Where I live in the state of Arizona, there are many amazing Indian tribes including the Apache, Navajo, Hopi, Paiute, Hualapai, Yavapai, and more.  These amazing tribes of hunters, gatherers, and warriors have a long and rich history across the United States of America.  They were the first stewards, or guardians, of this nation, living on the land thousands of years before Columbus discovered its rugged shores.  I have always been fascinated with Native American history and the impact of various tribes on our culture throughout the centuries. And with November being Native American Heritage Month, I thought it would be a great chance to explore more about the impact of Native American Indians on the nation of America.  Did you know that more than half of all U.S. states are derived from Native American words or were named after Native American tribes?  Can you guess any?  I gave a clue when talking about the Mayflower landing.  If you thought of the state of Massachusetts, you are correct!  This state was named after the Algonquin word “Massadchu-es-et,” meaning “at the big hill” or “a place of hills.”  And I found more incredible history, so let’s discuss the states in alphabetical order.  (And please excuse me if I mispronounce any names.)  First is Alabama.

1. Alabama is named after the Alabama – or Alibamu – tribe. Some say the word “Alabama” means “clearers of the thicket” or “herb gatherers.”  Others say it comes from the Creek language meaning “tribal town.” Maybe one of our listeners in Alabama can write in and tell us more.

2. Alaska is named after the Aleut word “Alyeska” meaning “great land.”
   
3. Arizona, my home state, is named after the O’odham word “alĭ ṣonak” meaning “small spring.”  Speaking from experience, Arizona is very vast, hot, and dry, with temperatures reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit or more in the summer.  If you live in Arizona, you have to be very good at finding water and I’m sure the Native Americans in this area are experts at finding the small springs!
   
4. Connecticut comes from the Mohican word “quonehtacut” meaning “beside the long tidal river.”

5. Hawaii in the Hawaiian language means “homeland.”   This is a very beautiful island with lush green jungles, sandy beaches, palm trees, waterfalls, and amazing sunsets.  I am sure the natives are incredibly happy to live there and call it their homeland.

6.  Idaho is a little tricky.  It can come from several origins, including the Salmon River tribe and their words “Ida” meaning salmon, and “ho” meaning tribe – so, the land of “Salmon eaters.”  Or it could come from the Comanche word “Idahi,” although I couldn’t a meaning for that word.  A third source states that the name “Idaho” is a made-up name!  Records indicate that a mining executive named George Willing spoke to Congress about land around a specific mountain peak and made up the name “Idaho,” saying it was a Shoshone phrase “E Dah Hoe (How),” meaning “gem of the mountains.”  Eventually, his lie was discovered but by that time, the name was in common usage and was never changed.  I’d love to hear more from a listener in Idaho!

7. Illinois is derived from the Illini’s word “illiniwek” meaning “best people.” 

8. Iowa is named after the Iowas – or Ioways – a Sioux tribe.  It comes from their word “ah-hee-oo-ba” meaning “sleepy ones.”

9. Kansas is named after the Kaws – or Kansa – Indians, who are another Sioux tribe, with the word meaning “south wind people.”

10. Kentucky is a bit more difficult to determine.  It may be named after the Iroquois word “Ken-tah-ten” meaning “land of tomorrow.” It may have other meanings, too, such as “cane and turkey lands” or “dark and bloody ground.” If you live in, or come from, Kentucky, we’d love to hear from you.

11. Michigan comes from the Chippewa word “Meicigama” meaning “great water.”  Michigan is home to over 64,000 lakes and waterways, including Lake Superior, so it sure does have a lot of great water! 

12. Minnesota comes from the Dakota Indian word “Minisota” meaning “cloudy water” or “sky-tinted water.”

13. Mississippi is derived from the Ojibwe or Algonquin word “misi-ziibi” and means “great river.”  It is named after the great Mississippi River that runs through the state.

14. Missouri comes from a Missouri Sioux word meaning “town of the large canoes,” “wooden canoe people,” “he of the big canoe,” or “river of the big canoes.” I think we can safely say that most people in Missouri back then traveled by canoe!

15. Nebraska comes from the Oto Indians and their word “Nebrathka” meaning “flat water.”

16. New Mexico is said to mean “place of Mexitli,” an Aztec god.

17. Ohio is derived from an Iroquois word meaning “good river.”

18. Oklahoma comes from the Choctaw words “okla humma” and means “red people.”

19/20. South and North Dakota comes from the Sioux word “Dahkota” meaning “friend.”

21. Tennessee comes from Creek and Cherokee origins.  The word “Tanasqui” is said to mean “meeting place,” “winding river,” or “river of the great bend” and was also the name of a Cherokee village.

22. Texas derives from the Caddo Indian word “teyshas,” meaning “friends” or “allies.”

23. Utah comes from the Apache language and their word “yuttahih” meaning “people of the mountains.”

24. Wisconsin is another bit of tricky history.  One source states that the name comes from an Indian word “Wishkonsing” meaning “place of the beaver.” Another source states it comes from Indian words meaning “river running through a red place,” referring to the Wisconsin river running through the red bluffs of the Wisconsin Dells. Maybe someone from Wisconsin can write in and tell us.

