and bodies in accordance with dreams or in representation of some achievement or accorded honor”…”before the advent of the looking glass a young man was painted by his friend”…when going into battle, on the surround at the tribal buffalo hunt, when taking part in the Hedewachi Ceremony, at the Hethushka Society, and the Pebble Society, the painting on their faces and bodies had a serious significance partaking of the nature of an appeal or prayer.” (Fletcher & Laflesche, 1911, p. 350)

Further in this same work, in a chapter on the Omaha Men's Warrior Society called Hethushka, it states:

“Each man painted himself in accordance with the directions given him at the public ceremony when he received his grade of war honors.” (Fletcher & Laflesche, 1911, p. 461)

At one time it is said, the Omaha and the Ponca were one tribe. After separating they retained similar societies such as the Hethuska Society, and had similar celebrations for conferring war honors. An example of the war honors among the Ponca includes reference to painting in Fletcher & Laflesche's work,

“First honor: to strike an unwounded man. The sign of this honor was an eagle feather worn upright in the scalp lock; moccasin strings made of the skin of a gray wolf; the upper part of the body painted black”….” Second honor: to be the first to strike a fallen enemy”…”The sign of this honor was an eagle feather worn horizontal in the scalp lock; painting the body irregularly in black stripes”…”Fifth honor: to take a scalp. The sign of this honor was to paint the face with a slight tinge of red and put black stripes across it.”…”Sixth honor: capturing horses from the enemy. The badge of this honor was to wear at the dances a coil of rope around the body and to paint on the body figures shaped like the impression of a horses hoof.” (Fletcher & Laflesche, 1911, p. 440)

Modern Uses of Native American Face Paint
Today, Native American face paint is still used by many plains tribe Indians for a variety of reasons. Many events, such as Sun Dance Ceremonies, Naming Ceremonies, Society Ceremonies, Healing Ceremonies, and events for returning veterans may involve the painting of faces in one form or another.

Some designs and color patterns may be “owned” by individuals, families, clans or societies. In some tribes, the rite to wear a design and color pattern may be handed down from one individual to a younger relative. For example, an old combat veteran, too feeble to dance at pow wows anymore, could give his young grandson the rite to use his face paint pattern and colors when he dances.

In some tribes, face paint patterns, face paint colors, the paint itself, and a possible set of protective prayers or songs, could be purchased from one individual by another. A young man might come up to an older man saying something like, “I remember you used to wear a particular pattern of paint when you danced. I would like to give you these gifts in exchange for the right to honor you by wearing your design when I dance.” It would then be said that he paid for the rite to wear a particular design and color pattern.

Some modern traditional dancers are combat veterans who wear Native American face paint that they wore while in combat, or in a dream related to their combat experience, or as a result of their combat experience.

In both Ponca and the Osage Men's Warrior Societies, it is common to see men wearing protective red paint at the corner of their eyes to achieve the desired effect.

For the Ponca Hethuska:

“The common face paint design for a Straight Dancer is a red line extending back from the corner of each eye for about 2 inches.” (Howard, 1965, p. 65)

Among the Osage Inlonschka:

“In modern times Osages use very little face paint in the Inlonschka. Usually only a streak of red one finger wide is used from the edge of the eye to the earlobe, a pinch of red is placed on each earlobe.” (Callahan, 1990, p. 112)

Often times among the Ponca and Osage, a boy or young man is usually painted for the first time by a relative when they are given their “Indian name”, or when they are brought into the dance circle for the first time. Depending upon their age, the individual applies it themselves from then on. This red protection paint is said to protect the Straight Dancers from harm while in the dance circle.

Other Native American tribes, including those of the Southern Plains, have similar variations of eye paint in different colors and different patterns such as in a “v” shape coming out from the corner of the eye, in a “v” shape with a center line or also known as a “crow’s foot” design, or a series of small dots.

Lastly, whether you are a Northern Traditional Dancer, a Southern Straight Dancer, a Fancy Feather Dancer, a Chicken Dancer or a Grass Dancer, and you are considering wearing Native American face paint, the first question you should ask yourself is “why”. Why should you be wearing it? It may be for protection; to honor someone else; to be part of your personal experiences as a veteran; or to follow the dictates of a dream or visionary experience; or to show family, clan or society ties. Once you have answered the why then you can move on to the how and when.

