If you have ever watched the movie Dancing with Wolves, you would probably know that Native American Indians had their way of naming objects. For example, Dancing with wolves was actually the name of the man that one tribe of Indians eventually made friends with in the movie. In reality, they also have very delicate and exquisite craftsmanship. Through the artistic creation, they redefine the materials used for the crafts, which also have practical functionality as well.
On November 16th, 2012, I had the opportunity to visit an exhibition about women’s craftsmanship all over the world in Carnegie Museum. At the entrance of the exhibition, three tables were occupied by three native American artists who were making beautiful handcrafts out of bamboo and yarns. The utilities they had were simple materials, facile hands, and peaceful patience.
I felt bad that I wasn’t able to pay the price of those well-made handcrafts to support them. However,I hope sharing their stories can help bring more awareness for their group in Pittsburgh and beyond.
Beer winning trivia @ Native American, Carnegie Museum of Natural History
1.One usual theory of the settlement of Native Americans is that during a period of glaciation, when the sea level was much lower than what it is today, the Bering strait served as a continental bridge for Ancestors of Native Americans migrating from Eurasia to the North America continent. This migration ended 12,000 years ago when the sea level raised to flood the “bridge”.
After the initial settlements, Native Americans settled in different areas of the new land and formed their unique culture customs over time. According Alfred Louis Kroeber (June 11, 1876 – October 5, 1960), who was American cultural anthropologist that received his PH.D under Franz Boas at Columbia University in 1901, there are the following major cultural areas among pre-Columbian North American: Arctic, Subarctic, Northwest coast, Plateau, California, Great Basin, Southwest, Plains, Southeast, and Northeast.
As the popular theory says, in 1492, Europeans first arrived the North America continent (It can also be Chinese or the Vikings that arrived the North America way earlier than Columbia did in 1492). From the 16th through the 19th centuries, the population of Native American Indians sharply declined. Most mainstream scholars believe that, among the various contributing factors, epidemic disease was the overwhelming cause of the population decline of the American natives because of their lack of immunity to “Urban” diseases.
King Philip's War, also known as First Indian War, Metacomet's War, or Metacomet's Rebellion, was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day New England and English colonists and their Native American allies in 1675–78. The war is named after the main leader of the Native American side, Metacomet, known to the English as "King Philip". This seemly sets the example and laid the foundation for fighting for freedom. (There is a sculpture of King Philip near the Phipps Conservatory's outdoor garden, close to the Panther Hallow Bridge.)
Since the 18th century, the new settlers mainly from Europe wanted to expand their influence through farming and trading, which required massive amount of land. Native American Indians found themselves losing their Mother land to the new comers one way or another.
In the 19th century, under President Andrew Jackson, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which authorized the President to conduct treaties to exchange Native American land east of the Mississippi River for lands west of the river.As many as 100,000 Native Americans relocated to the West as a result of this Indian Removal policy. In theory, relocation was supposed to be voluntary and many Native Americans did remain in the East. In practice, great pressure was put on Native American leaders to sign removal treaties.
In 20th century, although U.S. Republican President Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act, which made all Native Americans born in the U.S. and its territories American citizens enjoying full rights guaranteed in the Constitution, controversies remain over how much the federal government has jurisdiction over tribal affairs, sovereignty, and cultural practices. [Personal opinion: Talking over 550 some Native American tribe’s land and putting them in 330 some “Reservations” is really not a sustainable way to deal with big human rights issues like this. Especially when American human rights groups bark towards China or other country’s human rights issues, I would highly urge more attention should be given first to Native Americans in the U.S.] [The map below shows the six tribe originally inhabiting in PA. One tribe that migrated in PA and now mainly resides in Delaware area is called Nanticoke Tribe]
In the 19th century, under President Andrew Jackson, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which authorized the President to conduct treaties to exchange Native American land east of the Mississippi River for lands west of the river.As many as 100,000 Native Americans relocated to the West as a result of this Indian Removal policy. In theory, relocation was supposed to be voluntary and many Native Americans did remain in the East. In practice, great pressure was put on Native American leaders to sign removal treaties.
In 20th century, although U.S. Republican President Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act, which made all Native Americans born in the U.S. and its territories American citizens enjoying full rights guaranteed in the Constitution, controversies remain over how much the federal government has jurisdiction over tribal affairs, sovereignty, and cultural practices. [Personal opinion: Talking over 550 some Native American tribe’s land and putting them in 330 some “Reservations” is really not a sustainable way to deal with big human rights issues like this. Especially when American human rights groups bark towards China or other country’s human rights issues, I would highly urge more attention should be given first to Native Americans in the U.S.] [The map below shows the six tribe originally inhabiting in PA. One tribe that migrated in PA and now mainly resides in Delaware area is called Nanticoke Tribe]
2.Carnegie Museum of Natural History was founded by Pittsburgh-based industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1896. It first made its name in 1899 when its scientists unearthed the fossils of Diplodocus carnegii (the huge dinosaur seen at the bus stop close to the Carnegie Library is affectionately called by locals Dippy). Today its dinosaur collection includes the world’s largest collection of Jurassic dinosaurs and its Dinosaurs in Their Time exhibition offers the third largest collection of mounted, displayed dinosaurs in the U.S. (following behind Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in D.C. and the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.) Among its 22 million specimens, 10,000 are on view at any given time and 1 million are available in an online database. Most notable specimens include one of the world’s only fossils of a juvenile Apatosaurus, and the most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex (as mentioned in my first blog post Love at the First Sight, T. Rex is displayed in Pittsburgh International Airport)(This can be debated since the Field Museum in Chicago ranking No. 2 in the nation also has the largest and best-preserved T.Rex). Currently, those active curatorial departments in the museum are: Anthropology, Birds, Botany, Herpetology, Invertebrate Paleontology, Invertebrate Zoology, Mammals, Minerals, Mollusks, Specimen/exhibit Conservation, and Vertebrate Paleontology.
Your ID @ Native American
In my previous post A Chinese Restaurant I Love to Go to , there is a picture showing my friend Timothy Garvey. Check out his appearance, do you think he is a Native American?
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