25. Wyoming comes from the Delaware Indians and the shortening of their word “mecheweamiing” meaning “at the big plains.” 

We owe a large debt of gratitude to the Native American Indian tribes who settled America long before immigrants arrived from other countries.  They honored the land and took great care of it, only taking what they needed and giving something in return to keep the universe in harmony and balance.  They had great wisdom and were in tune with the land, waters, mountains, and stars.  They listened to, and watched, their environment and mastered how to survive on the land.  They knew the best seasons for hunting, planting, gathering, migration, hibernation, celebrations, and more.  

I think we can learn a lot from these amazing Indian tribes and their timeless wisdom, including some of their proverbs, such as: 

Each of us is put here in this time and this place to personally decide the future of mankind.  Did you think the Creator would create unnecessary people?  Know that you yourself are essential to this world. (Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 1954, Lakota, Dakota, Nakota Nation)

The Earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.  (Chief Joseph)

Treat the Earth well.  It was not given to you by your parents.  It was loaned to you by your children.  We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. (Ponca Chief White Eagle)

It does not require many words to speak the truth.  (Chief Joseph Nez Perce)

Man has responsibility, not power.  (Tuscarora proverb)

What you do not know, you will fear.  What you fear, you will destroy.

Nothing in nature lives for itself.  Rivers don’t drink their own water.  Trees don’t eat their own fruit. The sun doesn’t shine for itself.  Flowers don’t spread fragrance for themselves.  Living for others is the rule of nature.

Take only what you need and leave the land as you found it.  (Arapaho)

Regard Heaven as your father, Earth as your mother, and all that lives as your brothers and sisters.

Listen to the wind – it talks.  Listen to the silence – it speaks.  Listen to your heart – it knows.

May the footprints we leave behind show that we walked in kindness toward the Earth and every living thing. 

Give me knowledge so I may have kindness for all.

Listen or your tongue will keep you deaf.

So, what do you think about all this amazing Native American Indian history?  Do you live in a town, city, or state with an Indian name?  Or is there a park, river, or mountain in your community with an Indian name?  My friend grew up in the state of Vermont, which means “Vert Mont” or “Green Mountain” in French, but her town also has a river running through it called the Ottaquechee (AWT-ah-KWEE-chee), meaning “swift mountain stream.”  As we have learned from history, early European explorers sometimes changed the names of places they discovered or explored.  So, even if your state’s name does not come from Native American origins, maybe it has a town, river, or mountain with an Indian name.  Why not hunt for these names or ask your parents to help you look on a map for these names?  I would love to hear from you and learn more about your discoveries regarding Native American influences where you live.

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Today we’re going to learn about a few of the people who were born in the Navajo Nation and their adventures that started back in 1942, around 80 years ago.

At this time in Europe, World War II has been raging for two years, but in the United States, people are still going about their daily activities – attending school, working in stores, tending family farms, and raising children.  But suddenly, on December 7, 1941, the US state of Hawaii is attacked by enemy planes.  Big battleships are sunk.  Many lives are lost.  The US must respond and save their nation – but how?

A Military Plan

Military leaders get together to discuss a battle plan.  They gather soldiers, ships, tanks, and planes.  Next, they need to find a battle language – a secret code – to relay messages back and forth.  Their enemies are good at cracking codes – they did it in World War I and they are currently doing it in Europe during World War II.  So, what kind of code can they use?  They need a language that is unknown, and very difficult to speak and understand.  During the first World War, the US used Native American languages like Choctaw for their codes. Nineteen Choctaw warriors were sent into battle to relay secret messages.  The enemy couldn’t understand this Choctaw language; they thought the US had created some type of machine to record voices underwater!  However, after WWI, the enemy learned about this code and sent students to the US to learn Choctaw, plus other Native American languages such as Hopi, Comanche, and Cherokee.  The US military leaders need to find a new language – something unknown to most people.  An article about this search is printed in the papers.

The Navajo Code

Philip Johnston reads about this search in the paper and has an idea.  As a child, he was raised on a Navajo reservation with missionary parents, meaning religious people, who helped the Navajo.  He knows how to speak Navajo – a language that is not written has no alphabet and is very difficult to understand.  The same Navajo word can mean different things based on the tone of voice used or if the word is spoken in a high voice, a low voice, or even a rising or falling voice.  This would make a perfect code! 

Philip contacts the US military and, after a lot of convincing, they agree to use Navajo as their code!  They find 29 young Navajo men who are bilingual – meaning they speak Navajo and English – from the Navajo Nation spread across the US states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.  The men are sent to Camp Elliott in San Diego, California, for boot camp and training.  There is so much to learn:  they need to learn how to jump over high walls, crawl quietly through jungles with huge backpacks, shoot rifles, and hone survival skills like reading maps, building fires, and bandaging wounds.  But these Navajo soldiers have to learn even more.  They have to create and memorize a secret code – plus use a special radio to transmit these codes!

