Native Americans of North America

Hundreds of Native North American peoples have survived an onslaught of government policies and wars dedicated to destroying them. What sustained them were traditional family and clan relationships, kinship with homelands, religious ceremonies, ancient stories connecting older and younger generations, and shared traditions that maintained each tribe’s uniqueness.

Native Americans have also revived some cultural practices that were at risk of disappearing. In a revival of a Northwest Coast Indian tradition, totem poles are again being raised in Haida villages on Canada’s Queen Charlotte Islands as well as at Alaska’s Metlakatla reservation, home to the Tsimshian. The Intertribal Bison Cooperative, an association of more than 40 tribes, has restored bison to Indian lands. The Wampanoag of Aquinnah, Massachusetts, are working with linguists to restore their Algonquian language. Across North America, giveaways and potlatches, once forbidden, are again taking place. Modern powwows exemplify active Native American resistance to cultural annihilation. They are not so much a performance for an audience as they are a way of sharing, reinforcing, and expressing heritage.

Despite efforts to stamp out Native American cultures, many have survived and even been revived. Although they still face many economic and social challenges, Native Americans continue to survive and flourish by maintaining their distinct cultures.

Arlene Hirschfelder contributed the Introduction and Native Americans Today section of this article.