The history of the indigenous population of both Americas is full of mysteries and secrets, but it is also very sad. This is especially true of the Indians whose ancestral lands have long been privatized by the US Federal Government. How many indigenous people of the North American continent died as a result of forced colonization is not known to this day. Some researchers claim that by the beginning of the 15th century, up to 15 million Indians lived in the current territories of the United States, and in 1900 there were no more than 237 thousand people left.

Particularly noteworthy is the history of those whom we know as the "Iroquois". The Indians of this tribe from ancient times were a large and strong people, but now there are not many of them left. On the one hand, the Dutch English help initially they allowed them to incredibly strengthen their positions ... But when the need for the Iroquois disappeared, they began to be exterminated mercilessly.

Basic information

This is the name of the Indians of North America, who currently live in the northern states of the United States and Canada. The word "Iroku" in the lexicon of neighboring tribes means "real vipers", which indicates the original militancy of the Iroquois, their predisposition to military tricks and deep knowledge in the field of military tactics. It is not surprising that the Iroquois were constantly in very strained relations with all their neighbors, who frankly disliked and feared them. Currently, up to 120 thousand representatives of this tribe live in the United States and Canada.

Initially, the tribe's range extended from as far as the Hudson Strait. Contrary to popular belief, the Iroquois - the Indians are not only warlike, but also very hardworking, since they had a fairly high level of crop production, there were the beginnings of cattle breeding.

Most likely, it was this tribe that was one of the first to come into contact with Europeans in the 16th century. By this time, many Indians of North America had disappeared without a trace in the flames of constant internal wars. However, their memory remains to this day. Thus, the word "Canada" comes from the language of the Laurentian Iroquois.

Iroquois lifestyle

The social organization of this tribe is a vivid example of an original tribal matriarchy, but at the same time, the clan was still headed by a man. The family lived in a longhouse that served as a refuge for several generations at once. In some cases, such dwellings were used by the family for several decades, but it happened that the Iroquois lived in the same house for a hundred years or more.

The main occupations of the Iroquois were hunting and fishing. Today, representatives of the tribe are engaged in the production of souvenirs or are employed. The traditional baskets found on sale are extremely beautiful, and therefore popular (especially among tourists).

When the Iroquois tribe was at the peak of its power, its members lived in quite numerous villages, which could have up to 20 "long houses". They tried to put them compactly, choosing those plots of land that were unsuitable for agriculture. Despite their militancy and frequent cruelty, the Iroquois often chose very picturesque and beautiful places for their villages.

Formation of the Confederation

Around 1570, a stable formation of the Iroquois tribes arose in the territory nearby, which later became known as the Iroquois Union. However, representatives of the tribe itself say that the first prerequisites for the emergence of this kind of education arose as early as the 12th century. Initially, the Confederacy included about seven tribes of the Iroquois. Each chief had equal rights during meetings, but on war time still elected "king".

During this period, all the settlements of the Iroquois were still forced to defend themselves from the attacks of their neighbors, enclosing the villages with a dense palisade. Often these were monumental walls erected from pointed logs in two rows, the gaps between which were covered with earth. In the report of one French missionary, there is a mention of a real "megalopolis" of the Iroquois from 50 huge long houses, each of which was a real fortress. Iroquois women raised children, men hunted and fought.

Settlement population

Up to four thousand people could live in large villages. By the end of the formation of the Confederation, the need for protection completely disappeared, since by that time the Iroquois had almost completely exterminated all their neighbors. At the same time, the villages began to be located more compactly, so that, if necessary, it was possible to quickly assemble the warriors of the entire tribe. Nevertheless, by the 17th century, the Iroquois were forced to frequently relocate their settlements.

The fact is that the mismanagement of soils led to their rapid depletion, and it was not always possible to hope for the fruits of military campaigns.

Relations with the Dutch

Around the 17th century, many representatives of Dutch trading companies appear in the region. Founding the first trading posts, they established trade relations with many tribes, but the Dutch communicated especially closely with the Iroquois. Most of all, European colonialists were interested in beaver fur. But here one problem arose: the prey of beavers became so predatory that soon these animals practically disappeared throughout the entire territory controlled by the Iroquois.

Then the Dutch resorted to a rather simple, but still sophisticated trick: they in every possible way began to promote the Iroquois expansion into territories that did not originally belong to them.

From 1630 to 1700, for this reason, constant wars thundered, called "beavers". How was this achieved? Everything is simple. Representatives of Holland, despite official prohibitions, supplied their Indian allies in abundance with firearms, gunpowder and lead.

bloody expansion

By the middle of the 17th century, the number of the Iroquois tribe was about 25 thousand people. This is much less than the number of neighboring tribes. The constant wars and epidemics brought by the European colonialists reduced their number even faster. However, representatives of the tribes they conquered immediately joined the Federation, so that the loss was partially compensated. Missionaries from France wrote that by the 18th century, among the "Iroquois" it was foolish to try to preach using the main language of the tribe, since only a third (at best) of the Indians understood it. This indicates that in just a hundred years the Iroquois were practically destroyed, and officially Holland remained absolutely “clean”.

Since the Iroquois are very warlike Indians, they were almost the first to realize what power firearms conceal in themselves. They preferred to use it in a "guerrilla" style, operating in small mobile units. Enemies said that such groups "pass through the forest like snakes or foxes, remaining invisible and inaudible, vilely stabbing in the back."

In the forest, the Iroquois felt great, and competent tactics and the use of powerful firearms led to the fact that even small detachments of this tribe achieved outstanding military successes.

long hikes

Soon the heads of the leaders of the Iroquois were completely turned by the "beaver fever", and they began to send warriors even to very distant lands, where the Iroquois simply physically could not have any interests. But they were with their Dutch patrons. As a result of ever-increasing expansion, the lands of the Iroquois expanded up to the vicinity of the Great Lakes. It is these tribes that are largely responsible for the fact that conflicts began to flare up en masse in those parts on the basis of strong overpopulation. The latter arose due to the fact that the fleeing Indians of the tribes destroyed by the Iroquois fled in fear to any lands free from them.

In fact, at that time, many tribes were destroyed, about most of which no information was preserved at all. Many Indian researchers believe that only the Hurons survived at that time. All this time, the Dutch feeding of the Iroquois with money, weapons and gunpowder did not stop.

Pay

In the 17th century, the British came to these parts, quickly ousting their European competitors. They began to act a little more "tactfully". The British organized the so-called Conquered League, which included all the remaining tribes previously conquered by the Iroquois. The task of the League was in the constant supply of beaver fur. The warlike Iroquois-Indians themselves, whose culture had greatly degraded by that time, quickly turned into ordinary overseers and tribute collectors.

In the 17th-18th century, the power of their tribe was greatly weakened because of this, but nevertheless they continued to represent a formidable military force throughout the region. Great Britain, using its rich experience of intrigue, managed to pit the Iroquois and the French. The former were able to do almost all the work on the final expulsion of the competitors of British trading companies from the New World.

With this, the Iroquois signed their own death warrant, since they were no longer needed. They were simply thrown out of the previously occupied territories, leaving only their original territory near the St. Lawrence River to live. In addition, the Mingo tribe broke away from them in the 18th century, further weakening the Iroquois.

Last hit

British diplomats, however, did not sit idly by, and during the war with the newly formed United States, they persuaded their former "partners" to take their side again. This was the last, but the most terrible mistake of the Iroquois. General Sullivan walked their land with fire and sword. The remnants of the once mighty tribe were scattered across reservations in the United States and Canada. Only by the very end of the 19th century did the last representatives of this people cease to die en masse from hunger and constant epidemics.

Today, the Iroquois - the Indians are no longer so warlike, but very "savvy" in legal matters. They constantly defend their interests in all courts, seeking recognition of the illegality of the seizure of the Federal government of their land. However, the success of their claims remains in great doubt.

Why does the tribe have such a bad reputation?

Fenimore Cooper, mentioned above, presented the Iroquois Indians as exceptionally unprincipled and cruel people, opposing them to the "noble Delaware." Such an assessment is an example of bias, and it is easily explained. The fact is that the Delawares participated in the war against Great Britain on the side of the United States, and the Iroquois fought on the side of the British. But still Cooper was right in many ways.

