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Native American

Columbus Day: Celebrating a holocaust

Published on by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, indigenous people / minorities, Native American, Northern America, Us and Them

MSNBC / The Indian Country

Stannard, board member of the new American Indian Genocide Museum being established in Houston, said the most massive act of genocide in the world followed the arrival of Columbus in the Americas.

When Columbus first sighted land on Oct. 12, 1492, the American Indian Holocaust began. The Spanish were driven by their lust for gold and silver and the English fueled by their desire for property. Christians killed with zeal those they believed defiled with sin. Their goal was exterminating the Indian race. Overall, 95 percent were obliterated. >> continue

SEE ALSO
Professors deconstruct heroic myth of Columbus (Daily Nebraskan)
Venezuela: The Transition from Columbus Day to Indian Resistance Day (The NarcoSphere)

MSNBC / The Indian Country

Stannard, board member of the new American Indian Genocide Museum being established in Houston, said the most massive act of genocide in the world followed the arrival of Columbus in the Americas.

When Columbus first sighted land…

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Mexico: Pride in Indigenous Heritage – Literally a Thing of the Past

Published on by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, indigenous people / minorities, Latin- and Central America, Native American

IPS News Service

Mexico’s National Museum of Anthropology and History (MNAH), one of the ten most important institutions of its kind in the world, is celebrating its 40th anniversary with cocktail receptions and new exhibitions. Sadly, however, there is little to celebrate for the impoverished descendants of the peoples whose cultures are proudly preserved in the museum’s halls.

The director of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), Sergio Raúl Arroyo, said that the MNAH has succeeded “in crafting an extraordinary bridge between the past and present, allowing us to reshape our idea of what cultural diversity means.” But in Mexico today, cultural diversity is not marked by respect, but rather by the discrimination of some groups against others, according to historian Lorenzo Meyer.

“It’s really paradoxical,” U.S. anthropologist Teo Martens told IPS. “The museum showcases the greatness of Mexican indigenous cultures, and on the street outside you see the miserable conditions they live in.” >> continue

IPS News Service

Mexico's National Museum of Anthropology and History (MNAH), one of the ten most important institutions of its kind in the world, is celebrating its 40th anniversary with cocktail receptions and new exhibitions. Sadly, however, there is little to…

Read more

From Popcorn to Parkas: 16 American Indian Innovations

Published on by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, culture traditions, indigenous people / minorities, Native American

National Geographic News

Imagine our world without chocolate or chewing gum, syringes, rubber balls, or copper tubing. Native peoples invented precursors to all these and made huge strides in medicine and agriculture.

They developed pain medicines, birth-control drugs, and treatment for scurvy. Their strains of domesticated corn, potatoes, and other foods helped reduce hunger and disease in Europe—though Indians also introduced the cultivation and use of tobacco.

As the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., readies for its grand opening Tuesday, bone up on Indian innovations in food and candy, outdoor gear, and health and exercise. >> continue (LINK UPDATED 11.9.2020)

National Geographic News

Imagine our world without chocolate or chewing gum, syringes, rubber balls, or copper tubing. Native peoples invented precursors to all these and made huge strides in medicine and agriculture.

They developed pain medicines, birth-control drugs, and treatment for scurvy.…

Read more

History’s New Look – an Unusual Approach to the Story of Native Americans

Published on by lorenz Posted in anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, indigenous people / minorities, Native American, Us and Them

Washington Post

No other museum in the world has, on such a scale, devoted itself to this fresh and unusual approach to the story of Native Americans. Its planners have created what they call a “museum different” that might make it very hard for museums on the drawing board ever again to tell a story about people from a detached, third-person point of view. The new National Museum of the American Indian is built around native communities expressing their own authentic voices and their own interpretations of events — part of its mission to change myths and stereotypes. >> continue

Washington Post

No other museum in the world has, on such a scale, devoted itself to this fresh and unusual approach to the story of Native Americans. Its planners have created what they call a "museum different" that might make it…

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Did the First Americans Come From, Er, Australia?

Published on by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, indigenous people / minorities, migration, Native American, persons and theories

Reuters

Anthropologists stepped into a hornets’ nest on Monday, revealing research that suggests the original inhabitants of America may in fact have come from what is now known as Australia. The claim will be extremely unwelcome to today’s native Americans who came overland from Siberia and say they were there first.

Silvia Gonzalez from John Moores University in Liverpool said skeletal evidence pointed strongly to this unpalatable truth and hinted that recovered DNA would corroborate it. She said there was very strong evidence that the first migration came from Australia via Japan and Polynesia and down the Pacific Coast of America. >>continue

Reuters

Anthropologists stepped into a hornets' nest on Monday, revealing research that suggests the original inhabitants of America may in fact have come from what is now known as Australia. The claim will be extremely unwelcome to today's native Americans who…

Read more