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A LONG, STRONG THREAD


A LONG, STRONG THREAD


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For many of us, our understanding of Native American history ends up a bit
simplified. We hit a few major milestones in our history courses, bounce through
some examples from entertainment (for better or worse), then watch it fade into
the background without it impacting our lives.

But we’re missing so much! The umbrella term “Native American” refers to an
immensely diverse history of Indigenous peoples who lived everywhere from the
Arctic to the southern tip of South America over tens of thousands of years. And
while that’s a far more complex history than can fit in a single month’s worth
of attention, we can start expanding our perception by considering just a few of
the lasting contributions Native Americans have made to society.



Checks and Balances: Brian McKenna, anthropology professor at the University of
Michigan-Dearborn explains that when the thirteen colonies were fighting,
Onondaga leader Canassatego encouraged them to set boundaries to distribute
power. He shared the Iroquois Great Law of Peace as an example on how to set
checks and balances. In fact, Benjamin Franklin invited the Iroquois Grand
Council of Chiefs to speak to the Continental Congress in 1776 to give advice.



Corn: Author and historian Patrick J. Kigler reminds us that corn was carefully
cultivated by Indigenous peoples from wild grass into an edible crop 10,000
years ago. Later, Native Americans taught Europeans how to grow it. And it’s far
from the only food source adapted from the Indigenous peoples of the Americas.
From Peruvian potatoes to chocolate from the Mayans to staple crops like beans
and squash, Kigler estimates that 60 percent of our foods originated from Native
American origins.



Kayaks: Designed by the Inuit of the Arctic, kayaks—small, narrow boats with a
sealed cockpit—were originally built using wood or whale bone frames covered by
animal hides. Today, “the design is still essentially the same,” says Dr.
Gaetanna De Gennaro, supervisory specialist at New York’s National Museum of the
American Indian and member of the Tohono O’odahm tribe.



Snow Goggles: The Inuit are also who we can thank for the predecessor to today’s
sunglasses. They used goggles made from wood, bone, antler, or leather to
prevent overexposure to sunlight as it reflected off the snow. De Gennaro says,
“They’d put a slit in there, to simulate the way that you can squint. It cut
down on the ultraviolet rays that got into the eyes.”



Raised-Bed Agriculture: Mentioned in Emory Dean Keoke and Kay Marie
Porterfield’s book, American Indian Contributions to the World, Indigenous
peoples from South and Central America made advancements in enriching soil for
use in raised garden plots. Called “chinampas” and used in lakes or on swampy
land, this technique is a forerunner to today’s raised-bed vegetable farming.



Topical Pain Relievers: Keoke and Porterfield reference a range of anesthetics
and topical pain relievers in their book: jimson weed ground into a plaster for
use on abrasions, capsaicin from hot peppers for topical pain relief, and teas
brewed from American black willow bark which contains the chemical salicin, an
active ingredient in modern aspirin.



Syringes: While the technology didn’t appear in European nations until the
1850s, Native Americans used syringes fashioned from animal bladders and hollow
bird bones to inject medicines into the body.

When it comes to managing the impact humans have on our planet and the mounting
effects of climate change, Professor McKenna says the Iroquois have some advice:
“The Iroquois have the seventh generation principle, which dictates that
decisions that are made today should lead to protecting the land for seven
generations into the future.”

Take Away: If your understanding has been narrow, this year’s Native American
Heritage Month is the perfect time to begin expanding your perspective. As Dr.
De Gennaro says, “People don’t realize the ingenuity or the knowledge that
native people had, and continue to have about the world around them.”


SHOW WHAT YOU KNOW

True or False. Though corn originally grew wildly, Indigenous people began
cultivating it as an agricultural crop around 10,000 years ago.
Please provide an answer
True
False
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