It was the Iroquois who often practiced the practice of complete destruction of their opponents, including the killing of babies. The warriors of the tribe were "carried away" and cruelest torture which were practiced long before the arrival of the Europeans. In addition, their bad reputation is largely deserved, since the Iroquois were ignorant of the concept of any honesty in relation to potential opponents.

Treachery as a lifestyle

There are cases when they concluded peace treaties with a neighboring tribe, and then completely cut it out under the cover of night. Often poisons were used for this. In the understanding of neighboring tribes, such a practice is a monstrous violation of traditions and lawlessness.

Historian Francis Parkman, who had a good attitude towards the Indians in principle, collected a lot of data indicating the wide spread of not only ritual cannibalism (which was typical of almost all Indian tribes in general), but also cases of “ordinary” eating of people. It is not surprising that the Iroquois confederation, to put it mildly, was not particularly popular among its neighbors.

After the discovery of the American continents and the development of new lands, which was often accompanied by the enslavement and extermination of the indigenous population, the Europeans were amazed at the methods of fighting the Indians. The Indian tribes tried to intimidate strangers, and therefore the most cruel methods of reprisal against people were used. This post will tell you more about the sophisticated methods of killing the invaders.

“The battle cry of the Indians is presented to us as something so terrible that it is impossible to endure. It is called a sound that will make even the most courageous veteran lower his weapon and leave the ranks.
It will deafen his hearing, his soul will freeze from him. This battle cry will not allow him to hear the order and feel shame, and in general to retain any sensations other than the horror of death.
But it was not so much the war cry itself that frightened the blood in the veins, but what it foreshadowed. The Europeans who fought in North America sincerely felt that falling alive into the hands of monstrous painted savages meant a fate worse than death.
This led to torture, human sacrifice, cannibalism and scalping (all of which had ritual significance in Indian culture). This was especially helpful in stimulating their imagination.

The worst was probably being roasted alive. One of the British survivors of Monongahela in 1755 was tied to a tree and burned alive between two bonfires. The Indians at this time were dancing around.
When the moans of the agonizing man became too insistent, one of the warriors ran between two fires and cut off the unfortunate genitals, leaving him to bleed to death. Then the howling of the Indians ceased.

Rufus Putman, a private in the provincial troops of Massachusetts, on July 4, 1757, wrote the following in his diary. The soldier, captured by the Indians, "was found fried in the saddest way: the fingernails were torn out, his lips were cut off to the very chin from below and to the very nose from above, his jaw was exposed.
He was scalped, his chest was cut open, his heart was torn out, and his cartridge bag was put in his place. Left hand was pressed against the wound, the tomahawk was left in his guts, the dart pierced him through and remained in place, the little finger on the left hand and the small toe on the left foot were cut off.

In the same year, Father Roubaud, a Jesuit, met a group of Ottawa Indians who were leading several English prisoners with ropes around their necks through the forest. Shortly thereafter, Roubaud caught up with the fighting party and pitched his tent next to their tents.
He saw a large group of Indians sitting around a fire eating roasted meat on sticks as if it were lamb on a small spit. When he asked what kind of meat it was, the Ottawa Indians replied that it was a fried Englishman. They pointed to the cauldron in which the rest of the cut body was being boiled.
Nearby sat eight prisoners of war, frightened to death, who were forced to watch this bear feast. People were seized with indescribable horror, similar to that experienced by Odysseus in Homer's poem, when the monster Scylla dragged his comrades off board the ship and threw them in front of his cave to devour at his leisure.
Roubaud, horrified, tried to protest. But the Ottawa Indians would not even listen to him. One young warrior rudely said to him:
- You have a French taste, I have an Indian. For me, this is good meat.
He then invited Roubaud to join their meal. It looks like the Indian was offended when the priest refused.

The Indians showed particular cruelty to those who fought with them by their own methods or almost mastered their hunting art. Therefore, irregular forest guard patrols were at particular risk.
In January 1757, Private Thomas Browne of Captain Thomas Spykman's division of Rogers' Rangers, dressed in green military uniform, was wounded in a battle on a snowy field with the Abenaki Indians.
He crawled out of the battlefield and met with two other wounded soldiers, one of them named Baker, the other was Captain Spykman himself.
Tormented by pain and horror because of everything that was happening, they thought (and it was a big foolishness) that they could safely build a fire.
The Abenaki Indians appeared almost instantly. Brown managed to crawl away from the fire and hide in the bushes, from which he watched the unfolding tragedy. The Abenaki began by stripping and scalping Spykman while he was still alive. They then left, taking Baker with them.

Brown said the following: “Seeing this terrible tragedy, I decided to crawl as far as possible into the forest and die there from my wounds. But since I was close to Captain Spykman, he saw me and begged, for heaven's sake, to give him a tomahawk so he could kill himself!
I refused him and urged him to pray for mercy, since he could only live a few more minutes in this terrifying condition on the frozen ground covered with snow. He asked me to tell his wife, if I live to see the time when I return home, about his terrible death.
Soon after, Brown was captured by the Abenaki Indians, who returned to the place where they had scalped. They intended to put Spykman's head on a pole. Brown managed to survive captivity, Baker did not.
"The Indian women split the pine tree into small chips, like small skewers, and plunged them into his flesh. Then they laid down the fire. After that they proceeded to perform their ritual rite with spells and dances around it, I was ordered to do the same.
According to the law of preservation of life, I had to agree ... With a heavy heart, I portrayed fun. They cut his bonds and made him run back and forth. I heard the poor man plead for mercy. Due to unbearable pain and torment, he threw himself into the fire and disappeared.

But of all the Indian practices, scalping, which continued well into the nineteenth century, attracted the most horrified European attention.
Despite a number of absurd attempts by some benign revisionists to claim that scalping originated in Europe (perhaps among the Visigoths, Franks or Scythians), it is quite clear that it was practiced in North America long before the Europeans appeared there.
Scalps have played a significant role in North American culture, as they were used for three different purposes (and possibly all three): to "replace" the dead people of the tribe (remember how the Indians always worried about the heavy losses suffered in the war, therefore, about decrease in the number of people) to propitiate the spirits of the dead, as well as to mitigate the grief of widows and other relatives.

French veterans Seven Years' War in North America, many written memories of this terrible form of mutilation have been left. Here is an excerpt from Pusho's notes:
“Immediately after the soldier fell, they ran up to him, kneeled on his shoulders, holding a lock of hair in one hand and a knife in the other. They began to separate the skin from the head and tear it off in one piece. They did this very quickly , and then, demonstrating the scalp, they made a cry, which they called the "cry of death."
Here is a valuable account of a French eyewitness, who is known only by his initials - J.K.B.: "The savage immediately grabbed his knife and quickly made cuts around the hair, starting from the top of the forehead and ending with the back of the head at neck level. Then he stood up foot on the shoulder of his victim, who was lying face down, and with both hands pulled the scalp by the hair, starting at the back of the head and moving forward ...
After the savage scalped, if he was not afraid that he would be persecuted, he would get up and begin to scrape off the blood and flesh left there.
Then he would make a circlet of green branches, pull his scalp over it like a tambourine, and wait for a while for it to dry in the sun. The skin was dyed red, the hair was tied into a knot.
Then the scalp was attached to a long pole and carried triumphantly on the shoulder to the village or to the place chosen for it. But as he approached every place in his path, he uttered as many cries as he had scalps, announcing his arrival and demonstrating his courage.
Sometimes there could be up to fifteen scalps on one pole. If there were too many of them for one pole, then the Indians decorated several poles with scalps.

Nothing can diminish the cruelty and barbarism of the North American Indians. But their actions must be seen both within the context of their warlike cultures and animistic religions, and within the larger picture of the general brutality of life in the eighteenth century.
Urban dwellers and intellectuals, who were awed by cannibalism, torture, human sacrifice, and scalping, enjoyed attending public executions. And under them (before the introduction of the guillotine), men and women sentenced to death died a painful death within half an hour.
The Europeans did not mind when "traitors" were subjected to the barbaric ritual of executions by hanging, drowning or quartering, as in 1745 the Jacobite rebels were executed after the rebellion.
They did not particularly protest when the heads of the executed were impaled in front of the cities as an ominous warning.
They tolerably endured hanging on chains, dragging sailors under the keel (usually a fatal punishment), as well as corporal punishment in the army - so cruel and severe that many soldiers died under the whip.

