native american

Tag Archives: native american

This Old House, Old Shoe, and Old Shipwrights

Posted on 14 Jun 10 by Editor

There have been some interesting recent developments in the not-so-recent world of archaeology.

A site on the Patuxent river that not only yielded a Native American house from the age of the Crusades, but implements carbon-dated to 3000 years ago, and clues that could push the site’s antiquity back to 10,000 years BP.

And, interesting for those of us who love the little historical details, archaeologists have discovered what is believed to be the oldest leather shoe ever found, “about 5,500 years old, which is about 1,000 years older than the great pyramid of Egypt and 400 years older than Stonehenge.” The shoe was found in Armenia but, according to the story, the oldest footwear of all was found in the United States and made of plant fibers.

Finally, in news of a more nautical nature, an ongoing, 18th century dig site in Maine uncovers details about two of the first shipwrights in the region.

Category: Background | Tags: 18th century, archaeology, armenia, footwear, leather shoe, maine, native american, patuxent, shipwright

Lit Quotes – Ethnic Humor for Advanced 18th Century Readers

Posted on 22 Apr 10 by Editor

I include the following not-so-literary quote because (a) it is from a scholastic reader and so, although it is not about reading, it is for the purpose of teaching children to read, and (b) I really like how the Native American flips the script on the first speaker.
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From The Columbian Reading Book (1799) as quoted in Old-Time Schools and School-books by Clifton Johnson:

The retort Courteous.

A white man meeting an Indian asked him, “whose Indian are you?” To which the copper-faced genius replied, “I am God Almighty’s Indian : whose Indian are you?”

Category: Quotes | Tags: 18th century, native american, reading

The English and the Kuskawaroak

Posted on 31 Mar 10 by Editor

History teacher Michael Morgan has a great article on first contact between English colonists and the Algonquian people living in what is now the State of Delaware at DelmarvaNow.com. The encounter was not peaceful because the Kuskawaroak, or White Bead Makers*, were naturally very distrustful of the odd-looking invaders.

These peoples, part of what has been called the Algonquian Migration, are of great interest to me and I hope you, too, enjoy the article!

* These days, the Kuskawaroak are better known as the Tidewater People, or “Nanticoke.”

Category: Background | Tags: algonquian, american history, delaware, delmarva, john smith, kuskawaroak, michael morgan, nanticoke, native american

Algonquian-English Rosetta Stone at Jamestown?

Posted on 27 Mar 10 by Editor

How did I miss this? Something remarkable was found that combines languages and early American history.

In January, National Geographic reported on a slate found in a well at the Jamestown settlement which seems to contain information used by English colonists during the early 1600s to communicate with the local Native Americans, who spoke an Algonquian language.

I have always felt that the dynamics of different American peoples (the Iroquoian, Algonquian, Siouan, Muskogean, etc.) should be at least as well-addressed in American history as the dynamics between the Spanish, French, British, and Dutch invaders colonists.

This discovery makes specific what most modern Americans tend to think of in unrealistically generic terms, i.e. the “Native American” language. British colonists had to deal with the real world particulars of the residents of North America, who belonged to several linguistic/cultural groups as distinct as the Europeans are from the Arabs.

Category: Background | Tags: algonquian, american history, english, jamestown settlement, native american, rosetta stone

French and Indian War in the News

Posted on 19 Jan 10 by Editor

Regular readers might have noticed I have a peculiar interest in colonial America, including the Seven Years’ War, or (as it is generally called in the United States) The French and Indian War.

Many seem to think of American history beginning with the Revolution, but there is a deeper history all around us, and this conflict of Native and Colonial forces marks a critical turning point in that history. This is the history of our continent that tugs my creative mind-strings when I write.

It might seem strange to think of a war two and a half centuries in the past making the news, but it has been:

• Don Wood writes in the Martinsburg, WV, Journal-News about the abundance of local historical markers, including one on Fort Neely and Fort Evans, known largely for the defense organized by women when the fort was attacked while the men were absent.

• Newsweek covers how a British company is blocking Americans’ access to a bike path that retraces the route of then-Lieutenant Colonel George Washington’s wartime route to Pittsburgh.

• John Switzer at the Columbus Dispatch discusses archaeological findings related to the seige of Pickawillany, a Native American town in Ohio that was host to a British trading post.

• You Ask Youker at the Reading, PA, Eagle answers the question “Did forts once stand on the Blue Mountains in Berks County? ” with a resounding Yes, during the French and Indian War.

• Finally, the New York Times blog (read it while it’s free!) discusses, peripherally, the important French and Indian War site Fort Stanwix while discussing the later construction of the Erie Canal in the same region.

Category: Background | Tags: blue mountains, columbus, erie canal, fort evans, fort neely, fort stanwix, french and indian war, george washington, historical markers, martinsburg, native american, pickawillany, reading, seven years war, writing