Since time immemorial, Native Americans have lived on this continent, from northern Alaska to the Gulf Coast of Florida. There are over nine million Native Americans living in what is now the United States, representing hundreds of tribal nations with incredibly diverse languages, cultures, and traditions. Here are some fascinating facts about the tribes and stories of Native Americans.
1. Native Americans spoke over 300 languages.
North America was home to a large number of languages spoken before colonization: more than 300, including 500 across the continent.
However, many of these languages have disappeared as a result of government assimilation policies. In 1868, President Ulysses S. Grant said, “In the difference of language of today resides two-thirds of our troubles…their barbaric dialect should be obliterated and the English tongue replaced.”
Beginning in the 1800s, Native Americans were removed from their communities and moved to reservations, and children were taken to Indian boarding schools and educated in English. It wasn’t until 1972, when Congress passed the Indian Education Act, that Native American tribes were allowed to teach their own language.
According to the US Census Bureau, in 2013, 169 indigenous languages were spoken in the United States. Many of them have a very small number of speakers. In 1990, Congress passed the Native American Language Act, which supports the preservation and revitalization of the Native American language. This support is essential: all but two Native American languages are at risk of disappearing completely by 2050.
READ MORE: How boarding schools tried to ‘kill the Indian’ through assimilation
2. The first newspaper in a Native American language began to appear in 1828.
John Ridge, Cherokee chief and publisher of the Cherokee Phoenix, in a painting by Charles Bird King, circa 1825.
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Prior to colonization, Native American languages were transmitted orally. After the arrival of Europeans, several tribes began to adopt writing systems. Sequoyah, a member of the Cherokee Nation, spent 12 years developing a writing system so her people could learn to read and write in her language, completing her 86-character syllabary in 1821.
“There are many syllabaries – Japanese hiragana is the most famous,” says Dr. Ellen Cushman, a member of the Cherokee Nation and a professor at Northeastern University. “But Cherokee is the only one that was invented by a native, for natives.”
Because the syllabary was created to represent the specific sounds of the Cherokee language, it was easy for Cherokee to learn. “Within three to five years, the tribe could read and write,” says Cushman.
On February 21, 1828, the first edition of the Cherokee Phoenix was released in the Cherokee capital of New Echota, Georgia. The first bilingual newspaper in the United States, it was printed in English and Cherokee.
WATCH VIDEO: Trail of Tears: Forced Native American Resettlement
3. There are 574 federally recognized tribes in the United States.
A Tlingit mother with her son in the village of Kake on Kupreanof Island, Tongass National Forest, Alaska.
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Of the 574 federally recognized tribes, 229 are in Alaska. California has the second-largest number of federally recognized tribes, at 109, as well as the largest Native American population of any state.
These federally recognized tribes have government-to-government relationships with the United States, like other sovereign nations. But many tribes are not federally recognized, which means they are not eligible for government programs and support.
As of 2020, 66 tribes had received state recognition in 13 states. State recognition does not always entitle tribes to state or federal benefits, but it does acknowledge their historical and contemporary existence.
READ MORE: California’s Little-Known Genocide
4. Native Americans cultivated many of the most important crops in the world.
Corn is dried and then ground into flour.
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Native American tribes have varied diets that reflect their local food systems. Many Native American tribes practiced agriculture, domesticating the crops we eat today. In 2016, it was estimated that up to 60% of the world’s food supply relied on crops originating in North America.
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Corn was created by indigenous farmers in southern Mexico and Guatemala perhaps 10,000 years ago. By the time European settlers arrived in North America, Native Americans had been cultivating it for thousands of years. Native Americans also grew beans, squash, potatoes and tomatoes.
READ MORE: 7 foods developed by Native Americans
5. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy is one of the oldest living democracies in the world.
Also called the Iroquois Confederacy by the French, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy was formed by five tribal nations: Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. Some scholars believe it was founded in 1142, while the Confederacy itself claims it has existed since time immemorial. Either way, it is considered one of the oldest participatory democracies in the world.
The nations are united by the Great Law of Peace (Kaianere’ko:wa), which serves as their political constitution. A sixth nation, the Tuscarora, joined the Confederacy in the 18th century.
“Many tribes were democratic, but the Haudenosaunee Confederacy brought people together over a wide geographic area. That’s part of what makes them unique,” says Dr. Donald A. Grinde Jr., author of Example of freedom and a professor with Yamasee heritage at the University at Buffalo.
Grinde’s research focused on the influence of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy on the United States Constitution. “There were three major contributions,” explains Grinde. “First, this sovereignty belongs to the people. The second is the separation of powers, the separate branches of government. And the third is the constitution itself, with quoteable articles, similar to how the Haudenosaunee recited their Great Law of Peace each year. Unlike the United States Constitution, women played an active role in Haudenosaunee democracy.
READ MORE: The Native American government that influenced the US Constitution
6. Native Americans were forcibly relocated by the Indian Relocation Act in 1830.
The Trail of Tears as depicted in a 1951 painting by Blackbear Bosin.
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Prior to colonization, Native Americans lived throughout the territory that is now called the United States. But in 1930, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act. The act was spurred by the desire of white settlers to grow cotton in the south on the prized lands of the Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek, and other tribes.
The act was used to drive out Native Americans from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, and send them to “Indian Territory” located in present-day Oklahoma. Thousands of people died during these forced migrations.
READ MORE: The trail of tears
7. Native Americans were granted American citizenship in 1924.
The Indian Citizenship Act was signed into law by President Calvin Coolidge on June 2, 1924. Some Native Americans were already considered American citizens, because of the Dawes Act of 1887, which granted citizenship to those who accepted land grants .
However, even though they had been granted full citizenship, many Native Americans were still denied the right to vote. The right to vote belonged to the states, and many continued to deny it to Native Americans for decades.
States have also used discriminatory practices to limit access to the ballot box. For example, many used literacy tests, which barred Native Americans (and others) who could not read or write English from voting. These practices continued until the passing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.
READ MORE: The long journey of Native Americans to citizenship and the right to vote
8. The Navajo Nation has the largest tribal land in the United States.
A brother and two sisters ride on Navajo land in the desert region of Monument Valley, Arizona.
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The Navajo Nation spans nearly 25,000 square miles, an area roughly the size of West Virginia and more than twice the size of Maryland. The nation spans Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.
In 2021, the Navajo Nation also surpassed the Cherokee Nation to also become the largest tribe by population, with nearly 400,000 registered members. And as you’d expect, Navajo has the most speakers of any Native American language.
9. Not all Native American tribes have their own land.
There are approximately 326 tribal land areas in the United States, compared to 574 federally recognized tribes. Among the tribes that own land, they represent on average only about 2.6% of the area of the territory they occupied before colonization. Many tribes that were forcibly displaced by the US government were left without land.
It is commonly cited that only 22% of Native Americans live on tribal land, a statistic that comes from the 2010 census. However, a 2014 study by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development found that 68% of Native Americans and of Alaska Native Americans live on or near their home country.