European soldiers in the eighteenth century were forced to obey military discipline with a whip. American native warriors fought for prestige, glory, or the common good of a clan or tribe.
Moreover, the wholesale looting, looting, and general violence that followed most successful sieges in European wars was beyond anything the Iroquois or Abenaki were capable of.
Before the holocausts of terror, like the sacking of Magdeburg in the Thirty Years' War, the atrocities at Fort William Henry pale. Also in 1759, in Quebec, Woolf was completely satisfied with the bombardment of the city with incendiary cannonballs, not worrying about the suffering that the innocent civilians of the city had to endure.
He left behind devastated areas, using scorched earth tactics. The war in North America was bloody, brutal and horrific. And it is naive to consider it as a struggle of civilization against barbarism.

In addition to what has been said, the specific question of scalping contains an answer. First of all, the Europeans (especially irregulars like Rogers' Rangers) responded to scalping and mutilation in their own way.
The fact that they were able to sink to barbarism was facilitated by a generous reward - 5 pounds sterling for one scalp. It was a tangible addition to the ranger's salary.
The spiral of atrocities and counter-atrocities soared dizzyingly after 1757. Since the fall of Louisbourg, the soldiers of the victorious Highlander Regiment have been decapitating any Indians that crossed their path.
One eyewitness reports: "We killed a huge number of Indians. The Rangers and soldiers of the Highlander Regiment did not give mercy to anyone. We scalped everywhere. But you cannot distinguish a scalp taken by the French from a scalp taken by the Indians."

The European scalping epidemic became so rampant that in June 1759 General Amherst had to issue an emergency order.
"All reconnaissance units, as well as all other units of the army under my command, despite all the opportunities presented, are prohibited from scalping women or children belonging to the enemy.
If possible, take them with you. If this is not possible, then they should be left in place without causing them any harm.
But what use could such a military directive be if everyone knew that the civilian authorities were offering a scalp bounty?
In May 1755, the governor of Massachusetts, William Sherl, appointed 40 pounds for the scalp of a male Indian and 20 pounds for the scalp of a woman. This seemed to be in keeping with the "code" of degenerate warriors.
But Pennsylvania Governor Robert Hunter Morris showed his genocidal tendencies by targeting the reproductive sex. In 1756 he set a reward of £30 for a man, but £50 for a woman.

In any case, the despicable practice of rewarding scalps backfired in the most disgusting way: the Indians went on a scam.
It all started with an obvious deception, when the American natives began to make "scalps" from horse skins. Then the practice of killing so-called friends and allies was introduced just to make money.
In a well-documented case that occurred in 1757, a group of Cherokee Indians killed people from a friendly Chickasawee tribe just for a reward.
Finally, as almost every military historian has pointed out, the Indians became experts at "multiplication" of scalps. For example, the same Cherokee, according to the general opinion, became such masters that they could make four scalps from each soldier they killed.

Indian myths about kachinas, gods and teachers.

Hopi Indians are a people living on the territory of a 12.5-kilometer reservation in northeast Arizona. Hopi culture, a tribe of Indians, traditionally belongs to a group of peoples called pueblos. According to the all-American census, held at the turn of the millennium, in 2000, the population of the reservation, which now creates Hopi tobacco, and was previously responsible for making predictions, is 7 thousand people. The largest known Hopi community, the Hopi Reservation, once lived in First Mesa, Arizona.

The ancestors of the ancient Indian peoples are the Hopi Indians.
The Hopi are supposedly descended from one of the oldest Indian cultures that once built their empires on the territory of the states of Nevada and New Mexico. The Hopi Indians are the descendants of the legendary Maya, Aztecs and Incas, whose civilizations developed in the period from the 2nd to the 15th millennium. The Hopi language belongs to the Hopi Shoshone sub-branch of the Aztec language group. Modern residents of a settlement in Arizona, the Hopi do not stop calling themselves the descendants of ancient tribes and the keepers of their heritage. According to ancient legends belonging to the Hopi Indians, this people was originally a mixture of representatives of tribes from all over America, who later identified themselves as an independent people.

The Hopi country has been formed for more than one century. The first contact of the ancestors of modern Hopi Indians with Europeans took place back in 1540. During periods of hard conquest, a significant part of the Hopi tribe underwent forced Christianization. However, this is only part of the tribe. As the elders assure: "The Hopi Indians fought to the end, which allowed them to preserve the faith of their ancestors." In 1860, there was a pueblo uprising, the consequence of which was the formation of Spanish punitive groups. Fortunately for the local population, the Hopi Indians successfully repelled attacks from the Spanish invaders. As a result, the then Spanish government almost completely lost control over the Hopi and their friendly tribes.

The cooperation of cultures, although not voluntary, to some extent favorably affected the Hopi Indians. At the end of the 17th century, they adopted the skills of handling domestic animals: donkeys, horses and sheep. And later, the Hopi Indians mastered cattle breeding, and learned how to work with iron and gardening. In addition, unlike the Mayan and Aztec heritage, the Hopi language, their cultural and mythological heritage was not looted and burned.

However, not everything was so rosy for the ancient tribe. For many years, the Hopi Indians were in conflict not only with Europeans, but also with the neighboring Navajo tribe. Under the influence of the Atab migrations, the Hopi were forced to move to more protected mountain areas. The settlements built by the Hopi tobacco growers were named First Mesa, Second Mesa, and Third Mesa. The first Mesa was for many years the oldest active settlement belonging to the Indians on the territory of the American continent. In fact, the Hopi Indians lived for decades in villages completely surrounded by the huge Navajo reservation. The militant tribes were separated only by the Hopi River and mountain ranges, which serve as a barrier to settlements. Today, the once warring tribes are at peace and even cooperate on environmental issues.

Hopi tobacco is a true treasure of the Indian world.
Today, the Hopi is not even a tribe famous for its culture or history, but the ancient Indians, who were glorified by Hopi tobacco, grown all over the world, by people of different cultures and peoples. This variety of tobacco, Hopi tobacco, as the name implies, was bred by the Hopi tribe in the distant past, and its smoking preceded rituals aimed at appeasing and communicating with ancestors. So the famous ritual dance of the Kachin Hopi was certainly accompanied by a calm and unconstrained lighting of a pipe with tobacco. It is believed that Hopi tobacco is able to open the soul of a person, it gives a person the opportunity to fully feel the events and phenomena of the surrounding reality. The variety of tobacco, called Hopi mapacho, has not spread around the world as well as its cheaper counterparts, however, even in the CIS countries it will not be possible to find amateurs and professionals involved in the cultivation, production and sale of the true heritage of the ancient Indians.

Hopi culture is a heritage of Mesoamerica.
The name of the tribe - "Hopi" is translated as "peaceful people" or "peaceful Indians". The concept of peace, order and mutual assistance is deeply rooted in religion, ritual and culture. ancient people. Hopi culture, the religion of this people, is fundamentally different from the beliefs of #Aztecs, #Incas or #Maya. Unlike ancestors who promote sacrifice, the Hopi religion, which implies respect for things and the world around, is permeated with pacifist sentiments. The labyrinths of the Hopi, their settlements and reservations, were originally built not for protection, but for pacifying rites. In the words of the Hopi themselves: "War is never an option."

In their beliefs, the Hopi worship great spirits, the kachinas. For several centuries, the Indians have been praying to them for rain or harvest. Hopi culture is founded and relies on the belief in Kaichna. They make kachin dolls, give them to their children and sell them to tourists interested in the history of #Mesoamerica. Hopi to this day practice the oldest religious rites and ceremonies, which are celebrated according to the lunar calendar. Nevertheless, even this people with the richest mythological basis has not escaped the influence of mass American culture. Photos of the Hopi, modern Indians, confirm given fact. The American dream more than once or twice encroached on the foundations of the ancient people.

Traditionally for Indian tribes, the Hopi have developed a high level of farming, and products are produced both for sale and for their own use. Today, the Hopi are fully involved in money and economic relations. The Hopi culture has not lost its uniqueness and independence, it has simply become accustomed to the surrounding realities. Many members of the tribe have official jobs and a stable income to provide for their families. Others are engaged in the production and sale of multiple works of art, the most notable of which are Hopi Indian paintings, paintings painted in the same way as hundreds of years ago. The Hopi people live, and their way of life and culture develop.

