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John Harrelson · 04-10-2006, 07:52 PM

How about a little trivia about the American Indians
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Did you ever go to a "POTLUCK" dinner ?
The word "potluck" comes from the Indian word "POTLATCH".

A potlatch was a celebration feast given by the leader (we call him a Chief) of the tribe for any given reason,, it could be because his son is born, he just became the new chief, the buffalo hunt was good,,, etc...
And during the Potlatch celebration, the chief gave away most if not all of his treasured things to his people.. It could be his hunting bow, or his prize knife, or even his horses..

A good and wise leader showed his love for his people this way...

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Scientists believe that the American Indian came from the Asian Continent, via a "land bridge" that existed between the continents many thousands of years ago.. Thus the American Indian and the oriental races ( China, Tibet, India, etc) have the same origins..

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There were many famous Indian chiefs in America's history and many people cannot associate the chiefs with their nations..

Example, Sitting Bull was a chief of the SIOUX nation, not the Apache.. The Sioux Indians spoke a language called "SIOUAN".
The Sioux contained many different named tribes depending on where they were located in "Middle" (referred to as the great plains) America.. OJIBWA, DAKOTA, etc:;
But they were actually members of the same Sioux..

Chief JOSEPH was a chief in the NEZ PERCE nation
Chief COCHISE was a chief in the APACHE nation

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When we think of the Indian, we conjure up the noble red man astride his horse and living in a Tee Pee.. (properly called a "TIPI").. But in reality, only the plains Indians lived in a tipi. The HOPI Indian lived in a mud hut... The ANASAZI Indians lived in cliff houses, high up where their enemies could not attack them..

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We all are aware that the "American" language that we refer to as English is actually made up of many languages from other peoples.. Did you know that the words.. "SQUASH", "RACCOON", "MAIZE" come from the American Indian's native language.

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Did you know that the American Indian never beat a "TOM-TOM" drum... In fact they had never heard of a "TOM-TOM" until the white man told them..

The "TOM-TOM" drum is native to the EAST INDIES ISLANDS.. Not North America..

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At one time there were five separate nations of American Indians living in the north eastern area of North America and were at war with other..
After so many years of war the leaders came together and set up a peace agreement that has lasted for well over 100 years..
The Indians were the "IROQUOIS" and the peace agreement was called the "LEAGUE OF FIVE NATIONS"..

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When the white man came to the American west he wanted to teach the "Heathen" Indians about Christianity... you know, the story that says God sent his son to earth to save it....

Boy-o-Boy were they surprised when they encountered the Apache Indians.. The Apaches had the same belief for hundreds of years before the white man ever heard of the American continent..
The only real difference was the names given to the deity.. We called ours "God" and the Apache called his the "Great Spirit"..

************************************************** **********************

Wahs tey,
John

John Harrelson · 04-10-2006, 07:52 PM

How about a little trivia about the American Indians
************************************************** ******************

Did you ever go to a "POTLUCK" dinner ?
The word "potluck" comes from the Indian word "POTLATCH".

A potlatch was a celebration feast given by the leader (we call him a Chief) of the tribe for any given reason,, it could be because his son is born, he just became the new chief, the buffalo hunt was good,,, etc...
And during the Potlatch celebration, the chief gave away most if not all of his treasured things to his people.. It could be his hunting bow, or his prize knife, or even his horses..

A good and wise leader showed his love for his people this way...

************************************************** ******************

Scientists believe that the American Indian came from the Asian Continent, via a "land bridge" that existed between the continents many thousands of years ago.. Thus the American Indian and the oriental races ( China, Tibet, India, etc) have the same origins..

************************************************** ******************

There were many famous Indian chiefs in America's history and many people cannot associate the chiefs with their nations..

Example, Sitting Bull was a chief of the SIOUX nation, not the Apache.. The Sioux Indians spoke a language called "SIOUAN".
The Sioux contained many different named tribes depending on where they were located in "Middle" (referred to as the great plains) America.. OJIBWA, DAKOTA, etc:;
But they were actually members of the same Sioux..