10/22/2022

Who Killed Custer? It might surprise you.

Here's something we never learned in history books! Female Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors fought at the Battle of the Little Bighorn-Custer's Last Stand-with distinction. Cheyenne warrior Buffalo Calf Road Woman fought a number of battles in leadership roles, and tribal lore passed down for 143 years credits her with killing George Armstrong Custer.

She wasn't the only female warrior at the Little Big Horn. The Arapaho Chief, Pretty Nose, fought there, too. She lived to be 101 years old and her grandson served in the Korean War as a U.S. Marine and later an Arapaho chief, just like his grandmother.

10/13/2022

The Six Grandfathers Before It Was Known as Mount Rushmore
The Indian’s victory at Little Bighorn [Greasy Grass], on June 25, 1876, forced the U.S. to double its calvary in the Plains. The Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors faced insurmountable odds in the years following their Victory Day at Greasy Grass. Their victory was squashed by the massive effort the U.S. put forth to defeat the Lakota and their allies. The Great Sioux War intensified as the U.S. Army rounded up Indians forcing them to live on undesirable reservation lands.
The Little Bighorn Battlefield [Greasy Grass] is now a national monument. The monument’s former National Park superintendent Gerard Baker (1990-1998) was a Mandan Hidatsa Indian from North Dakota, who spent his tenure making the site of the “Last Stand” more meaningful and spiritual for Indian people.
“’This [the Little Bighorn Battlefield] represents the end of the way of life for the Indian people,’ the superintendent, Gerard Baker, said as he gestured toward the battlefield in the rolling hills of southern Montana, which was crowded with tourists...‘When Indian people come here, they cry and get mad for losing that way of life, that freedom. It's something we'll never get back. That's what this place is for.’"
“Loss of that way of life”
Before the Battle of Greasy Grass in 1874, gold was discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota, some 330 miles southeast. Custer laid claim to the discovery. This brought miners and prospectors to the area. The U.S. government constructed roads and railroads within the Great Sioux Nation breaching the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty—this breach sparked several conflicts with Custer and the U.S. Cavalry.
When the Sioux and their allies defeated Custer and members of the 7th Cavalry, there was a call for swift retaliation. Two months later in August of 1876, the U.S. enacted “Sell or Starve” which withheld promised food rations from the tribes that defeated Custer and his men. The U.S. wanted the Black Hills—its gold and other resources. After suffering and starving, the Lakota relinquished their claim to their sacred lands: the Black Hills [Paha Sapa]. The Act of 1877 was another breach of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. A Congressional Act forced Indians onto reservations and the U.S. federal government took ownership of the Black Hills.
Within the next few years, the Lakota and neighboring tribes faced the genocide of their culture, traditions, land—everything was gone. Sacred places like Wind Cave, Devil’s Tower, Black Elk Peak, and Six Grandfathers Mountain (now Mount Rushmore—named after a wealthy NY lawyer in 1885) were now in the hands of the Euro-Americans. This was devastating.
The story behind Mt. Rushmore
The Six Grandfathers (Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe) was named by Lakota medicine man Nicolas Black Elk after a vision. “The vision was of the six sacred directions: west, east, north, south, above, and below. The directions were said to represent kindness and love, full of years and wisdom, like human grandfathers.” The granite bluff that towered above the Hills remained carved only by the wind and the rain until 1927 when Gutzon Borglum began his assault on the mountain.
In the 1920s, South Dakota state historian Doane Robinson saw the Six Grandfathers as an opportunity for the state of SD to increase tourism through the Black Hills area. The controversial sculptor Gutzon Borglum was hired to create a sculpture “to honor the West’s greatest heroes, both Native Americans, and pioneers.” Borglum wanted a Nationally significant monument and convinced the SD state historian to use the faces of U.S. notable presidents.
For 14 years, Borglum blasted, chiseled, and filed the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln in the granite bluff. For the Lakota, this was just one more violating act of colonization. While these presidents were leaders of the United States, each with notable historical significance, their faces on a sacred mountain was a final act of conquest. Washington and Jefferson owned slaves. Roosevelt coined the phrase: “the only good Indian is a dead Indian.” While Lincoln, on the day after he signed the Emancipation Proclamation, ordered the ex*****on of the Dakota 38+2 at Fort Snelling in Minnesota.
Needless to say, Mount Rushmore [Six Grandfathers Mountain] is known as a shrine to democracy. Its image is synonymous with freedom and patriotism; however, the other side of its story demonstrates the lack of understanding and respect shown to the Native people who inhabited Paha Sapa for generations before European arrival.
Sharing a new narrative at Mount Rushmore
Gerard Baker became the first Native American superintendent of Mount Rushmore in 2004 (2004-2010). In his acceptance speech at the monument, Baker explained that the choice to take the helm at Mount Rushmore was a challenge. He cites that the narrative shared by the National Park Service only outlined the first centuries of America and the four presidents.
“And this is a challenge for me because I believe that we should go back before that time. I want to show what life was like before George Custer found gold in the Black Hills, before (Gutzon) Borglum came in and started carving the sculptures here,” he said.
That is exactly what Baker did. He erected a teepee at the monument. One day he saw 20-30 visitors standing around the teepee—many asking each other about the structure and its purpose at Mount Rushmore. Gerald took this as an invitation to educate the group. He spoke about the history of the land and the people, soon the group grew to a crowd of nearly 200. The simple placement of the teepee started what today is the Heritage Village where the traditions and customs of the Native people are highlighted.
"It's not just a teepee here," Baker says. "We're promoting all cultures of America. That's what this place is. This is Mount Rushmore! It's America! Everybody's something different here; we're all different. And just maybe that gets us talking again as human beings, as Americans."
When you support to She Native, your gift goes towards raising awareness of the injustice done to Native Americans and providing for those who need it most. Through our Community Outreach, Mentorship and Fellows we can positively impact Indian Country.