The Hopi Indians are the prophets of the modern world.
Talking about the art and culture of the Indians. For many years, the attention of researchers from all over the world was riveted to stone tablets describing the history of the Hopi. Some of them contain frightening prophecies of the future. The Hopi are a peaceful tribe. But even in their religion there was a place for terrifying omens and events. The elders of the Hopi Indians and the ancient stone tablets they keep are responsible for predictions that foreshadow the death of the world and sunset human civilization. The most famous of the Hopi prophecies is a prediction published in 1959.

According to him, the fourth world, the world in which we live, will soon come to an end. As the Hopi say: “a white brother will appear on earth, not the white brother who fights, which is evil and greedy, but the one who will return the lost text of ancient scriptures and mark the beginning of the end with his return.”

The apocalypse in Hopi predictions will be preceded by events, the so-called signs. There are nine in total. The first sign speaks of evil people who will take the land from its rightful owners. The second sign is wooden wheels that will replace horses. The third sign is the invasion of strange animals. The fourth sign is the earth wrapped in iron snakes. The fifth sign is a giant web that will envelop the earth. The sixth sign says that the earth will be repainted by evil people. In the seventh sign of the Hopi Indians, the sea will turn black and life will begin to fade. The eighth sign heralds the fusion of cultures. And the last, ninth sign speaks of dwellings high in the sky, falling to the ground. The apogee of these events will be the end of the world and the disappearance of human civilization from the face of the Earth. So terrible is the future of the Hopi tribe, a people with a thousand-year history. http://vk.cc/4q4XMl

Christopher Columbus, an Italian navigator from the city of Genoa, is considered the discoverer of America. While in the service of the Spanish royal couple, he tried to open a new route to India - through Atlantic Ocean. On October 12, 1492, the ships of his flotilla reached the island that Columbus named San Salvador. Believing that they sailed to India, local residents travelers called the Indians. It was only later that other navigators learned that to the north of here stretched a huge, unexplored continent that had nothing to do with India. In fact, the Scandinavian Vikings, probably Irish monks and Breton fishermen, were the first to visit North America. But only after the voyage of Columbus, all of Europe started talking about the existence of the New World. When the Europeans began to explore this continent in the XIV century, the Indians already lived everywhere from Alaska in the north to Tierra del Fuego in the south.

By language, the Indian tribes of North America are combined into the following families:

