One Way to Take Part in Indigenous Peoples' Day
Native American people have long been admired and celebrated for their proud cultural traditions and their distinct skills in arts and craftsmanship. But for too long, their vast innovations and social contributions to contemporary life have sat quietly behind the ugly myths of American history books.
Today, as part of Indigenous Peoples' Day, we pull back the curtain and celebrate the broad scope of some surprising Native American innovations that have contributed to our well-being, prospered us, and made us an exceptional nation.
For instance, did you know that the framework for the U.S. Constitution was based on the Federalist principles of the Iroquois Confederacy? Impressed with its principles, John Adams wrote about it, and Benjamin Franklin advocated for it in a letter penned in 1771, referring to the Iroquois Confederacy as a union that had subsisted ages and appeared to be indissoluble. Although our Congress eventually adopted a resolution to formally acknowledge the influence of the Iroquois Confederacy on the U.S. Constitution, many people missed this important history lesson. Hard to believe? See for yourself in History.
In both World Wars, Native Americans first pioneered and later advanced a new type of military intelligence using coded vocabulary to throw off the enemy. Despite the U.S. government-run program to stamp out Native American languages, Choctaw and Navaho code talkers evolved an inscrutable code from their native vocabularies to confound Germans, passing along secret communications that were impenetrable and which helped secure victories in many battles, including the Battle of Iwo Jima. How did the idea come to them? History has the answer.
The Native Americans were also great innovators who developed snow goggles, suspension bridges, and raised-bed agriculture long before Columbus landed on our shored. What other inventions did they create that are commonly used today? History has a remarkable list.
Thanks for taking part in Indigenous Peoples' Day!
Slipstream
I truly enjoyed reading these interesting and enlightening articles and thank all the Indigenous Peoples for their brilliant discoveries, inventions, and contributions. It saddens me that our nation feels so threatened it has to hide them from our history books or give credit to someone other than the originators. Thank you for "pulling back the curtain."
Present Valley
Thank you once again for bringing an important piece of news to my attention.
I am embarrassed to say I did not even know it was Indigenous People's Day as I have been avoiding the news.
I appreciate the time you took to research this information and write the article.
Thank you.
Well Street
Baby bottles made from greased and dried bear gut, syringes fashioned from animal bladders and hollow bird bones, and oral contraceptives?
The ingenuity of Native peoples and their ability to make use of anything and everything available to them is incredible. So foolish were the colonists who labeled them as savages.