10/13/2022

THE LEGEND OF THE WHITE BUFFALO WOMAN
One summer a long time ago, the seven sacred council fires of the Lakota Sioux came together and camped. The sun was strong, and the people were starving, for there was no game. Two young men went out to hunt.
Along the way, the two men met a beautiful, young woman dressed in white; she floated as she walked. One man had bad desires for the woman and tried to touch her. But, as he did this, the man was consumed by a huge cloud and turned into a pile of bones.
The woman spoke to the second young man and told him, "Return to your people, and tell them I am coming."
This holy wakan, woman, brought a wrapped bundle to the people. She unwrapped the bundle, giving the people a sacred pipe and teaching them how to use it for prayer. "With this holy pipe, you will walk like a living prayer," she said. She taught the people of the plains their sacred ceremonies.
The woman told the Lakota about the value of the buffalo, the women, and the children.
"You are from Mother Earth," she told the women. "What you are doing is as great as what the warriors do."
Before she left, she told the people she would return. As she walked away, she rolled over four times. Then, she turned into a white female buffalo calf. Hence, she is known as the White Buffalo Woman or White Buffalo Calf Woman.
MOTHERS CONNECT US ALL TO THE SACRED
The Native American way of life understands the whole world as sacred. Family, tiyospaye, is sacred, the earth is sacred, and all of life has meaning in the interconnected, cangleska wakan, the sacred hoop.
In this circle of unity, women are revered as beautiful and powerful because they are the givers of sacred life. They are grounded in Mother Earth and connected to Father Sky, bringing children into the world through the power of their life giving love.
Like Mother Earth, who provides everything we need to live and to thrive, the woman is able to give everything a human child needs. She nourishes, she loves, and she protects.
Without women, there is no hope, no future, no carrying on of tradition and culture. This is why Native American cultures have always honored and respected women, elevating them to positions of reverence and honor in the tribe. Mothers and grandmothers raise the children, teaching them how to live life honorably, with respect for elders and for tradition.
THE FORCE OF A MOTHER’S LOVE
Many challenges face Native women and Native mothers today. Cycles of addiction, disrupted families, lack of educational opportunities, unemployment, abuse and trauma, lack of proper medical care. Native women face these challenges on a daily basis.
But many women are persevering. These Native American mothers are examples of faith, perseverance, and life-giving love.
The force of motherly love inspires strong Native women to conquer their own struggles for the sake of their children. Strong grandmothers and mothers care for and love more children than just their own. They nurture young people in youth centers, in schools, in broken homes, in their larger community because of their love and in their reverence for life's beauty and sacredness.