Algonquin Arapaho Blackfoot Ojibwe Mohicans Delaware Shauni etc.	Arapaho. The name comes from the word of the Pawnee Indians - Tirapiho or Lirapiho, which means merchants. The Cheyenne called them the Khitanvoiv - Cloud People, the Tetons - Mahpiyaato - Blue Cloud, the Comanche and Shoshone - Saritika - Dog Eaters. They call themselves - Inunaina - Our People. Together with the northern relatives of the Acina, the Arapaho constitute the most isolated language family Algonquins. The Arapaho had 5 main clans: Nakasien or Northern Arapaho. Navunena or Southern. Aaniena, Hitunen or Acina (Prairie Groventry), considered an independent tribe. The Basavunen are predominantly Northern Arapaho. Hanavunen or Aanunhava, later merged into the Northern Arapaho. Hinanain had divisions: 1. Wakseichi - Gloomy People. 2. Hakasinen - Funny People. 3. Baatsinen - People of the Red Willow. The number of Arapaho in the XIX century was more than three thousand people. The same was true of acin. Blackfoot. The Blackfoot Union includes three tribes - the Piegans, the Kaina, or Blood, and the Blackfoot proper, or the Sixika. These Algonquian tribes of typical steppe nomads, allied with the Gros Ventres and Sarsi, opposed another powerful alliance of the northern plains - the Assiniboins and Crees. The Blackfoot were for the most part neutral with the whites, but in 1870 Colonel Baker's soldiers attacked a peaceful Piegan camp near the Marias River in Montana. Of the 219 Indians, 176 were killed, mostly women and children. Now the Southern Piegans live on a reservation in northern Montana, the Caina, Sisika and Northern Piegans are settled in three reservations in the Canadian province of Alberta Cree. The largest Algonquian tribe. Forest groups, typical subarctic hunters, inhabited a vast area from Labrador to Alberta. The steppe branch of the tribe absorbed the features of the culture of horse nomads - buffalo hunters, and populated the northeastern regions of the Great Plains. The Steppe Cree of Chiefs Big Bear, Poundmaker, and the Woodland Cree of the Wandering Spirit took an active part in the Métis and Indian Rebellion in Saskatchewan in 1885. Some groups of Woodland Cree still continue to lead a way of life where meat and fur hunting occupy an important place. Ojibwe. In the areas adjoining the Great Lakes from the north and east, the settlements of the most numerous Algonquian people of the Eastern Forests, the Ojibwe, were scattered. This name is most often used to refer to Northern or Canadian bands. The Ojibwe of the United States are more commonly referred to as the Chippewa. Western Ojibwe bear the name of Solto, and part of the tribe, having moved to the steppes, adopted the culture of the steppe nomads, becoming known as the Bangi. Having received firearms from the Hudson's Bay Company, the Ojibwe pushed the Sioux further west, who were their traditional enemies. Allied with the Cree and Assiniboine. Steppe groups took part in the uprising in 1885 of the Canadian Mestizos and Indians. Now the Chippewa are one of the most active participants in the Indian movement in the United States. They created in 1968 a radical organization called the American Indian Movement. Mohicans. Both the Mohicans and the Delawares experienced very difficult historical times, but did not disappear at all. The first, having united with a group of Delawares, live in Canada and about 200 people as part of the so-called Stockbridge Indians live in the Oneida Reservation, Wisconsin. The descendants of the Mohegan Uncas are now known in Connecticut as the Mohegan-Pequot Indian Nation. Delaware. Algonquin tribe of the east coast. It was formed around 1740 as a result of the merger of several small tribes scattered by European colonialists. They are divided into Mansi, Unami and Unalachtigo. They resisted the Iroquois raids, but at the end of the 18th century, part of the tribe was admitted to the Iroquois League. In the middle of the 19th century, part of the Delaware moved to Oklahoma. Steppe Delawares, having largely adopted the culture of neighboring tribes, participated in intertribal wars on the plains, conducted intermediary trade, and also served as scouts in the American army.
Athapaski Apaches Navajo Kuchin Tatsanotins Chipewai Dogrib and others.	Apaches. The southernmost Athabaskans. In the 15th and 16th centuries, they moved from the north to the Southern Plains and the Southwest region. The closest relatives of the Apaches are the Navajo. Western Apaches, or Coyoteros, include the San Carlos, White Mountain, Seabecu, and Tonto; their Chiricahua neighbors are divided into Chokonen, Nendi, Bedoncoe, and Mimbreno (the latter two being collectively referred to as Warm Springs or Mogollon). The Mescalero and Jicarilla Apaches are closer in culture to the Indians of the steppes, while the Kiowa Apaches and Lipan were typical steppe nomads - buffalo hunters. The Chiricahua resisted the American army for the longest time, and ended the war, which lasted 25 years, in 1886, when all the Indians were already settled on the reservation. Among the famous leaders of the Apaches are Mangas Colorado, Kochis, Victorio, Yuh, Naiche, Geronimo. Navajo. The largest tribe of North American Indians (now about 300 thousand people.), Owning the largest reservation. The ancestors of the Navajos, like their closest relatives the Apaches, the Athabascan groups, came to the Southwest from the distant northern forests in the 15th century. The Navajo raided their new neighbors, the Pueblo Indians, from whom they learned agriculture, and the Spaniards (later Mexicans) who adopted horse breeding (including even elements of horse breeding clothing - for example, Navajo moccasins-boots - this is a variant of the shoes of the Moors, who served as shepherds among the Spaniards) and breeding sheep, from whose wool the Navajo learned to weave their famous blankets, especially appreciated by all the surrounding Indians, and now known throughout the world. In addition, the world-famous Native American silver and turquoise jewelry is also the work of the Navajo.
Iroquois Cayuga Mohawks Oneida Onondaga Seneca Tuscarora Huron Mohawk Cherokee and etc.	Iroquois. This word, formed from the Algonquian Iroku - real vipers, the French began to call the union of five tribes, which called themselves that - five nations, and also people of the long house. The five tribes are the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk. Later, the Tuscarora were admitted into the Iroquois alliance and the Iroquois became the six nations. The Iroquois lived in long houses, structures made of wooden supports covered with bark, which reached a length of 30–40 meters or more and a width of 7–10 m. Such a house was occupied by several families related through the female line. In addition to hunting, agriculture occupied an important place in the economy of the Iroquois - they grew maize, pumpkin, beans, sunflowers, watermelons, and tobacco. The village was surrounded by a palisade of logs, which served as a defense in case of an enemy attack. The people of the longhouse themselves were also very warlike and raided all the surrounding tribes - the Mohicans, Delawares, Algonquins, Montagniers, Miamis, Catawba, Hurons, Susquehanna, Erie, Ottawa, Illinois, etc. As a result, the Iroquois subjugated a huge area, in many ways times larger than its original territory located south and east of Lake Ontario. The strength and influence of the League was enormous, and the European powers - England and France, and later the United States, who fought among themselves for North American lands, tried to use the Iroquois as military allies. But, in the end, the League, weakened in endless wars, began to lose its power, and the Iroquois tribes were divided and scattered across the US and Canadian reservations. Now the Iroquois are considered the best high-rise builders, and many famous American skyscrapers were built by their hands. Cherokee. The name of this tribe is perhaps the most famous in the non-Indian world along with the Apaches and the Iroquois. In addition, today this people is one of the largest in the United States (more than 300 thousand people), and in this respect it competes with the Navajo. True, most Cherokee are heavily miscegenated and scattered throughout the country. Only about 4% speak their native language (the language belongs to the Iroquois group). A small part of the tribe escaped resettlement to Indian Territory, and now lives on a reservation in North Carolina (6 thousand people). 60,000 Cherokee settled in Oklahoma. By the arrival of Europeans, the Cherokee were typical bearers of the culture of the Southeast - they combined farming, gathering and hunting. Under the influence of Europeans, they became one of the five civilized tribes, and even published the world's first newspaper in the Indian language, the Cherokee Phoenix. Cherokee writing was invented by the brilliant self-taught Sequoyah (c. 1770 - 1843) - the famous giant tree was later named after him. Hurons. The Iroquois-speaking confederation of the Great Lakes region. It included 4 tribes that called themselves: the people of the Bear, the people of the Rocks, the people of the Ropes and the people of the Deer. Another name for the Hurons is Wyandot. During the wars with the League, the Iroquois were almost completely destroyed and scattered.
Muskogee Seminole. Chickasaw Natchy screams and etc.	Seminole. This tribe was formed at the end of the 18th century from part of the Creek tribe, who moved to Florida, where by that time the local population had been practically exterminated. The Seminole put up fierce resistance to the white invaders, but as a result of the three Seminole Wars (1817-1818, 1835-1842, and 1855-1858), less than 200 people remained of the 6,000 Indians in Florida. The rest were either destroyed or sent to Indian Territory. How serious the Americans considered the Seminoles as an enemy is the fact that during the second Seminole War, the number of federal troops was doubled. Famous Seminole chiefs include Micanope, Billy Bowlegs, Wildcat, Osceola. The Seminoles now live in Oklahoma and on three reservations in Florida. Part of the Florida Seminole speaks another language (Hitchiti) and is considered an independent Mikasuki tribe.
Sioux Assiniboine Dakota winebago Mandan Hidatsa and etc.	Sioux. Actually, the Sioux are the seven Dakota tribes. The Tetons are the collective name for seven related Sioux tribes: the Oglala, Brule, Hankpapa, Minnikonjou, Sansark, Oochenopa, and Blackfoot Sioux. During the 19th century, the Oglala had the following clans: Fierce Faces - Iteshicha (Evil Faces of the Red Cloud), Minisha - Red Water, Oyukhpe - Pushed to the Side, Hunkpatila, Shiyo - Sharp-tailed Partridge, Kiyuksa - Those who violate their own laws, True Oglala , Okandanda, Old Neck Necklace, Short Hair, Night Clouds, Wazhhazhha, Spirit Heart. Their closest relatives are Assiniboins. Cousins ​​can be considered the Sioux-speaking Missouri Indians (Mandans, Hidats, Crows), the tribes of the Dhegia groups (Omaha, Ponca, Osage, Kanza, Kuapo) and Chiwere (Oto, Missouri, Iowa, Winnebago). And very distant relatives are the now extinct Siu-speaking tribes of the East and South-East: Katavba, Saponi, Tutelo, Eno, Okanichi, Ofo, Biloxi, etc. Assiniboins. So they were called Chippewa, which means - Those who cook food using stones. The Assiniboins got this name because of the custom of boiling water by throwing red-hot stones into it. Initially, they were part of the Yanktonai Sioux, but in the 17th century, breaking away from the latter, they went to the northern plains, becoming an independent tribe. In alliance with the Cree and Ojibwe, they fought against the Sioux, Cheyenne, Blackfoot, Sarsi, Gros Ventre, Crow, Flatheads, Hidats, and Mandans. The number of Assiniboins before the smallpox epidemic of 1837 was the largest in the northern plains - about 25,000 people. Part of the Assiniboins took part in the Battle of the Little Bighorn and in the uprising of the Indians and mestizos of Canada led by Louis Riel in 1885. The northernmost branch of the tribe, which roamed the Rocky Mountains, was called the Stones. The Hidatsa called them Itanskipasqua - Long Arrows. Since ancient times they had 3 main divisions: 1. Hoki - Similar to Big Fish. 2. Tuvahuda - Similar to Spirits. 3. Sitkoski - Naughty or Wrinkled Ankles. Subsequently, they had clans: Tkatada Unskaha - Nomads, Vaziyya Wintkata - Northern People, Tkaksi Witkata - Forest People, Tanitabin - Bison Thigh, Hudekabin - Red Mountain, Wachiazi Hiabin - Fat Smoker, Watopabin - Rowers, Kahiya Iyyaskabin - Cree half-breeds and others in late XIX century there were about seven thousand people. Dakota. Sometimes all seven tribes of the Sioux proper are called that, but the Dakotas are only the Eastern Forest Sioux, or Santi: Mdewakanton, Sisseton, Wahpeton, and Wahpekuto. The central Sioux, the Yankton and the Yanktonai, called themselves the Nakota (Assiniboins, splintered from the Yanktonai, Nakoda), the Western Sioux, or Teton, the Lakota, which in turn consisted of the Oglala, Brule, Hunkpapa, Sihasapa, Minnekonju, Sansarks, and Ohenonpa. The union of the Sioux tribes was the most numerous (in early XIX century - about 35,000 thousand people) and powerful on the Great Plains. They waged war with traditional Indian enemies (Ojibwe, Pawnee, Arikara, Crow, Shoshone, Assiniboine) and stubbornly resisted Euro-American expansion. The Dakota tribes called themselves Ocheti Shakovin - Seven Fires of the Council. As a result of uprisings, wars and treaty signings, they were scattered across the numerous reservations of the states of South and North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Montana and the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Now the Sioux is one of the largest (about 100 thousand people) and politically active Indian nations, standing in the forefront of the revival of Indian traditions and culture. Mandans. An agricultural Sioux-speaking tribe of the upper Missouri. Ancient, one might even say indigenous, the inhabitants of the plains, the Mandan resisted the raids of the nomads of the Assiniboins and Sioux, who were attracted by the products of agriculture and the horses of the Mandan. The Mandans themselves combined farming with horse bison hunting. In addition, the villages of the Mandans and their neighbors, the Hidatsa and Arikara, were the most important trading center of the north of the Great Plains, where guns and metal products came from the northeast (from territories controlled by the Hudson's Bay Company), and horses came from the southwest (from Spanish territories). . The Mandans lived in fortified villages - log houses covered with earth, surrounded by a palisade 4-5 meters high. As a result of epidemics and constant wars with the nomads, the number of their villages was reduced from nine in the 18th century to two in 1804. The remnants of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara were settled in one reservation, Fort Berthold. Crow. A Sioux-speaking nomadic tribe of the Great Plains that broke away from the Hidats around 1776 and moved to the southern regions of Montana. Another name is the Absaroka, the People of the Speckled Hawk. The Arapaho called them Hunena (crows), the Cheyenne called oitunio (crows), and the Tetons called kongitoka (crows). They were divided into three divisions: 1. Manicepers or Black Dwellings, 2. Akaraho or Many Dwellings, 3. Erarapio or Stomach-Knocked. The first clan is the River Crows, the last two are the Mountain Crows. They were divided into river and mountain. Almost all steppe tribes were at enmity with the Crow, with the exception of the Kiowa and related Hidats. During the Indian Wars, the Crow served as scouts in the US Army, and in this role - as scouts and warriors - they were considered among the best, which even their traditional enemies, the Sioux and Blackfoot, recognized. Hidatsa. Other names for minnetari and gro-vantra. This Sioux-speaking tribe constitutes one cultural group of the so-called northern plains farmers along with the Mandan and the Arikara. At the beginning of the 19th century, they lived in three settled villages in the upper Missouri. Epidemics and endless raids of nomads reduced the number of the tribe several times.
South Aztec family Kiowa Comanche Shoshone Hopi and etc.	Kiowa. A small but warlike tribe of nomads south of the Great Plains. The language belongs to the Tano group. As an independent unit, the tribe included the Kiowa Apaches, who spoke the Athabaskan language. Together with the Comanche, these tribes made up powerful union southern steppes (Oklahoma, Texas), who fought with many of the surrounding Indians and Mexicans. In the 1870s, they put up strong resistance to the American army. In total, there were about 200 warriors in the tribe. The ten bravest of them made up the Kaitsenko Society, a military elite that never backs down from the enemy. The most prominent Kiowa chiefs are Dohasan, Satank, Satanta, Lone Wolf, Kicking Bird, Big Tree. Comanche. The largest tribe in the south of the Great Plains (in 1849 - 20,000 people), who moved to the steppes from the Rocky Mountains. Close relatives of the Shoshone. Comanche tribes - Kwahadi, Kotsoteka, Yamparika, Penateka, Yupini. This people was one of the first on the plains to master horse breeding and became a typical bearer of nomadic equestrian culture. In alliance with the Kiowas, they were the most significant force in the south of the plains. They raided the Pueblo tribes, fought the Navajo, Apache, Osage, Ute and Pawnee. But, perhaps, the Texans and Mexicans got the most from the Comanches. In the second half of the 19th century the Comanches had to resist the invasion of the southern plains by white buffalo hunters, as well as the regular US army. The resistance of the tribes of the southern plains was broken in 1874 in the battle of the Palo Duro Canyon in Texas. In 1875, the last Comanche war chief, Kwana Parker, led his men into Indian Territory. Shoshone. This group of tribes (the Bannock, Snake, Lemy, Gosiut, Paiute, Panamint) occupied a fairly large territory, and their culture included elements of three regions to varying degrees: the Great Basin, the Plateau and the Great Plains. The best known are the Eastern Shoshone, or Wind River Shoshone, also called the Snake. These Shoshone almost completely adopted the culture of the steppe Indians, of which they were on friendly terms with the Crow. Settled on a reservation with primordial enemies - the Arapaho. Utah. The Ute tribes - Capote, Moache, Veminuche, Uncompagre, Pahwant, Winta, etc. lived in the border region of the Southwest, the Great Basin and the Great Plains. And although the Ute are related to the Shoshone, they were often at enmity with the latter. They also attacked the steppe Indians and the Pueblo tribes. The allies of the Ute were the Jicarilla Apaches. These tribes maintained close relations, and many of the Ute had some Apache blood, such as the illustrious chief Uray. Relations with white Americans were quite complicated. And in 1879, after several years of peaceful relations, the Ute revolted, trying to retain their ancestral lands.
Caddo family Arikara pawnee Caddo Wichita and etc.	Arikara. Upper Missouri agricultural tribe, originally part of the Pawnee. Together with the Siouan Mandan and Hidatsa, they constituted a single cultural group that combined agriculture with horse hunting for buffalo. One of the traditional enemies of the Sioux. Pawnee. This settled tribe was one of the first to inhabit the Great Plains, combining buffalo hunting with agriculture. The Pawnee language belongs to the Caddo family, and the tribe includes four divisions: the Skidi, the Kitkehahki, the Pitahauerat, and the Chaui. Almost all the nomadic tribes of the central and southern steppes raided the villages of the Pawnee, however, the Pawnee were brave warriors, and were considered a very serious opponent. For this reason, the command of the American army tried to attract Pawnees to serve as scouts. Epidemics and endless wars with nomads reduced the number of this people from 15,000 to several hundred people who were resettled in Indian Territory.

