Native American Heritage

Learn about Native American culture with the following activities.

Native Americans have inhabited North America for thousands of years. Each group of people, or tribe, has their own creation story of how they came to be and how they came to live where they do. Once spread around what is now the United States, Canada and Mexico, there are now reservations where tribes were moved to. Currently about 50% of the Native American population lives off the reservation, either in large cities like Seattle, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, San Diego or in other areas.

When Columbus landed at what he thought was East Asia, he came across a group of people he then called “Indians” – he actually landed in the Bahamas. Many Native American people prefer to be identified with their tribe, i.e. Lakota, Shoshone, Navajo, or Onondaga to name just a few. It is fine to say Native American, American Indian or Indian and is generally polite to ask how the person you are speaking to how they prefer to be identified.

Tsoniki Crazy Bull was born and raised in South Dakota, living on the Rosebud Reservation near her Mother’s extended family. She lived next door to her Grandma who told her stories of the past, went chokecherry picking with her Mom and brothers and realized it was easy to imagine what life used to be like since the reservation is in a rural area. Tsoniki’s family also owned a tipi for many years and used it during specific ceremonial events every year, a great experience she hopes to pass on to her children. She is of Lakota and Shoshone/Paiute ancestry.