Interesting Native American Facts

The United States is a land of many cultures dating back thousands of years to the original inhabitants of the land, Native Americans. Native American innovations are vast, including influencing mathematics and government ideas that greatly influenced other cultures in Europe and Latin America. Let’s learn a bit more about their history.

1. The Sequoia tree is named in honor of a Cherokee leader.

Sequoyah completed his independent creation of a Cherokee syllabary in 1821, making reading and writing in Cherokee possible.

2. Sacagawea was an important member of the Lewis and Clark expedition at age 16.

 Sacagawea was a Lemhi Shoshone woman who aided the Lewis and Clark expedition as both a guide and an interpreter. Between 1804 and 1806, she traveled thousands of miles with them from North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean.

3.  There's an Iroquois treat or treating.

The Iroquois participated in a celebration of a winter festival similar to trick-or-treating. A small group of kids sang and danced around the village led by an older woman. They would stop outside people’s houses and wait for presents to be handed to them.

4.  The Cherokee (like many other tribes) traced their family relation matrilineally.

Since this happened, there were many women who held leadership roles. Women who had significant influence were known as “Ghigau,” which means Beloved Woman. The name also means “War Woman” and was often given to courageous women warriors.

5. Countless Native American words have become a part of the English language.

Just a few of these are barbecue, cannibal, caribou, chipmunk, chocolate, cougar, hammock, hurricane, mahogany, moose, opossum, potato, skunk, squash, toboggan, and woodchuck.

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