10/13/2022

Native American Animals: The Turtle (Kéya) Symbolizes Grandmother Earth (Uŋčí makȟá)
Turtle–Kéya
The turtle is a sacred creature among Native American tribes. Each tribe’s cultural view of the turtle/tortoise, is slightly different; however, the deeper meaning remains the same: the turtle represents Uŋčí makȟá , Lakȟóta for Grandmother Earth, who teaches us to walk our paths in peace.
The turtle and the tortoise
We are blessed with turtles and tortoises, which hold many similarities but possess distinct differences. Both have long life spans, lay eggs, and are slow moving. They also both have shells for protection.
Tortoises have saddleback and rounded shells. They life solely on land in warmer climates, spending most of their time underground during warmer times of the day. They will lay their eggs in a nest. Also, tortoises have feet with claws for digging with no webbing between their toes. Plants make up their diet. Tortoises live in one area for their entire life—they do not migrate.
On the other hand, turtles have a flat shell and make their homes in oceans or near lakes and rivers. They lay their eggs on land. The feet of a turtle differ from that of a tortoise—their front feet are webbed to help them swim. Turtles eat bugs and plants and migrate with the seasons.
Value of the turtle
To most tribes the turtle also represents healing, wisdom, spirituality, health, safety, longevity, protection, and fertility. Some Native Americans believe that the turtle contributed to creation because the turtle dove into the primeval waters to retrieve mud to create Mother Earth. Additionally, the shell of the turtle represents protection and perseverance.
For the Navajo—Diné, the turtle’s shell is used to dispense medications—the turtle’s healing properties are so great that no other container is adequate. Others use the shell to craft dance rattles for ceremonial purposes. With 13 patterned squares in the center of its shell, some tribes use the shell as a calendar. The thirteen squares represent the thirteen full moons of the year. The surrounding twenty-eight squares of the shell represent the twenty days of each lunar month.
Lakȟóta mothers make a leather amulet shaped like a kéya (Lakȟóta for turtle) for their newborn babies. Within, they place their child’s umbilical cord and sew them closed for protection. The amulet keeps the child grounded and connected to its mother and Uŋčí makȟá.
Earth on turtle’s back
Turtles are creatures with amazing fortitude much like the Native Americans of this continent. Through adversity, they survive with resilience. The indigenous of Turtle Island—North America—place the turtle in high esteem because of its connection to Mother Earth. Let us all remember her value and protect her as she has protected us for centuries.

10/12/2022

9 Facts About Native American Tribes

Since time immemorial, Native Americans have lived on this continent, from the northern reaches of Alaska to the Gulf Coast of Florida. There are more than nine million Native Americans living in what is now the United States, representing hundreds of tribal nations with incredibly diverse languages, cultures and traditions. Here are just a few fascinating facts about the tribes and histories of Native Americans.

1. Native Americans spoke more than 300 languages.
North America was home to a huge number of spoken languages prior to colonization: more than 300, with as many as 500 spoken across the continent.

However, many of these languages have disappeared as a result of assimilation policies by the government. In 1868, President Ulysses S. Grant declared, “In the difference of language today lies two-thirds of our trouble… their barbarous dialect should be blotted out and the English language substituted.”

Beginning in the 1800s, Native Americans were displaced from their communities and moved onto reserves, and children were taken to Indian boarding schools and educated in English. It wasn’t until 1972, when Congress passed the Indian Education Act, that Native American tribes were permitted to teach their own languages.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2013 there were 169 Native languages spoken in the United States. Many of them have very small numbers of speakers. In 1990, Congress passed the Native American Language Act, which provides support for Native American language preservation and revitalization. This support is critical: all but two Native American languages are in danger of disappearing altogether by 2050.

2. The first newspaper in a Native American language began publishing in 1828.
Prior to colonization, Native American languages were orally transmitted. After the arrival of Europeans, several tribes began to adopt writing systems. Sequoyah, a member of the Cherokee Nation, spent 12 years developing a writing system so that his people could learn to read and write in their language, completing his 86-character syllabary in 1821.

“There are many syllabaries—the Japanese hiragana is the most famous one,” says Dr. Ellen Cushman, a member of the Cherokee Nation and professor at Northeastern University. “But Cherokee is the only one that was invented by a Native person, for Native people.”

Because the syllabary was created to represent the specific sounds of the Cherokee language, it was easy for the Cherokee to learn. “Within a span of three to five years, the tribe could read and write,” says Cushman.

