Web Culture and History Resources for American Indian Schools

CULTURAL EDUCATION RESOURCES

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Index of Native American Resources on the Internet--Likely to be the most complete and up-to-date set of link pointers to everything having anything to do with Indians (and some other indigenous peoples) on the InterNet. Karen Strom of the hanksville server, at University of Massachusetts's Department of Physics and Astronomy, keeps it up to date. Follow the brief listings of the Table of Contents down by subject for a well-organized guide, where I located many of the cultural resources listed here.

NativeWeb--A site that is attempting to organize all native resources on the web and Internet in a somewhat different approach to categorizing them than Strom's. Some may find the different approach more useful if they start with focused inquiries, rather than a desire to see everything there is. Web page listings are essentially the same on both these indexes. Some NativeWeb pages contain material retyped from books. Others contain random sweepings--often uncredited from the InterNet. There is extremely wide variation in quality of this "published" material, from interesting material whose author is credited to utter trash.

Reed Interactive's Online Projects--This Australian telecommunications company's project is to seek "Traditional Wisdom and Creation Stories" to be shared among schoolchildren from (about) grades 3-6 (reading level). There are several Australian aboriginal stories, that may have been contributed from several Aboriginal schools now on the net. This company's sponsorship of such native contributions for Web sharing will continue through December 1995. Preparing and submitting such stories would be an excellent class project.

U.S. Department of the Interior--Here they all are, from the BIA to all the Departments and agencies of interior that manage stolen land, water, natural resources, etc. A useful web page starting point for native social studies and political science study. You can get to the pages of each of Interior's sub-parts from here, and you will find that in many cases (except for the BIA) you are not just accessing a page, but a network of government servers. This is a must area for native researchers to browse and dig deeply into.

ABORIGINAL YOUTH NET--Web page sponsored by an Ottawa software company for Canadian Native youth. It includes the possibility of individual EMAIL accounts for Native teens. It has been designed for creative construction by the youth, with sections to input "Your Own Stories", "Your Own Poems", "Your Tellings of Traditional Wisdoms". All empty so far since they didn't get started till school was out. They also have set up an Art Gallery for young artists, and say they will use the best of the submissions to replace the non-Indian rather standard-looking icons, buttons, and page logos. This set of pages would be a good one for youth of American Native Nations to communicate with their Canadian relatives on the other side of that artificial border the John Jay treaty says Indian people need not recognize.

Bureau of Indian Affairs--Well, here they are, that's about all I got to say about this one. Nice pix of Ada Deer, otherwise not much content (as yet) on this server. But, Look, Kids! Here They Are.

Electronic Pathways--This is an "Indian access to the Internet" project sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation. In addition to its educational page postings, representatives can help you get a free access to the net, which you do by having your own EMAIL box and the right software. If you have a modem (they are cheap) and a computer at home, you can correspond, subscribe to Indian-topics mailing lists which circulate responses of all members, browse the graphics and informational and entertainment riches of the web at your own pace. There are 800- access phone numbers for reservation people away from city gateways. If you are using a school computer and account (to access this now) you might want to contact this group and arrange for your personal connection.

Ojibwe Language and Culture, by Nancy Vogt--These are mostly essays on her personal experiences and thoughts about growing up both as an Indian girl then woman, and as (I guess) a university scientist. There are interesting and thoughtful perceptions here contrasting values and beliefs of both cultures she has lived in, presented objectively. She is a good, clear writer. It might give your students some ideas for personal-philosophical-experience diaries, a good writing motivator. She seems to have aimed most of her essays at a 4th or 5th-grade reading level, although the subjects she covers (including experiences with racial prejudice and conflicting values of the Western and Anishnabeg worlds) are suitable for thought and discussion among older students.

RED INK Volume Three Number One [No longer available online] --A quarterly periodical of articles, stories and poetry mostly by native college and grad students of many tribes. This is the first of their on-line issues. Of special interest for science classes is the lead article about the BIA-IHS genocidal policy of sterilization of native women, which was discovered by Dr. Connie (Redbird) Pinkerman (formerly Uri) in 1973 at the infamous Claremont BIA hospital but which (most people knowing the facts believe) was actually carried out all across the U.S. Not mentioned in the article is the fact that the U.S. government attempted to assassinate Connie with a silenced sharpshooter-rifle in the Denver airport, when she was returning from testifying about this to Congress. The U.S. press paid little attention to these genocidal actions, but that wasn't so of the world press, which was horrified. At this time in 1974, Connie was "marked for death" by Douglass Durham, the FBI-CIA-Army Intelligence infiltrator who made himself into AIM's National Security Director. Durham prepared a flyer and poster announcing Connie was a government informer and sentenced to death by an AIM tribunal. He also approached several AIM warriors of various violent backgrounds soliciting them to kill her--several told her about this. Years later, Connie became a lawyer (at age 50) and continues to support herself in her medical speciality, while devcoting her lawyer-time to native causes and people in Los Angeles, where she lives and practices. The Red Ink article cites some data sources, which a science school research project could follow up on, but it is noteworthy that the study which was finally compelled got statistics for only one year at 4 IHS area locations. Connie believes that about 1/3 of all native women of childbearing age have been sterilized during this period of government-sponsored genocide. The same practice of intimidation and false information to women in IHS facilities were practiced all over Indian country during the 1970's.