Writing the Code

These young men are smart.  They know that the enemy might understand certain Navajo words, so they turn their language into a secret code!  Sometimes they will use their original Navajo words and sometimes they will change words.  For instance, in English, the word “cat” starts with the letter “C”.  The Navajo word for “cat” is “mosi” (mo-see).  So, now they will use the word “mo-see” to mean the letter C!  They do this trick with all the letters of the English alphabet.  And then they do something even more amazing!  They think of military words like “Captain” or “Patrol Plane” or “Mine Sweeper” and think of animals or objects that look or act like those military objects.  For example, a captain wears a pin with two metal stripes on his uniform.  This striped pin reminds the Navajo of railroad tracks.  So, the code for captain is now “two tracks.”  A patrol plane soars through the sky looking for things below, like troops, or tanks, or ships.  This reminds the Navajo of a bird that likes to fly and look for things on the ground.  Thus, they call a patrol plane a “crow!” And a mine sweeper ship cruises through the water looking for things in its way.  The Navajo code talkers say that’s a “beaver.”  And that is how they build their code – by turning military words into Navajo words with a secret meaning.  Now even a Navajo speaker will not know what they are talking about!  

Implementing the Navajo Code

The Code is ready.  Now it needs to be tested in battle!  Four hundred trained Navajo code talkers are sent to the Pacific islands of Iwo Jima, Tarawa, Guadalcanal, and Bougainville.  The fighting is fierce.  The noise of guns and grenades is deafening at times.  The code talkers work in pairs with no code books; everything is memorized.  They can’t risk the enemy finding the books and learning the code.  They can hardly think, speak, or hear each other with all the noise during intense battles.  And other times they have to be very quiet when speaking on the radio, especially at night, so their voices or the squawk of the radio will not give them away. 

They relay messages day and night – such as where US planes and ships should land or fire, where the enemy is located, where to send more troops, or where to pick up injured soldiers.  This is incredibly important work and is very stressful and tiring – plus they have to stay safe themselves through all this action.  They are always the first to land and the last to leave in battle. They are on the front lines of battles learning important information to pass back to their commanders. It is very hard for them to stay alive and send accurate messages every day; however, they successfully send over 800 messages during the battle of Iwo Jima alone without one mistake! Due to their heroic actions and their secret code, the US wins the famous battle at Iwo Jima.

The Navajo Code Talkers serve for three years in battles all across the Pacific Islands, relaying thousands of messages, saving countless lives, and securing victory in the Pacific with the US Marines.  The enemy never cracks their code.  

Finally, the war ends and the Navajo code breakers return to their homes and families in the Navajo Nation.  Some have died bravely in battle, but many have miraculously survived.  Their code and mission remain secret and confidential for more than 20 years, until details are released in 1968.  That is because the US military continued to use their Navajo code in other battles, such as Vietnam and Korea.

In 1982, President Ronald Reagan honored the code talkers and declared August 14 “Navajo Code Talkers Day.”  In 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded Congressional medals of honor to 29 of the original code talkers, followed by additional award ceremonies in 2001 by President George W. Bush and 2017 by President Donald Trump.  

Code Talker Peter MacDonald states, “What a privilege God had given to us to do that job, for selecting the Navajo!”  He opens his old, faded code book. With a gnarled finger, he traces across the page and lands on the word “America.”  Beside it is the Navajo code: “Our Mother.”  His weathered face breaks into a grin – the Navajo have helped save America, their nation’s mother.

Our Debt to the Navajo Code Talkers

I think we owe a large debt of gratitude to the Navajo Nation and the brave young men who fought so valiantly in the Pacific relaying thousands of messages swiftly and accurately while under extreme battle conditions.  They offer us many important life lessons about duty, honor, service to others bravery, courage, and so much more.  Each of us in our own way has something to offer to the world: a skill, a talent, a helping spirit, or a language!  Just think what amazing things we can accomplish if we work together and help one another.  What is your special gift and what could you do to better your community?

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In case you didn’t know, in the United States, November is Native American Heritage month when we take the time to recognize the importance of Native Americans in the history of our country. Learning about the First Americans and the history of indigenous peoples in North and South America has been one of my favorite subjects over the years. We’ve done episodes about the Mayans who lived in Central America and famous Native Americans like Sacajawea, Sitting Bull, and Bessie Coleman. But I’ve yet to do an episode about a broader history of Native Americans in North America, how they got here, and their fascinating history and contributions.

For a very long time, North America was full of plant and animal life. There were mammoths, bison, bear and wolves, and the vast forests and deserts we see today — but no humans. Some of the other continents like Africa, Europe and Asia had humans but not the Americas because they had started out on the other side of the world. During the Ice Age something extraordinary happened that would change the history of the Earth forever. Where Alaska and Russia are today there is water separating the two lands called the Bering Strait. But around 2 ½ million years ago much of the world’s water became trapped in ice and so the sea level lowered and a land bridge formed between Alaska and Russia. This land bridge was later named Beringia and ancient humans in Asia found this land and crossed it around 15,000 or more years ago. Some even think they may have come as early as 30,000 years ago. That’s a very long time! Evidence shows that this is how humans ended up in North and South American and over the years moved down through the continents to populate it in many different areas. It’s believed that multiple groups crossed the land bridge before the Ice Age ended and the land was once again covered up by the sea. 

One very important thing to keep in mind is that most Native Americans today trace their heritage back to these groups, but this doesn’t mean they ended up being just alike. So when you hear about groups like the Mayans or the Hohokam or Cherokee or Sioux, remember that they ended up being very different in language and culture and looks. I compare it to Europeans today. We don’t think of the Germans and English and French as one people but very different because their language and customers are very different along with their heritage. 