On February 21, 1828, the first edition of the Cherokee Phoenix was published in the Cherokee capital of New Echota, Georgia. The first bilingual newspaper in the United States, it was printed in both English and Cherokee.

3. There are 574 federally recognized tribes in the United States.
Of the 574 federally recognized tribes, 229 are found in Alaska. California has the second-highest number of federally recognized tribes, with 109, as well as the largest Native American population of any state.

These federally recognized tribes have government-to-government relationships with the United States, like other sovereign nations. But many tribes do not have federal recognition, which means they are ineligible for government programs and support.

As of 2020, 66 tribes had received state recognition in 13 states. State recognition does not always entitle tribes to state or federal benefits, but it does acknowledge their historical and contemporary existence.

4. Native Americans cultivated many of the world's most important crops.
Native American tribes have had varied diets that have reflected their local food systems. Many Native American tribes practiced agriculture, domesticating the crops that we eat today. In 2016, it was estimated that as much as 60 percent of the global food supply was based on crops that originated in North America.

Corn was created by Indigenous farmers in southern Mexico and Guatemala perhaps 10,000 years ago. By the time European colonists arrived in North America, Native Americans had been growing it for thousands of years. Native Americans also cultivated beans, squash, potatoes and tomatoes.

5. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy is one of the oldest living democracies in the world.
Also called the Iroquois Confederacy by the French, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy was formed by five tribal nations: Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca. Some researchers believe it was founded in 1142, while the Confederacy itself says it has existed since time immemorial. Regardless, it is considered one of the oldest participatory democracies on earth.

The nations are united by the Great Law of Peace (Kaianere'ko:wa), which serves as their political constitution. A sixth nation, the Tuscarora, joined the Confederacy in the 18th century.

“Many tribes were democratic, but the Haudenosaunee Confederacy brought people together across a large geographic expanse. That’s part of what makes them unique,” says Dr. Donald A. Grinde Jr., the author of Exemplar of Liberty and a professor with Yamasee heritage at University at Buffalo.

Grinde’s research has focused on the influence of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy on the United States Constitution. “There were three major contributions,” says Grinde. “First, that sovereignty resides in the people. The second is the separation of powers, the distinct branches of government. And the third is the constitution itself, with articles that can be cited, similar to how the Haudenosaunee recited their Great Law of Peace each year.” Unlike the United States Constitution, women played an active role in Haudenosaunee democracy.

6. Native Americans were forcibly displaced by the Indian Relocation Act in 1830.
Prior to colonization, Native Americans lived all across the land that is now known as the United States. But in 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act. The act was spurred by the desire of white settlers to grow cotton in the South on the valuable lands of the Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek and other tribes.

The act was used to force Native Americans out of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee, and to send them to “Indian territory” located in what is now Oklahoma. Thousands died during these forced migrations.

7. Native Americans were granted American citizenship in 1924.
The Indian Citizenship Act was signed into law by President Calvin Coolidge on June 2, 1924. Some Native Americans were already considered U.S. citizens, because the 1887 Dawes Act, which granted citizenship to those who accepted land grants.

However, even though they had been given full citizenship, many Native Americans were still denied the right to vote. Voting rights were up to states, and many continued to deny them to Native Americans for decades.

States also used discriminatory practices to limit access to the polls. For instance, many used literacy tests, which prevented Native Americans (and others) who could not read and write English from voting. These practices continued until the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

8. The Navajo Nation has the largest tribal land in the United States.
The Navajo Nation is almost 25,000 square miles—an area about the size of West Virginia, and more than twice as large as Maryland. The nation extends into Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

In 2021, the Navajo Nation also surpassed the Cherokee Nation to become the largest tribe by population too, with nearly 400,000 registered members. And as you might expect, Navajo has the most speakers of any Native American language.

9. Not all Native Americans tribes have their own land.
There are around 326 tribal land areas in the United States, compared to 574 federally-recognized tribes. Of the tribes that do have land, it is on average only about 2.6 percent as large as the territory they occupied before colonization. Many of the tribes who were forcibly relocated by the U.S. government were left without any land of their own.

It’s commonly cited that only 22 percent of Native Americans live on tribal lands, a statistic that comes from the 2010 Census. However, a 2014 study by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that 68 percent of Native Americans and Alaskan Natives live on or near their homelands.

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