ADDITIONALLY:

• Abenaki
• Apaches
• Acolapissa (Acolapissa)
• Bayougoula
• Beothuk
• Catawba
• Cherokee (Cherokee) (Cherokee)
• Cheyenne
• Chickasaw
• Comanche
• Delaware (Delaware)
• Erie
• Hurons (Huron)
• Illini
• Iroquois (Iroquois)
• Kickapoo (Kickapoo)
• Mahican (Mahican)
• Minomine (Menominee)
• Mohegan (Mohegan)
• Montana (Montagnais)
• Narragansett
• Navajo
• Nipmuc (Nipmuc)
• Oglala-Lakota-Sioux (Oglala-Lakota-Sioux)
• Ohibwa (Ojibwa)
• Ottawa
• Pequot (Pequot)
• Potawatomi (Potawatomi)
• Sauk and Fox (Sauk & Fox)
• Shawnee
• Siksika ("Blackfoot") (Siksika)
• Susquehannocks (Susquehannock)
• Wampanoag ("Oriental people") (Wampanoag)

Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) (Winnebago (Ho-Chunk))

Just three hundred years ago, millions of Indians lived in North America. From 400 to 16,000 - now live in reservations - places for the forced settlement of the country's indigenous population:
Huron occupied the land between Lake Huron and the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario (the territory of present-day Canada). About 400 people remained on the reservations.
Kovicians lived in the southeast of Vancouver Island and in British Columbia.
Wampanoaghi lived in Massachusetts. Almost completely destroyed.
Kanza lived in Kansas.
Sauk lived in the states of Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin. Approximately 1,000 people remained.
Ojibwe now there are about 16,000 left. They lived in the states of New York, Minnesota, Michigan and North Dakota.
Piegan lived on the US-Canada border. There were about 700 people left.
Navajo now there are 1,500 left. They occupied the lands of the states of Arizona and New Mexico.
Oneida lived in New York State. There are 3,500 people left.
Musgoki (another name for Creeks) occupied the lands of the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia. There are 9,000 people left.
Iowa lived in Iowa. There are 600 people left.
Dakota - tribes united under this name inhabited Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Minnesota. No more than 11,000 people remained.
Miami There are now 400 left. Lived in Indiana and Ohio.
Hopi lived in the semi-desert of Arizona. There are 3,000 people left.
Incanti Sioux occupied the lands of Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. There are 1200 people left.

Blackfoot(Siksika) lived on the US-Canada border. There are 1,200 left on the reservations today.
Passamavody lived in Maine. 600 people are now on reservations.
brulee lived in Montana. The remnants of the tribes now live on reservations (the number is unknown).
Cherokee lived in the states of Tennessee, Georgia, North and South Carolina. Most of them have now moved to Oklahoma.
Choctaws lived in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. There were 15,000 people left who were resettled in Oklahoma, on marginal lands.
Hankpapa, oglala, mikonju, sun-arc lived in Montana. Today, the remnants of these tribes live on different reservations.
Pierced noses (not perce, numipu) occupied part of the states of Oregon and Idaho.