So over time these different groups ended up in different parts of America, but we’re mostly going to focus on the North America Native Americans, who settled all throughout what is today the United States and Canada. Some ended up in California, others in the deserts of Arizona. Some made their home in the forests of Washington or along the oceans of the East Coast in New York, South Carolina, and Florida. And as we said before, as each group settled in a new area, they became very different over the thousands of years that they stayed with their same groups. Their language changed, their looks changed, and they each had unique customs and beliefs that made them different. One mistake Europeans made when they came to America was assuming these people were all the same and falsely labeled them “Indians,” and often treated them as the same group, but in reality they were very unique and special in their own way.

In the Americas, the new people found many plants and animals to survive. They hunted mammoths and bison, the gigantic creatures that roamed the forests and plains of this new country. They learned how to survive by following these animals which they used for food, clothing, and shelter. Like most indigenous people, they worked hard and used their creativity and the natural world around them to keep their families alive. This was not an easy task as you can imagine! They often spent long hours hunting animals, scavenging berries, and other food, and building shelter to avoid the cold, rain and other harsh elements. We know some things about these people today based on the materials they left behind, the things they made. This is called material culture. For example, many Native Americans in the Clovis culture shaped sharp spear heads out of stone that they used to hunt big animals like the mammoths. Archeologists have found the bones of these animals with spear points in them from when the Clovis people hunted them. 

Many of these people were hunter-gatherers, which means that they were often on the move and followed the animals they were hunting, or changed locations depending on what food was available or the weather. For example, they went north when it was hot and south when it was cold. But over time, some of these groups discovered farming and were able to stay in one place. Usually this was by a big body of water like a lake or river so they had plenty of water for their food they grew, also called crops.

One of the biggest civilizations to form was called the Mississippian Culture around 1,000 years ago around the Mississippi River. They planted corn on huge farms. This let them stay in one place because they didn’t have to chase their food. They formed complex societies with kings and held religious ceremonies led by priests. Many of these Native Amerians were artisans, which means they created art and made beautiful jewelry. They also made pots out of clay called pottery and painted it in beautiful and creative ways. These people traded jewelry and pottery and food between cities that were spread out across the United States and Canada. In these cities, they built huge mounds of earth for their temples on top and to bury their dead beneath. These gigantic mounds can still be seen today in states like Illinois, which is one reason we know about the Mississippian Culture along with all of the artifacts they left behind.

So this morning, we all got up and ate breakfast. Then I loaded the kids into the car and we drove south of our home 40 minutes to the Casa Grande National Monument in Arizona. Casa Grande means Big or Great House in Spanish and was the home of the Hohokam people who lived throughout the Southwest, which includes California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas. The Hohokam were extraordinary people. They found ways to live in very hot, dry climates with very little water and lush plant life like other places in the country. They did this by making use of what plants they had and used rivers to irrigate their farms. They ate fruit from cactus and grew corn, beans and squash. Because their farms weren’t right next to the river, they spent years of hard labor digging canals and irrigation ditches to move water from the river to their farms. When white settlers eventually moved into these areas, they were able to reuse these canals to water their own farms. In fact, many of the canals we use today where I live were originally dug by these Native American people. 

The Great House we visited is one of the few structures of its kind in the United States and was made using the hard soil called caliche and rocks and other materials even though it was constructed nearly 1,000 years ago it still stands. Check out the video link in the show description to see more of our visit to Casa Grande. The kids enjoyed seeing this amazing structure, walking through its various rooms, and imagining what it might have been like to live among the Hohokam People. It gave them an appreciation for these people who lived long before us and their hardiness and talent for being able to live off the land, especially in a very hot and dry place without all of the modern conveniences we have. Be sure to look up to see if you have Native American ruins or sites near where you live. It’s an awesome experience if you get the chance.

The ancestors of the Hohokam and the Pueblo cultures who also lived in the Southwest were the Mogollon people and Ancestral Puebloans, many of whom lived in present-day Colorado and whose fascinating homes can be seen at Mesa Verde National Park. You’ll have to look up the photos of Mesa Verde, but the people there build their homes up on the side of the mountains called cliff dwellings. Here they were able to defend their homes using towers and tunnels to move around during battle. The Mogollon culture also farmed and traded with other tribes and were very talented basketmakers.  

In 1492, Christopher Columbus reached the shores of the Americas by boat. He was surprised to find it and thought he’d run into India not an entirely new continent. Once Columbus returned to Europe and told everyone about the New World he’d discovered, other explorers chartered ships and left to see what kind of land and riches they could discover there. Along with a new land, they were surprised to find new people and with each explorer the contact with the Native Americans was different. Some explorers came searching for gold and often they treated the indigenous people as slaves making them try and dig for gold. Sometimes the Europeans came as missionaries and tried to be helpful but weren’t respectful of the Native Americans cultures and way of life. In some cases fights took place between the Europeans and Native Americans and in other cases they got along and helped each other out. They often traded with each other. Europeans were interested in the new foods, plants, and animals in the New World and Native Americans were interested in the same things from the Old World. These plants and animals moved between the different continents and now we call this The Columbian Exchange.

