Difference between revisions of "American Indian"

From Conservapedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Line 14: Line 14:
 
:9. Northwest Coast- N. California to S. Alaska along 1500 miles of coastline.
 
:9. Northwest Coast- N. California to S. Alaska along 1500 miles of coastline.
 
:10. Plateau- Parts of Oregon, Washington, N. Idaho, W. Montana, and SW Canada.
 
:10. Plateau- Parts of Oregon, Washington, N. Idaho, W. Montana, and SW Canada.
<ref>Washburn, Wilcomb E. 1998. ''Handbook Of North American Indians, Vol. 4, History of Indian-White Relations.'' Washington: Smithsonian Institute.
 
 
  
 
== Refs ==
 
== Refs ==
 +
 +
<ref>Washburn, Wilcomb E. 1998. ''Handbook Of North American Indians, Vol. 4, History of Indian-White Relations.'' Washington: Smithsonian Institute.

Revision as of 16:35, May 22, 2007

American Indians are the descendants of the inhabitants of North and South America before the coming of Europeans in 1492. They in turn are believed to have descended from Asians who crossed the Bering land bridge during the last Ice Age. Those who are only partly descended from those early inhabitants are still considered American Indians if they maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment.

Some American Indians prefer to be called Native Americans in order to distinguish themselves from the people of India, and to imply that they were the original inhabitants of North America. However, the oldest American skeleton is the 9300 year old Kennewick Man that is physically dissimilar to modern American Indians, so the American Indian people may not have been the first people here. Furthermore, the term Native American literally means anyone who was born in American as an American, so it can also be used by any American who wants to distinguish himself from an American immigrant.

American Indians of North America are generally divided into culture areas according to similarities in geography, environment, subsistence patterns, language family, and similar social practices. According to the Handbook of North American Indians, there are ten such culutal areas.

1. Arcitc- Greenland, extreme northern Canada, and the northern and western coastlines of Alaska.
2. Subarctic- Most of central Canada and interior Alaska.
3. Northeast- New England, Nova Scotia, the Great Lakes region, the Chesapeake Bay area, and most of current day W. Virginia, the Ohio River valley, and Illinois.
4. Southeast- N. Carolina excluding the NE corner, western Virginia, southern W. Virginia, and all the southersn states east of the Mississippi River, in addition to parts of Arkansas, Lousiana, and eastern Texas.
5. Plains- the entire Midwest United States from Texas north to southern parts of Canada.
6. Southwest- Central Mexico north into W. Texas, NM, and AZ.
7. Great Basin- Nevada, Utah, N. Arizona, W. Colorado, W. Wyoming, S. Idaho, SE Oregon, and parts of W. California.
8. California- Interior and Coastal California and N. Baja.
9. Northwest Coast- N. California to S. Alaska along 1500 miles of coastline.
10. Plateau- Parts of Oregon, Washington, N. Idaho, W. Montana, and SW Canada.

Refs

[1]
  1. Washburn, Wilcomb E. 1998. Handbook Of North American Indians, Vol. 4, History of Indian-White Relations. Washington: Smithsonian Institute.