Chief JOSEPH was a chief in the NEZ PERCE nation
Chief COCHISE was a chief in the APACHE nation

************************************************** *****************

When we think of the Indian, we conjure up the noble red man astride his horse and living in a Tee Pee.. (properly called a "TIPI").. But in reality, only the plains Indians lived in a tipi. The HOPI Indian lived in a mud hut... The ANASAZI Indians lived in cliff houses, high up where their enemies could not attack them..

************************************************** ********************

We all are aware that the "American" language that we refer to as English is actually made up of many languages from other peoples.. Did you know that the words.. "SQUASH", "RACCOON", "MAIZE" come from the American Indian's native language.

************************************************** *********************

Did you know that the American Indian never beat a "TOM-TOM" drum... In fact they had never heard of a "TOM-TOM" until the white man told them..

The "TOM-TOM" drum is native to the EAST INDIES ISLANDS.. Not North America..

************************************************** ******************

At one time there were five separate nations of American Indians living in the north eastern area of North America and were at war with other..
After so many years of war the leaders came together and set up a peace agreement that has lasted for well over 100 years..
The Indians were the "IROQUOIS" and the peace agreement was called the "LEAGUE OF FIVE NATIONS"..

************************************************** ********************

When the white man came to the American west he wanted to teach the "Heathen" Indians about Christianity... you know, the story that says God sent his son to earth to save it....

Boy-o-Boy were they surprised when they encountered the Apache Indians.. The Apaches had the same belief for hundreds of years before the white man ever heard of the American continent..
The only real difference was the names given to the deity.. We called ours "God" and the Apache called his the "Great Spirit"..

************************************************** **********************

Wahs tey,
John

AL · 04-11-2006, 01:31 AM

Hey John,

Thanks for the trivia, and since you peaked my intrest! What does "Wahs tey" mean and how do you pronounce it?

John Harrelson · 04-11-2006, 10:35 AM

Hi Al,

Think of "WAHS-TAY" as the indian word for the Hawaiian word "ALOHA".

It is used to say hello as well as say goodbye.

Pronunciation is kinda like a southern accent verses a New York accent..

Some places its pronounced "wAHHHHs - Tay" with no "shhhhh" sound on the end, like the word Sheet sounds.

In other areas its pronounced "wash-Tay" just like you "WASH" your dishes.

All of this information I got from books at the public library many years ago when I was a teenager in high school and researching my ancestry..

Seems that my great ancestor married a local indian from one of the many, many local tribes in the Carolinas back in the late 1600s / early 1700s.
Never did find out which tribe.

Indio · 04-12-2006, 05:31 AM

John:

Thanks for the info, as my heritage is Cherokee on my mothers side ( my Great Grandmother survived the Trail of Tears ), I always enjoy learning more of the Native Ways.

Few realize that the Natives were very different from how Hollwood portayed them in the movies. For the most part they were a peaceful people, respected the land as Mother Earth provded for them, and were a very democratic band of people.

If you are interested, try to find a book that is out of print, Hanta Yo by Ruth Bebe Hill. I found a copy recently for a friend on one of the on-line book stores, cost $3.95 The book is a remarkable insight into the Lakota Nation. Ruth only published this one book and spent twenty five years in research with the Grandfathers.

Two most interesting things I learned from the book is how responsible these people were. In battle if by chance a brave actually did kill another ( this was not common ), he had to take care of and provide for the slain ones siblings. A great system we should have today. Another was a most profound statement made by the Chief. After the second summer of contact with the Traders, a Minister had told the Chief of their God and the birth of Jesus Christ..... His response was, " I do not understand why you worship the birth of only one child, we peolple worship the birth of all children". I could go on and on.

I thought the chapter on the "Joining" of the Warrior and his bride was the most beautiful things I have read. I was so struck that I did my best to replicate it with my own four day wedding. I have a friend that has 3,000 acres outide Prescott, Az, got the local Havaupi to build a complete Village along with a Sweat Lodge. As beautiful as it was for Julie and I was pale by comparison to the experiences our guest had over the four days.