With the movement of people between the Old and New World also came diseases. In Europe, people lived in cities with huge numbers of people living in a very small area and around animals. They had experienced diseases, such as the Bubonic Plague, but having lived through the diseases they were immune to them. Tragically, the Native Americans were not. New diseases caused a massive loss of life. Where Native Americans once thrived across the continent from coast to coast, after years of disease they were left with very small groups. Some even think only 5% of the population was left. This left these small groups to try and survive and deal with more and more settlers coming to their land.

If you’re familiar with the story of Thanksgiving, one reason the Wampanoag tribe that held their harvest feast with the Pilgrims was so small, because of this disease that had ravaged their tribe. In this story, the Wampanoag were recovering from disease and small numbers and the Pilgrims were also suffering, too. The feast was a time of peace and Thanksgiving between the two groups of people. Like we said before, peace didn’t always last between groups like the Wampanoag and the Pilgrims. Sometimes the people of the Old and New World got along, but in many cases, they did not. 

In 1622, Powhatan Indians attacked colonists in Virginia to try and remove them from their land, and as is often the case with violent conflict, later the colonists fought back. Later, came King Phillip’s War between the Wampanoag and the Puritan settlers in Massachusetts. And as more and more colonists moved from Europe to North America, the Native American people had to move further away from the coasts and into more remote parts of the country. They increasingly found themselves battling settlers, on the run, and trying to find a safe place for their families as more of the land was settled by foreigners. 

For some groups, the safest places were the unsettled ones like the Plains. The Plains are a large area of flat land in the middle section of North America which now includes Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and other states. Here, for a time tribes like the Lakota, Sioux, Kiowa, Arapaho, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Comanche and Crow were able to survive and make a livelihood like their families. Their ancestors had lived as hunter-gatherers in these areas for thousands of years before, but one thing that changed their life after contact with Europe was the horse. You may not know it, but the horse didn’t make its way to America until the 1700s. Plains Indians were able to breed horses, tame them, and use them to move quickly across the land. They became excellent horsemen and used the speed of the horses to hunt. Also, roaming the plains at the time were huge numbers of bison, also known as buffalo. Have you seen a buffalo before? They are large cow-like animals with brown hair and horns. Groups like the Lakota Sioux, were also experts at archery, using a bow-and-arrow. They would ride up alongside the buffalo herds and fire at them until bringing down these massive animals. They used their skins for clothing and shelter and meat and other parts of their body for food. The Plains Indians were known for their bravery and skills in battle and were often feared by settlers who tried to take their lands. Some of the most famous Plains Indians and warriors were Sacajawea, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Red Cloud. Sadly, over time, like other tribes, they were pushed further into more remote parts of North America. Eventually, many of them were forced onto reservations. A reservation was a place set aside where they could live in peace, but in most cases, this wasn’t the land of their ancestors, wasn’t desirable, land they didn’t want. 

Native Americans who those times have continued to be an important part of its history. As you know, I’m a big fan of World War II history, and sometimes a lesser-known part of the history there is that Native Americans played a big part in fighting in the war and also sending coded messages. Soldiers who spoke English and their tribal language were able to send messages back and forth by radio. Languages like Navajo and Choctaw were totally unknown to their enemies, so when the enemy tried to listen in to the messages going back and forth they couldn’t understand them. And enemy soldiers definitely didn’t have Native American translators on the battlefield. Along with the Navajo and Choctaw code talkers, there were at least 14 other Native American tribes who were code talkers during World War 2. Code Talkers were in both Europe and the Pacific and took place in major battles such as D-Day and Iowa Jima. If you’ve ever seen the photo or statues of soldiers raising a flag that’s Iowa Jima, and one of the soldiers is Ira Hayes, an Akimel O’odham Native American and United States Marine from Arizona. 

Later, during the Space Race, one of the NASA engineers who helped send the astronauts to the moon was a Native American Cherokee woman by the name of Mary Golda Ross. She also helped design top secret missiles and aircraft. 

The first Native American astronaut to go to space is named John Herrington of the Chicksaw Nation. He took place in the 16th shuttle mission to the International Space Station in 2002. To honor his people during the mission he carried six eagle feathers, a braid of sweetgrass, two arrowheads, and the Chickasaw Nation’s flag.

Other well-known Native American scientists and engineers are Aaron Yazziem, who worked on the Mars landers and Thomas David Petite, who has done work on smart grid technology.

In 2020, six Native American and Native Hawaiians were elected to Congress, and others have served in other parts of the government over the years, which include governors of Hawaii, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.

With November being Native American Heritage, take the time to research the history of these different cultures and the contributions of their people in our day. I’ve enjoyed learning more about the cultures in my state such as the Hohokam, Pueblo, and Navajo. Check out the video in the show description of us visiting the Casa Grande ruins near us. Also, last night I was just reading that right where I live there were Native American settlements hundreds of years ago. Recently, I’ve had the chance to see sites where these people lived and hiked in places where they once walked. On these hikes, I’ve been able to spend time reflecting what it might have been like to live when they did. Thinking of them made me grateful for their way of life and even today we use miles and miles of canals that they dug hundreds of years ago. 