AICAP Home Page--Culture and Arts galleries and pointers y the American Indian Culture and Arts Project. The gallery is not intended to be an educational overview of native art; it is a commercial gallery of a few artists' paintings. Indian artists influenced by their heritage, but painting in modern style. There's also a link to a fellow calling himself Turtle Heart, who says he's an Ojibway living in the Mojave desert. He offers some expensive and odd objects, such as a silver "Navajo" small pot-thing for several thousand dollars. Turtle Heart was very active on the Internet in 1994, with rambling personal philosophies and poems, and much begging for donated computer equipment. Evidently he scored.

American Historical Images on File--Hundreds of engravings, maps, and from the 19th-century on, photos of Indian people and events. Examples range from a Relocation flyer put out by the BIA to a pic of Wilma Mankiller. You'll be looking at a list of relatively undescribed images which you can download for your own classroom use.

Canadian Museum of Civilization - Grand Hall--Traditional houses and decorated so-called totem poles for 8 Northwest Coast tribes. You visually tour inside the houses, read about lifestyles. There are interviews with elders and tribal spokespeople. Upstairs is a gallery of more modern Indian artwork, and a display of highly-decorated clothing. You can switch the text between French and English, but not back and forth, one or the other only.

Fourth World Documentation Project-- Documents from the Americas, including some early historical materials, current tribal council resolutions,U.N. documents pertaining to indigenous peoples. The archive also contains a "Ward Churchill-sponsored" pseudo-AIM statement denouncing "Plastic Medicine Men". This document includes in its denunciations of alleged fakes (most of them I never heard of, don't know anything about them) one elderly Pine Ridge Lakota couple (Wallace and Grace Black Elk; he's descended from the Black Elk of "Black Elk Speaks") who are perfectly genuine in their spiritual knowledge and traditional upbringing. Wallace and Grace were early and strong supporters of (the real) AIM in Wounded Knee and afterwards. It was Wallace who led and explained the new Ghost Dance held there under military fire in the snow. Many will remember their kindness, generosity of spirit, and the real roots they never boasted about. This denunciation of them,may serve as an example to not trust everything you find on the net.

Native American Resources at the Smithsonian: National Zoo--Primarily describes a garden of native medicinal plants maintained at the zoo.

Native American Resources at the Smithsonian: National Museum of American History--A catalog with some images and pointers to some of the Smithsonian's many resources.

Native American Resources at the Smithsonian: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education--Smithsonian Institution programs including internships for Indian youth, and educational outreach to Native Nations.

The Heard Museum--Work by Native artists, put on by the Arizona Heard Museum. Different areas of North America are covered; maps point you to the several culture areas represented. This is a kind of hasty but interesting beginning (some technical problems of the presentation) of how on-line expository art shows should be handled.

A Guide to the Great Sioux Nation--Prepared by the South Dakota state department of tourism, this page is slated to be updated by staffs of Pine Ridge and Rosebud colleges. It has some info about the 7 tribes comprising the Great Sioux Nation (i.e. the Teton Lakota). All over these pages flies the S.D. "tourism flag" which shows an outline of the U.S. red-and-white striped and the presidential rock-sculpture defacements of Paha Sapa forming the blue field. They don't include the upside-down version that was used as a 1976 AIM bicentennial poster-and-performance art event--we vcut their poster apart, pasted it upside-down and reprinted it, and wrote them saying "Sue Us! we violated your copyright" (with a few remarks about how our court defense would be based on treaties thrown in). Performance art 20 years before its time. I hope those college students will turn that flag upside down again.

National Museum of the American Indian--The recently-opened Smithsonian and Heye Foundation Museum at the Customs House in NYC.

Pueblo Cultural Center--access almost all southwest pueblos for general information about each. Unofficially prepared, not many pix, but brief factual overviews and contact info for each Rio Grande Valley pueblo.

Early photos of Iowa Native Americans--There are also turn-of-the-century interviews of Mesquakie Indian families in Tama and Oklahoma. These are primarily descendants of the great Mesquakie leader BlackSnake. Excerpts from his long out-of-print autobiography are also included. Prepared by Augustana (Iowa) College's library from their mss and photo holdings. Wish more historical societies would get their old mss and photos on-line! 19th and early 20th century interviews with long-gone people are now vital sources of cultural info for Indian youth. Blacksnake's discussions of the powwows and how they make warriors compared with what he saw in Washington are priceless--funny, too--whatever tribe you are.

Be sure to place a bookmark on every page you find interesting. You may never find it again, otherwise.
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Page prepared by Paula Giese copyright 1995

Last updated: Tuesday, June 06, 1995 - 7:09:52 AM