History

Qhapaq Nan, the Inka road, was an awe-inspiring feat of engineering and construction, and also of political integration. It held together a vast empire of majestic terrain and widely different eco-systems, until the arrival of the Spanish.

The first Oneida to graduate from medical school fought two wars, one for better health for his people, the other in the final offensive of World War I. His heroics deserve greater recognition.

In a lesser-known career in Hollywood, the great athlete promoted the cause of Indians in and out of the movie industry.

The great Kiowa photographer documented the daily life of his people and his family, and also their strong martial tradition.

The Smithsonian launched its photography collection as a project to record Indian tribal delegations visiting Washington, D.C. Here is a sample from the Photo Archives at the Museum’s Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, Md.

On a late summer day in 1874, Cherokee Chief William Potter Ross rose to speak to a gathering in the small railroad town of Vinita, Indian Territory (near modern-day Tulsa, Okla.).

Mother, widow, brainwashed kidnap victim. That, according to tribal tradition, was Pocahontas before her much romanticized wedding with English planter John Rolfe, the 400th anniversary of which will be celebrated this year.

The genus Homo evolved amid dramatic variations in climate. As Homo sapiens now shapes the world, for better or worse, we must learn to adapt as a part of Nature, not as its master.

After years of restoration, officials of the Vatican Museum recently announced that a detail in the Pinturicchio frescos in the Borgia Apartment is probably the earliest known European depiction of American natives. But the six figures, very likely the surviving Taino brought back by Columbus on his first voyage, are no strangers to us. We even know one by name.

Protesting a bad treaty, the Cherokee warrior led a resistance that collided with the beginning of the American Revolution.