Also, if there’s someone you know that’s Native American, get the chance to know them better. Ask them stories about their life and their ancestors. There are also many great museums and shows on these topics. Take the time to learn more about Native Americans in your part of the country, or if you live outside of the United States, I’m willing to bet there were indigenous people who once lived in your area. Take the time to learn more about them and consider with respect their lives and what they did in their time.

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Imagine yourself sitting around a large bonfire.  The year is 1621 and you have spent the last year travelling from Europe to America on a boat. The journey was very hard.  When you finally arrived in the “new world” you faced a very hard winter. You and your family lived on the boat through the winter, together with other passengers.  It was extremely cold and there was not much to eat.  But all of that has changed.  As you sit waiting, you see that people are cooking up a huge feast. You smell the cooking meat and vegetables. it makes your mouth water. The cooks include people from Europe that you were on the boat with, and Native Americans who have come to celebrate with you.  It is the first Thanksgiving celebration in America, and you are ready to eat!

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday in the United States and other countries. But how did this holiday begin?  Where did it start and why?

The story starts in 1620 when a small ship named the “Mayflower” left from England. On board were 102 passengers.  They were all people from different religions that were feeling unwelcome in Europe.  They wanted to leave to find a new home where they could practice their religion freely.  There were also people onboard who were excited about the idea of buying land, which they couldn’t afford in Europe. They hoped to find a new life and become wealthy in the New World.

The Mayflower made a long and difficult journey across the Atlantic Ocean that lasted 66 days! Eventually, they landed at Cape Cod.  This was much further north than where they were hoping to land, which was at the mouth of the Hudson River. One month later, the Mayflower traveled to Massachusetts Bay and the travelers disembarked, or arrived and came ashore.  They decided to settle, or make a home, in the area and they began building a village, which is now called Plymouth.

The people who started building the settlement were called “pilgrims”.  Pilgrim means a traveler or settler in a new land. The pilgrims in Plymouth did not have time to build houses to live in before the first winter came.  The winter was very cold and harsh, so most of the pilgrims remained on the Mayflower ship for the winter. They were hungry and cold living on the ship. Many people developed scurvy, which happens when you don’t eat enough fruits or vegetables.  Many also caught diseases that spread easily amongst the crowded living conditions. 

By the end of the winter, only half of the Mayflower’s 102 original passengers were still alive. That spring, in March 1621, the people who were still alive moved off the boat and onto shore to start building their homes. While they were settling on shore, an Abenaki Native American came and greeted them in English. Everyone was shocked to see that he was friendly and that he spoke English. 

A few days later, he returned with another Native American man named Squanto.  Years before Squanto had been kidnapped by Englishmen and brought to England.  But he later returned to America and could now speak English. Squanto became friends with the pilgrims and could see that they needed help.  The small group of 50 or so people were all weak and starving and many of them were ill.  Squanto felt bad for them so he taught the pilgrims how to grow corn, how to fish in the rivers and how to extract sap from maple trees. 

Squanto also helped the pilgrim settlers to form an alliance with a local Native tribe, the Wampanoag. An alliance is a bond or union between two groups that pledge to support each other. 

Later that year, in the fall of 1621, the pilgrims’s first corn harvest was successful.  They had an abundance of corn and were able to eat.  The Governor of the group, William Bradford, organized a feast to celebrate the harvest.  He invited all the pilgrims in the community and their Native American allies, including the Wampanoag chief Massasoit. The feast lasted for three days.  While no one wrote down exactly what they ate, we do know that it was an amazing feast for the time, and likely included chicken, deer, corn, lobster, seal, shellfish, and possibly turkey. 

This fest is now remembered as America’s “first Thanksgiving”.  The pilgrim’s likely didn’t call it that, as they would not have known that this feast would turn into a holiday. They also played games and had fun during the three days with their guests.  They considered this celebration a way to give thanks to God and nature for the harvest and alliance with the Wampanoag people. 

The dishes that the pilgrims prepared were likely made using traditional Native American spices and cooking methods. The pilgrims did not have an oven and the sugar supply on the Mayflower had run out by the fall of 1621, so the meal did not include pies, cakes or desserts. But the people were happy to have a harvest meal and party and were happy that their nutrition and health had improved compared to last year — and mostly that they were still alive. That is a lot to be thankful for!

The pilgrims held their second Thanksgiving celebration in the fall of 1623. In the two years between, there had been a long drought.  A drought is a long period of time in which it doesn’t rain so everything dries up or doesn’t grow.  Because of the drought, there had been no harvest in the fall of 1622 and people were very hungry.  In 1623, the farming had been good again and they all celebrated as they had before. The practice of fasting, or not eating for a period of time, followed by having a large thanksgiving celebration started to become common practice in other New England settlements outside of Plymouth as well. 

Later, during the American Revolution, the government designated a couple of days of thanksgiving a year.  In 1789, George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving proclamation.In his speech, he asked Americans to show that they are grateful for the happy ending to the war of independence that Americans had just won and the new constitution, or written framework for the country’s rules, structure and order.  Other presidents after George Washington also designated a couple of days of thanksgiving to remember these events. 

In 1817, New York became the first state to have an official Thanksgiving holiday. After that, other states started adopting their own Thanksgiving holiday, with each one being celebrated on a different day. However, the tradition hadn’t spread to the south, and most southern states hadn’t heard of Thanksgiving holiday for a long time. 

