Books in North American Indians series

The Iroquois have lived in what is now upper New York State and Ontario, Canada, for more than 4,000 years. In the 12th century, a man of their tribe called the Peacemaker convinced the five other nearby tribes - the Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, and Seneca - to work together with the Iroquois in a peaceful confederacy. For centuries, the confederacy worked together to build villages, grow crops, and also to defend its members and defeat other tribes. Together, they expanded all the way from Canada to Kentucky. And then white settlers crossed the Atlantic Ocean and destroyed the confederacy and, with it, their way of life. Members of the confederacy took opposite sides during the Revolutionary War. Not long after the United States was formed, white people forced the Iroquois to give up their land. And yet they continued to survive and adapt to a new way of life. Iroquois live throughout the world, but there is one territory that remains home to the six-member confederacy. Read about the past and present of the Iroquois - their culture, government, and family life - in this informative volume.

A thin strip of land and islands makes up the Pacific Northwest coast of the United States and Canada. This region has long been home to many groups of native peoples who spoke different languages and had distinct cultural practices. The native peoples of the Northwest thrived in this land of rocky beaches and cedar trees. • The Chinook developed a special language for trading with other nations. • The Kwakwaka'wakw created masks that could show two different faces. • The Bella Coola had a secret society that performed in a four-night winter ceremony. Many native peoples still live in the Northwest and continue to fish, carve totem poles, and work to preserve their land and cultures. Learn more about the unique history and cultures of the native peoples of the Northwest.

The Pawnee originally called Kansas and Nebraska home and consist of four autonomous bands: the Chaui, Pitahawirata, Kitkahahki, and Skiri. They are well known for serving as scouts for the U.S. Army in helping to track down their longtime enemies, the Cheyenne and Sioux, during the Indian wars of the 1870s and '80s-a role that was portrayed in the 1990 movie "Dances with Wolves."

North American Indians are not merely a historical topic. Instead, today's Native Americans are living, productive members of North American society. The contributions of the various Indian cultures enrich our lives in countless ways. For instance, "Indians have the strongest sense of place of anyone in the world," says Amy Mossett, a Native scholar (quoted in the New York Times). This sense of place is reflected in American Indians' connection to the Earth, an intimate relationship that has concrete implications for the way we handle environmental issues. Indians' connection to the traditions of their ancestors is also strong. At the same time, however, Native Americans are modern people confronting the challenges of today's world. They gain strength for the present from their deep foundations in the past. What's more, Native traditions and wisdom have much to offer us all. North American Indians Today portrays contemporary Indians within the present-day context of their relationship to their land, their past, their traditions, and their 21-st century realities. The heritage and history of each tribe is given as background to chapters on the current government, society, culture, religion, contributions, challenges, and goals of each tribe. Each volume was written with the help of Native people, and tribal leaders and scholars reviewed and approved the text for their tribes. The series consultant, a Native American expert from the University of Nebraska, ensured that the text is free from cultural bias. This series' respectful and accurate text, as well as the color photographs and Native artwork, will give readers a broader understanding of today's North American Indians, theirconnection to their land and their past, and their contributions to our modern-day world.

Long before the United States existed as a nation, the Northeast region was home to more than thirty independent American Indian groups. Each group had its own language, political system, and culture. Their ways of life depended on the climate, landscape, and natural resources of the areas where they lived. • The Lenape carved tulip tree trunks into canoes that held as many as fifty people. • The Huron used moose hair to stitch delicate patterns on clothing and on birch bark boxes. • The Menominee combined cornmeal, dried deer meat, maple sugar, and wild rice to make a traveling snack called pemmican. In the twenty-first century, many American Indians still call the Northeast home. Discover what the varied nations of the Northeast have in common and what makes each of them unique.

Long before Europeans explored the lands and waters above the Arctic Circle, several Inuit groups lived in this harsh, snowy landscape. They spoke different languages and developed unique ways to thrive in the ice and snow. These include making homes from whalebones and animals skins and hunting seals with spears through holes in the ice. Many Inuit still live in the Arctic. While many aspects of Arctic life have changed, the Inuit are working to preserve their traditional practices and languages. Find out more about the history and culture of the Inuit.