Huron- one of the most numerous tribes of American Indians. It is known that before the European invasion, their number reached 40,000 people. Initially, the central part of Ontario was the habitat of the Hurons. But in the course of a long-term and truly bloody feud with the Iroquois tribe, the Hurons were divided into two unequal groups. A smaller part of the tribe went to Quebec (part of modern Canada). Another, more numerous, group tried to settle in the territory of modern Ohio (USA), but was soon forced to move to the territory of the modern state of Kansas. By the way, they still live here, having managed to preserve the crumbs of their own culture and language. Like many other tribes of the eastern part of the continent, before the advent of Europeans, the Hurons were excellent farmers in the warm season, growing corn, tobacco and other plants. During the winter, the tribe survived by hunting bison, deer, bears, and small game. It is noteworthy that the form of government of the Hurons was one of the first tribal confederations. The whole tribe was divided into clans, the relationship in which came from the mother-grandmother. By the way, it was the “elder mother” (the eldest and most respected woman) who appointed the members of the council of the Huron confederation from her clan. The Hurons worshiped one supreme deity. hallmark This tribe had a "feast of the dead" ceremony held once every ten years. It consisted in the fact that at a certain time the bodies of all the members of the tribe who had left over the past decade were dug up, then they were transferred to a common grave. The Hurons believed that without this ceremony, the souls of the dead could not move to another world, and would be doomed to eternal wanderings on earth. With acquaintance with Europeans, or rather with the French, the Hurons were the first tribe to enter into trade relations with them. Moreover, it was thanks to the mediation of the Hurons that French trade with other tribes began to develop. In return, the Hurons received strong support from the Europeans in their enmity with the Iroquois. However, the prosperity of the Huron tribe ended immediately after the war for the independence of the United States. At the end of the 19th century according to the decree on the situation of the indigenous population, the tribe lost even those lands that had previously been set aside for reservations. At the moment, approximately 4,000 Hurons live in the United States and Canada.

Iroquois- one of the most warlike and influential Indian tribes of America in pre-colonial times. Like the Hurons, the Iroquois were divided into clans, where kinship was determined by the maternal line. This union of tribes covered the area from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. It is known that the Iroquois had their own constitution, "recorded" with the help of shell beads. Thanks to their excellent ability for languages, the Iroquois traded both with other tribes and, later, with Europeans (while trying to bypass those who entered into an alliance with the Hurons). In addition, the union of the Iroquois tribes included not only clans directly connected by family ties, but also simply tribes who wished to accept the tribal charter of this confederation. It was this policy that provided the Iroquois with influence in society (including at the very beginning of the colonial era) and an increase in the number of the tribe. For the most part, the tribes lived by hunting and fishing. Deer were considered the most desirable prey for any hunter, since it was this animal that provided the tribe with everything they needed: clothes and blankets were made from skins and lived, and they were also used to build dwellings, meat provided food in winter, and various tools were made from bones. The most striking tradition of the Iroquois tribe can be called masks and face painting. The craftsmen who made masks never allowed themselves to repeat themselves, the only element found in all products without exception was a hooked nose - the memory of the legendary giant who swore to protect people. It was believed that a person who wore such a mask had the ability to ward off diseases not only from himself, but from the whole house. Socially, the Iroquois had a clear division of labor between men and women, despite the fact that the female half actively participated in political decisions. Women have always led the household and agriculture, and men - hunting. Like many other tribes in the snowy part of the continent, the Iroquois built dwellings, under the roof of which several families were placed at once, which guaranteed high level survival in the cold season.

Mohicans(or Mahikane) - East Algonquian tribe of North American Indians, originally living in the Hudson River Valley (in the Albany, New York state). After 1680 many of them moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. In the early 1820s and 1830s, most of the surviving members of the tribe migrated to northwestern Wisconsin. The self-name of the tribe - Muhhekunneuw - means "People of the River". Their current name originally referred only to the Wolf clan, one of the smaller parts of the tribe, whose name was derived from the Mohican manhigan.By the time of their first contact with Europeans in 1609, the Mohicans lived in and around the Hudson River valley. The Mohicans were more of a confederation of tribes than a single tribe, and by the time of the first contact were divided into five main parts: the Mohican proper, Westenhoek, Wawaihtonok, Mehkentovun and Vikagyok. Over the next century, friction between the Mohicans and the Mohawk Iroquois, as well as the Dutch and English settlers, grew steadily as the Mohicans migrated east across the Hudson River into western Massachusetts and Connecticut. Many of them settled in the city of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where they gradually became known as Stockbridge Indians. The Stockbridge Indians allowed Protestant missionaries such as Jonathan Edwards to live among them. In the 18th century, many of them converted to Christianity, while at the same time preserving their own traditions to a certain extent. Although they fought for the American colonists during the French and Indian War (the North American part of the Seven Years' War) and the Revolutionary War, citizens of the newly formed United States evicted them from their lands to the west. The Stockbridge Indians first settled in the 1780s in New Stockbridge, New York, on land allotted to them by the Oneida tribe of the Iroquois confederacy.

In the 1820s and 1830s, most of the Stockbridge Indians moved to Shawano County, Wisconsin, where the US government gave them land. In Wisconsin, they settled on reservations with the Munsi tribe. Together they founded a tribe known as the Stockbridge Munsi. Today the reservation is known as the Stockbridge-Moonsey Tribe of the Mohican Indians (or Stockbridge-Moonsey Community).

Missionaries of the Moravian Church from Bethlehem in what is now Pennsylvania established a mission in the Mohican village of Shekomeko in Duches County, New York. Their goal was to bring the Native Americans to Christianity. Gradually, their efforts began to turn into success, and they created the first Indian parish in the United States, for which they built a chapel in 1743. They also tried to protect the Mohicans from settlers who attempted to solder the Indians and take their lands. Some of those who opposed their work accused the "Moravian brothers" of actually being secret Jesuits (whose activity was prohibited in this colony in 1700) and working with the Indians in the interests of the French. The missionaries were repeatedly summoned for explanations by the colonial government, but they also had followers. The colonial government ended up in Poughkeepsie from New York in the late 1740s, soon after which settlers took over Mohican lands.

The now defunct Mohican language belonged to the eastern branch of the Algonquian language family. It was an Algonquian N-dialect, like Massachusett and Wampanoag.

Fenimore Cooper's famous novel, The Last of the Mohicans, is based on the Mohican tribe. It also includes some of the cultural aspects of the Mohegans, another Algonquian tribe that lived in eastern Connecticut. The novel is set in the Hudson River Valley, traditionally the land of the Mohicans, but the names of some characters, such as Uncas, are of Mohegan origin.

Comanche. The Comanches are one of those Indian tribes that are almost certainly known even to those who are not at all interested in either the culture of Native Americans, or their history, or themselves - simply because, along with Apaches, Iroquois and several other tribes, for some reason they are very novelists like Fenimore Cooper and Gustave Aimard liked it, and everyone read them at least once in childhood.

The Comanches were an Indian people whose historical range, sometimes referred to as the "Comancheria", was located in what is now eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, and all of Oklahoma. Culturally, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, representing the typical Indians of the Great Plains.

During its heyday ( late 18th century) the tribe numbered, according to various sources, from 20,000 to 45,000 thousand people. Today, their number is, according to the 2008 census, 14,105 people. Despite the fact that the number of Comanche has been greatly reduced, they still remain the largest tribe of North American Indians and live, for the most part, in Oklahoma, becoming the only tribe that has retained its original lands.

The word "Comanche" is not a self-name; the members of the tribe call themselves Numunuu which means "real people". There is no consensus among linguists about the origin of the common name - some believe that it is derived from the word from the southern Paute, meaning "enemies", others - that it comes from "kohmahts" of the Ute language, meaning "people". The Comanche's own language, Comanche, belongs to the Numic languages ​​of the Uto-Aztecan language family and is sometimes classified as a dialect of Shoshone; however, at present it is almost not used, most of the tribe members speak English.

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At different stages of the development of the North American continent, it was inhabited by representatives of different peoples, in the 1st century AD even the Vikings sailed here, founded their settlement, but it did not take root. After Columbus "discovered America", the period of European colonization of these lands began, a stream of immigrants poured in from all over the Old World, these were the Spaniards, and the Portuguese, and the British and French, and representatives of the Scandinavian countries.

After seizing the lands of the displacement from their territory of the indigenous population of North America - the Indians, who at the beginning of European expansion did not even own firearms and were forced to give up their lands under the threat of complete annihilation, the settlers became sovereign masters of the vast areas of the New World, which have a huge natural potential.

Indigenous peoples of North America

The indigenous peoples of North America include the inhabitants of Alaska and the Arctic part of the continent of the Eskimos and Aleuts (northern regions of the USA and Canada), the Indian population, mainly concentrated in the central and southern parts of the mainland (USA, Mexico), and also the Hawaiian people living on the island of Hawaii in Pacific Ocean.

It is believed that the Eskimos moved to the territory of North America from Asia and the distant expanses of Siberia at a time when Alaska and the mainland of Eurasia were not separated from each other by the Bering Strait. Moving along the southeastern coast of Alaska, the ancient tribes moved deep into the North American continent, so about 5 thousand years ago, the Eskimo tribes settled the Arctic coast of North America.