One woman decided that she wanted to change this.  She wanted to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. Her name was Sarah Josepha Hale.  She was a writer and wrote many articles and books and even wrote the song “Mary Had a Little Lamb”.   Sara started a campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday and she worked on this for 36 years!  A campaign is a planned effort to make something happen or change. She published articles in newspapers and sent letters to politicians.  Eventually her efforts paid off, when Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863. He scheduled it to be celebrated on the final Thursday in November. Sara was then known ever after as the “Mother of Thanksgiving.”

Thanksgiving was celebrated annually, or once a year, on this day until 1939.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday up a week in order to help stores make more money during the Great Depression. However, people didn’t like the change, and so he ultimately moved it back to the original date in 1941.

Although the original Thanksgiving celebrations were to celebrate the end of the American war of independence and the new constitution, modern American Thanksgiving is quite different.  Now the celebrations center on cooking a turkey and sharing a large meal with family and friends. 

While turkeys are the main dish at most American households for Thanksgiving, it may not have actually been on the menu for the pilgrims’ first thanksgiving feast in 1621. Today, more than 90% of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving.  And there are many different ways that people prepare the bird. Most like to cook it in the oven. But some people deep-fry it or smoke it, or find a variety of other ways to make the turkey dish new and interesting.

Other traditional food that Americans eat at this holiday include stuffing or dressing, mashed potatoes, yams, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.  These are all foods that are “in season” at that time of year.  “In season” means that the fruits and vegetables used are ready to be harvested at that time. 

Another common tradition at Thanksgiving is volunteering.  Many Americans spend Thanksgiving Day doing volunteer activities in their communities.  These activities include holding food drives to collect food for the poor or hosting free dinners for people who are struggling. 

Parades have also become an important part of the Thanksgiving holiday in cities and towns throughout the United States.  One of the largest and most famous is the Macy’s department store parade in New York City.  This parade started in 1924 and was intended to give businesses a chance to celebrate the holiday and advertise their store at the same time.  Today, many Americans tune in on TV to watch the Macy’s parade at Thanksgiving.  The parade follows a 2 ½ mile route and features marching bands, performers, floats and giant balloons.

Starting in the 1950s, the president of the United States has a transition of “pardoning” one or two Thanksgiving turkeys each year.  This means that those 1 or 2 birds don’t get killed to be eaten, but instead get to go back to living on a farm for the rest of their lives.

Even though Thanksgiving is a modern American tradition, there are similar annual celebrations of harvest that take place all over the world and throughout history. In ancient times, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans all held large feasts to say thank you to their gods after the fall harvest.  Thanksgiving also has a lot in common with the ancient Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot. And Native Americans have a long tradition of celebrating fall harvest with feasts and parties. These traditions are older than the American thanksgiving in 1621, so may have had an influence on the idea to hold a feast. 

Does your family celebrate Thanksgiving?  If so, what are some of your family’s traditions?  When you eat your holiday meal this year, think about the first American thanksgiving at Plymouth.  How do you think that would have been different?  What are some of the things that you are thankful for this year?  However you plan to celebrate, we at Bedtime History wish you a very happy Thanksgiving!  

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Close your eyes and imagine you are in the middle of a battle in the American wilderness. All around you, American soldiers dressed in stiff blue jackets load their guns and fire at the enemy. Running at them are Native American warriors dressed in loin cloths and leather. They are yelling and charging the soldiers with weapons raised. They clash in battle and fight ferociously. Around you echo the sounds of metal clashing on metal, gunfire, and people crying out. Then as you turn around, your eye catches a peaceful sight.  There in the middle of the fight scene sits a Native man with his legs crossed.  He peacefully packs a pipe full of tobacco and lights in on fire.  He sits silently and smokes while men fight all around him.  This man is one of the famous American Indians, Sitting Bull. 

Sitting Bull was born around 1831. He was one of the Hunkpapa people, a Lakota Sioux tribe that lived in the Great Plains area in what is now known as North and South Dakota. When he was born his family called him “Jumping Badger”.  

Later, his parents changed his name.  He was quiet and deliberate and they didn’t think “Jumping Badger” fit him.  Deliberate means careful and cautious.  His parents gave him the nickname “Slow” instead and he was called this as a child. 

Slow’s father was the chief, which meant someday he would be the chief of his people. When he turned 10, “Slow” killed his first buffalo. Hunting buffalo was very dangerous, but the tribe depended on buffalo for their meat for survival. They ate their meat and used their skins for clothes and shelter. Slow’s family was proud of his first buffalo kill and celebrated to honor him. When he was 14, “Slow” and others from his tribe snuck into an enemy tribe’s village and stole food and other items. This is called a “raid” and was common for tribes in the Great Plains to fight and steal things from each other for survival. Because of “Slow’s” bravery during the raid, his father gave up his own name and gave it to his son.  From then on, “Slow” became known as Tatanka-Iyotanka, or “Sitting Bull.” 

Around this time, the government of the United States wanted settlers to move into the western states even though Sitting Bull’s people already lived there. To settle means to make a permanent home. This meant that Sioux Lakota tribes would have to leave and find a new place to live even though they had lived on these lands for man years.

