Native American Facts


Native American History Facts

 

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Indian Tribes Involved in the French and Indian War

The French and Indian War (called the Seven Years’ War in Europe) was fought from 1754-1763.  The French and Indian War was the last of four major colonial wars between the British, the French, and their Native American allies for control of North America.

It was the first North American global war, fought in North America, India, Prussia, Austria and other European countries, Russia, and West Africa. During the fighting that occurred on North American soil, both sides often had Indian allies. Sometimes factions of one tribe fought on both sides. Here is a brief explanation of who fought on what side.

The true history of Thanksgiving

At the end of their first year, the Puritans held a great feast following the harvest of food from their new farming efforts. The feast honored Squanto and their friends, the Wampanoags.

The feast was followed by 3 days of “thanksgiving” celebrating their good fortune. This feast produced the image of the first Thanksgiving that we all grew up with as children. However, things were doomed to change.

Trail of Tears

At the beginning of the 1830s, nearly 125,000 Native Americans lived on millions of acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida–land their ancestors had occupied and cultivated for generations. By the end of the decade, very few natives remained anywhere in the southeastern United States.

Working on behalf of white settlers who wanted to grow cotton on the Indians’ land, the federal government forced them to leave their homelands and walk hundreds or even thousands of miles to a specially designated “Indian territory” across the Mississippi River (where Oklahoma is today). This difficult and sometimes deadly journey is known as the Trail of Tears.

When many people think of the Native American Trail of Tears, they think of the Cherokee tribe, but there were other tribes who also had a “Trail of Tears.” All of the “Civilized Tribes” were removed.