The Eskimos who lived in Alaska were mainly engaged in hunting and fishing, if weather conditions allowed - gathering. They hunted seals, walruses, polar bears and other representatives of the Arctic fauna, such as whales, and all the prey was used practically without disposal, everything was used - skins, bones, and entrails. In the summer, they lived in chums and yarangas (dwellings made of animal skins), in winter they lived in igloos (also a dwelling made of skins, but additionally insulated with blocks of snow or ice), and were engaged in reindeer husbandry. They lived in small groups, consisting of several kindred families, worshiped evil and good spirits, shamanism was developed.

The Aleut tribes, who lived on the Aleutian Islands in the Barents Sea, have long been engaged in hunting, fishing and whale hunting. The traditional dwelling of the Aleuts is ulegam, a large semi-dugout designed for a large number of people (from 20 to 40 families). It was underground, inside there were bunk beds, separated by curtains, in the middle there was a huge stove, they went down there along a log in which steps were cut.

By the time the European conquerors appeared in the Americas, there were about 400 Indian tribes who had a separate language and knew writing. For the first time, Columbus encountered the indigenous inhabitants of these lands on the island of Cuba and, thinking that he was in India, called them "Los indios", since then they have become so called - Indians.

(North Indian)

The upper part of Canada was inhabited by North Indians, Algonquin and Athabas tribes who hunted caribou and fished. In the north-west of the continent lived the tribes of Haida, Salish, Wakashi, Tlingit, they were engaged in fishing and sea hunting, led a nomadic lifestyle, lived in small groups of several families in tents. On the Californian coast in soft climatic conditions Indian tribes lived who were engaged in hunting, fishing and gathering, collecting acorns, berries, and various herbs. They lived in semi-dugouts. The eastern part of America was inhabited by the Woodland Indians, these are tribes such as the Creeks, Algonquins, Iroquois (considered very warlike and bloodthirsty). They were engaged in settled agriculture.

In the steppe regions of the North American continent (prairies, pampas), hunting tribes of Indians lived, who hunted bison and led a nomadic lifestyle. These are the Apache, Osage, Crow, Arikara, Kiowa, etc. tribes. They were very warlike and constantly clashed with neighboring tribes, lived in wigwams and tips, traditional Indian dwellings.

(Navajo Indians)

In the southern regions of the North American continent lived the Navajo, Pueblo and Pima tribes. They were considered one of the most developed, led a sedentary lifestyle, were engaged in agriculture, and using the methods of artificial irrigation (they built canals and other irrigation facilities), bred cattle.

(Hawaiians, even going on a boat, do not forget to decorate themselves and even their dog with national wreaths.)

Hawaiians - indigenous people The Hawaiian Islands belong to the Polynesian ethnic group, it is believed that the first Polynesians sailed to the Hawaiian Islands from the Marquesas Islands in 300, and from the island of Tahiti a little later (in 1300 AD). Basically, the Hawaiian settlements were located near the sea, where they built their dwellings with a roof of palm branches and were engaged in fishing by canoeing. By the time the Hawaiian Islands were discovered by the English explorer James Cook, the population of the islands numbered about 300 thousand people. They lived in large family communities - ohans, in which there was a division into leaders (alii) and community members (makaainan). Today, Hawaii is part of the United States, being the 50th state in a row.

Traditions and customs of indigenous peoples

North America is a huge continent that has become home to representatives of a large number of different nationalities, each of which is original and unique in its own way, has its own traditions and customs.

(Eskimo demonstrating national dance)

The Eskimos live in small family communities, adhere to the principles of matriarchy (the headship of a woman). The husband enters the wife's family, if she dies, the husband returns to the parents' house, the children do not leave with him. Kinship is considered on the mother's side, marriages are concluded at an early age by prior arrangement. The custom of a temporary exchange of wives is often practiced as a friendly gesture or as a sign of special favor. Shamanism is developed in the religion, shamans are the leaders of the cult. Heavy natural conditions, the constant threat of hunger and death in case of failure to hunt, a feeling of complete powerlessness in the face of the power of the harsh Arctic nature, all this forced the Eskimos to seek solace and salvation in rituals and rituals. Enchanted amulets, amulets, the use of various magic spells were very popular.

The Aleuts worshiped the spirits of dead animals, they especially revered the whale, when a male hunter died in the village, they buried him in a cave, placing him between two whale ribs.

The Indian tribes of North America believed in the supernatural origin of the world, which, in their opinion, was created by mysterious forces, among the Sioux they were called wakans, the Iroquois said - orenda, the Algonquians - manitou, and Kitchi Manitou was the same supreme spirit to which everything obeyed. The son of Manitou Wa-sa-ka fashioned a tribe of people from red clay, taught them how to hunt and hunt, taught them to dance ritual dances. Hence the special reverence by the Indians for red, they rubbed their body and face with red paint on especially solemn occasions, such as girls in the tribes of California and North Dakota at a wedding ceremony.

Also, the Indians, having passed the path of development of many peoples of the world, deified nature and its forces, worshiped the deities of the Sun, Sky, Fire or Sky. They also revered spirits, patrons of tribes (various plants and animals), which were called totem. Every Indian could have such a patron spirit, seeing him in a dream, a person immediately towered in the eyes of his fellow tribesmen, he could decorate himself with feathers and shells. By the way, the headdress made of eagle feathers was worn by leaders and outstanding warriors only on very solemn occasions, it was believed that it had great spiritual and healing power. Also, a special ax with a long handle made of caribou deer antler - tomahawk was considered a symbol of the valor of any male warrior.

(The ancient revered ritual of the Indians - the peace pipe)

One of the well-known Indian traditions is the ancient ritual of lighting the pipe of peace, when the Indians sat in a large circle and betrayed each other a kind of symbol of peace, prosperity and prosperity - the pipe of peace. The ritual was started by the most respected person in the tribe - the leader or elder, he lit a pipe, took a couple of puffs and betrayed it further in a circle, and all participants in the ceremony had to do the same. Usually this ritual was performed at the conclusion peace treaties between tribes.

The famous Hawaiian traditions and customs are the presentation of flower garlands (lei), which are handed along with a kiss on the cheek to all visitors by beautiful Hawaiian girls. Stunningly beautiful lei can be made from roses, orchids and other exotic tropical flowers, and, according to legend, you can only remove a garland in the presence of the person who gave it. The traditional Hawaiian aloha means not only words of greeting or goodbye, it reflects the whole gamut of feelings and experiences, they can express sympathy, kindness, joy, and tenderness. The indigenous inhabitants of the islands themselves are sure that aloha is not just a word, but the basis of all life values people.

The culture of the island of Hawaii is rich in superstitions and signs that people still believe in, for example, it is believed that the appearance of a rainbow or rain is a sign of the special disposition of the gods, it is especially good when the wedding takes place in the rain. And the island is also famous for its mesmerizing hula dance: rhythmic hip movements, graceful hand passes and unique costumes (a puffy skirt made from raffia palm fibers, wreaths of bright exotic flowers) to rhythmic music on drums and other percussion instruments. In ancient times, it was a ritual dance performed exclusively by men.

Modern life of the peoples of North America

(Modern streets of the USA on the site of the former native places of the Indians, the indigenous peoples of America)

Today, the total population of North America is about 400 million people. The bulk are the descendants of European settlers, the descendants of the British and French colonialists mainly live in Canada and the USA, the descendants of the Spaniards inhabit the southern coast and the countries of Central America. Also in North America there are more than 20 million representatives of the Negroid race, the descendants of Negro slaves, once brought from the African continent by European colonialists to work on sugar and cotton plantations.

(Indian traditions were absorbed by the urban culture of grown cities)

The Indian population, which has retained its population of about 15 million people (a significant decrease in the population due to diseases, various kinds of infringements, as well as complete displacement from indigenous lands of habitat in the reservation), is located in the United States (5 million people - 1.6% of the total population countries) and Mexico, speak their own languages ​​and dialects, honor and preserve the customs and culture of their people. According to various sources, up to 18 million Indians lived in North America in the pre-Columbian period.

The Aleuts, as before, live on the islands of the Aleutian Archipelago, are considered a disappearing nation, today their population is about 4 thousand people, and in the 18th century it reached up to 15 thousand.