Description
The Zuni Indians lived in the desert land where the state of New Mexico is now located. They lived in villages called pueblos. The houses of one pueblo were built on top of the others. The flat roof of one house served as a garden for the house above. People climbed ladders and entered their homes through holes in the roof. There were some rooms in the pueblo where no one lived. They called these special rooms kivas. The men went there to have serious conversations or to perform ceremonies. They hoped these ceremonies would bring rain to their dry desert land. The Zuni began their day working in the fields. Like most Native Americans, they always worked first and then ate, because in those days, one couldn't cook breakfast in just a few minutes. The Zuni usually baked bread that was as thin as paper in the water. The bread was blue because it was made from blue corn. The Zuni planted corn in deep holes they dug with sticks. When the corn was ripe, the boys had to run around the field all day, yelling at crows that wanted the corn. Whatever the Zuni did, they did together. Entire families worked together in the fields and shared all the food.
Native Americans are the original inhabitants of the Americas. Columbus, who in 1492 believed he had reached the Indies (his intention was to travel westward across the Atlantic Ocean and thus reach the Indies), called the inhabitants indios—Indians. Because the term "Indian" is derived from a Western perspective, several alternative names have come into use. In the United States, the American government and academics introduced the term Native American (Dutch: eigen Amerikaan) in the 1960s for the groups under the responsibility of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. An additional reason was confusion with people of Indian descent, who are also called Indians in English. However, this new terminology was not universally accepted because it was adopted without consultation with those involved and because it conflated Native Americans with the original inhabitants of Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Pacific Islands. A 2005 survey by the US Census Bureau found that nearly 50% of Native Americans prefer to be called "American Indians," while just over 37% prefer "Native American." Both terms are now used. It is noteworthy that the Bureau of Indian Affairs now uses the term American Indian instead of Native American. The term First Nations/Premières Nations is used in Canada. In Latin America, Native Americans are officially called indígenas (indigenous people). In the scientific world, they are also sometimes referred to as Amerindians or Amerindians. Incidentally, the Eskimos (sometimes called Inuit, although that term does not strictly refer to the Yupik in Alaska) are often (in politics and academia) not considered Native Americans, but are considered "Native Americans." In both Canada and the US, emancipation regarding ethnic naming is increasingly a matter for Indigenous communities themselves, who are becoming increasingly (self-)aware in cultural and political terms. For example, Indigenous peoples officially recognized by the US and Canadian governments, who consider themselves a full-fledged political and cultural state, are increasingly expressing their wish to no longer be called tribes (as in the US) or bands (as in Canada), but rather Nations (nations or states). Furthermore, the names introduced by Europeans (or surrounding Indigenous peoples) in the past are increasingly being replaced by the names peoples gave themselves. For example, instead of Iroquois, people now more often speak of Haudenosaunee. Other name changes include Lakota (Dakota/Nakota) for Sioux, Mexicah for Aztecs, Ñudzahui for Mixtecs, and Mapuche for Araucanians. "Indian" is not capitalized in Dutch because it refers not to a single people but to several ethnic groups (just like Gypsies). King William I, in several of his Royal Decrees, referred to his subjects in the Dutch East Indies as "Indians." However, "Native" became the common term. At the time of Columbus's arrival, North America was divided into several cultural regions. The best known are those of the far north (Arctic region) and those of the prairies in the Midwest, the Great Plains. On the Plains, most people lived along the rivers and were farmers. Farmers also lived in the east and southwest of North America. The main crops were corn, beans, and pumpkins, originally from Mexico. Cotton was also grown in the southwest, and sunflowers, among other crops, were grown in the east. Tobacco was planted in almost the entire present-day United States and southern Canada. The stereotypical image of "the Indian" is based on the Prairie peoples of the nineteenth century. This isn't to say that bison and other animals weren't hunted before Columbus (without horses!). Especially in the northern part of the Great Plains, there were many so-called "Buffalo Jumps." Here, bison were driven into a ravine, where they fell to their deaths. A museum at the Buffalo Jump Head-Smashed-In in Alberta, Canada, demonstrates how this was done.