Enjoy and take care,

Walt

Dougmyers · 04-12-2006, 11:48 AM

Hi John
My wife is a Cherokee her grandfather was registered as was her Great Grandfather and great grandmother.
I have been working on her Tree for about two years and have everthing to go and get her registration I think in Oklahoma.

Her Grandfather name is Charlie Welch Cherokee
Her great Grandfather is John E Welch Cherokee
I can go on for about 5 generations on that name and she is kin to the Bearpaws, and Tehees all Cherokee I think anyway they are registered as that.

Nice to know some of us care about this kind of history for our country!

AL · 04-12-2006, 12:04 PM

Wahs-Tay John,

Thanks for the speedy reply and answering my question. My mother had some indian in her, not sure how much or what tribe? She did not speak of it much, but would mention it from time to time.

TXiceman · 04-12-2006, 02:49 PM

I am 1/16 Cherokee through my mothers side of the family. I ahve tried to trace back for registering in the Cherokee Nation and ther eis a hole due to some records that were apparently destroyed in a court house fire. We have a phote of the 1/2 Cherokee great grandmother in white mans dress.

Ken

Don (W5IT) · 04-12-2006, 05:44 PM

Well my great Grandmother was of the Choctaw Nation. My great grandfather was shunned by his family for MANY years for "Marrying that Indian Womman".

They tell me I would sit for HOURS listening to her stories. (Me sitting still for ANYTHING was unheard of back then)

She was trying to pass on the heritage to me. I barely remember that. But when Cathy and I took our daughters to thier first "Pow-Wow" they had a "Story teller". As she was speaking many of those stories came back to me.

Don't ask me how after all those years, I don't know. The feeling I felt cannot be discribed... I could speak of what she was going to say next to Cathy and the kids somehow. Almost like some kind of flash back.

I only remember her when she was quite old. My grandmother showed me a couple OLD pictures (Tinitype stuff) of she and my great grandfather when she was younger. From those pictures I can EASILY understand why my great grandfather was so attracted to her. SHe was some more PRETTY!

Dougmyers · 04-14-2006, 01:49 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by TXiceman:
I am 1/16 Cherokee through my mothers side of the family. I ahve tried to trace back for registering in the Cherokee Nation and ther eis a hole due to some records that were apparently destroyed in a court house fire. We have a phote of the 1/2 Cherokee great grandmother in white mans dress.

Ken </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
==========================================

If you know any of the names around 1900 that might have been registered I might can help find these people in my books and data base I have of registered indians. Be glad to help if I can.

Doug

ajbjrvers · 04-14-2006, 03:57 PM

To ALL< re, NATIVE AMERICANS:

When refering to or talking about the people we nearly wipe out when we Europeans arrived are

NATIVE AMERICANS, also NATIVE AMERICAN INDIANS, the least we white eyes can do is respect our/thier heritage.

Thanks=== Aime== AJBJRVERS====

I have Lokota and my wife Sioux.

Maybe, we should start a section for the first AMERICAN campers, after all they were full-timers

Old Snipe · 04-21-2006, 10:04 AM

I'm part Indian, too. From the Wooden Indian Tribe. That's where my blockhead comes from!

Best Regards!

Webster · 04-25-2006, 01:12 PM

As was stated, they are Native Americans. However, when using the word indian in reference to the Native American, do not use a capital 'i'. The capital 'I' is reserved for natives of India.

Native Americans got the name indian because, supposedly, Columbus was thought to have landed in India. Of course, he didn't which is further reason to not refer to them as Indians.

It seems that everyone knows of the Cherokee, the Apache, the Comanche, the Sioux...very few mention the Pawnee, or the Mi-Wuk or any of the other nations in California. I was surprised that Crazy Horse was not mentioned, especially with his place in history.

Ray,IN · 04-27-2006, 03:45 AM

Great post John! I have attempted to come to grips with the plight of the American indian(the original American) since studying history in high school. When I realized how they have been cheated, lied to, betrayed, and slaughtered. One never hears an American indian crying poor little me. I understand indians living on a reservation do not even have the right to vote.