But Sitting Bull and his family refused to leave and fought against the U.S. government and the people who tried to take over their land. The government sent the army to fight Sitting Bull and his people.  As a young man, Sitting Bull became famous for his fighting skills and people all over the United States heard about him and became afraid of the stories about him. 

In 1872 the Northern Pacific Railroad was trying to build a railroad across the United States. It ran through Sitting Bulls land, so he and the Sioux people were determined to block it. When they did, the U.S. Army was called in to try to remove them and the conflict quickly turned into a battle.  During the battle, Sitting Bull, who was now a middle-aged chief, walked out into the middle of the field where they were fighting and sat down in front of the U.S. soldiers. He invited several other tribesmen to join him.  Sitting Bull and his friends sat in the field and had a long, slow smoke from his tobacco pipe while watching people battling all around him. Legend says that after finishing his pipe, Sitting Bull carefully cleaned it and then walked off, without showing any fear. He was very brave!

During the 1860s, Sitting Bull continued to fight against settlers encroaching on Sioux land.  He and his tribesmen attacked white military outposts and stole livestock, or farm animals, or attacked the soldiers living there. Sitting Bull’s group of men was brave, but he knew that it wouldn’t be enough to keep back the U.S army. So he went and spoke to leaders of other tribes nearby and together, they worked as one group, the Lakota Sioux. They decided to just have one leader and in 1869, Sitting Bull became their new leader.  The group continued to grow and by the mid 1870s, the group also included warriors from the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes. 

Even though Sitting Bull is mostly remembered as a warrier, he was also a type of holy man.  He was believed to have the gift of prophecy, or the ability to see the future. Sitting Bull once had a vision or dream that the Sioux people were soon going to have a great victory in battle.  Shortly after that, the prophecy came true. 

In 1876, a Lieutenant Colonel by the name of George A. Custer’s and his soldiers rode out against the Sioux to battle. They were known as the Seventh Cavalry. They attacked Sitting Bull and his warriors, but they were inspired by Sitting Bull’s vision and even though they were outnumbered by Custer’s army, the Sioux people won the battle against over 200 soldiers. This became known as the Battle of Little Bighorn. 

Sitting Bull’s nephew, White Bull, and another warrior named Crazy Horse fought bravely at the Battle of Little Bighorn and became famous for their victory against Custer and the Seventh Cavalry.

But of course, the U.S. Army was not happy about losing the battle. Instead of backing down, they sent an army of twice as many soldiers to fight Sitting Bull. They wanted to push the Native (or First Nations) people off of the land and force them onto reservations. Reservations were an area of land set aside for them to live on instead of the land the settlers wanted. 

Sitting Bull refused to leave his own land and move to the reservations.  Instead, in May 1877, he led a group of his people to Canada where he spent four years hiding out.  Sadly though, the buffalo in the area disappeared. Because buffalo are what his people needed to survive they almost starved.  Sitting Bull and his people left their camp in Canada and moved back to the United States.  A few years later their camp was attacked and Sitting Bull and his followers surrendered to the U.S. army in North Dakota. 

By this time, Sitting Bull was now an older man.  He spent two years in prison and later was sent to live on a reservation at Standing Rock. He lived on that reservation for the rest of his life. 

Sitting Bull was famous when he got out of prison.  Many people heard stories about his fighting skills and admired him for his bravery.  When they met him they were willing to pay $2 just for his autograph.  He got permission to leave the reservation to go on tour as his own exhibition, or entertainment show.

When Sitting Bull was at a stopover in Minnesota, he saw a show starring Annie Oakley, the famous sharp shooter. Sitting Bull was very impressed with her gun shooting skills. He introduced himself and he and Annie Oakley became friends.  He gave her the nickname “Little Sure Shot” and called her his daughter.  Rumour has it that Sitting Bull gave Annie Oakley the pair of moccasins he had worn during the Battle of the Little Bighorn as a gift.

In June 1885, the showman William “Buffalo Bill” Cody hired Sitting Bull to perform in his famous “Wild West” show. Sitting Bull was paid $50 a week to wear his full chief’s war attire and ride a horse during the show’s opening scene. Sitting Bull considered the job an easy way to earn money and help audiences learn about his people and how difficult their lives had become.  But some audience members didn’t like Sitting Bull because they knew he had killed white soldiers during battle. Sometimes, audiences cruelly boo-ed Sitting Bull and threw things at him. 

Sitting Bull soon got tired of traveling and some of the mean crowds.  And he missed his family.  So he left the tour for good after its final show in October.

Beginning in 1889, many Native American (or First Nations) people started talking about a religion called the “Ghost Dance”.  These people believed that a spirit was going to come to earth and remove white people from the area where they lived, allowing the Indians to return to their old ways. U.S. Authorities started to worry that Sitting Bull was going to use the Ghost Dance movement to lead a group of Indian people to war against the white people.  They always knew that Sitting Bull resisted, or refused to follow, white traditions.  So they believed he was likely to get involved and lead this movement against white people.  

On December 15, 1890, police were sent to arrest Sitting Bull and bring him in for questioning.  Sitting Bull, who was 59 at the time, refused to go with them.  So the policemen dragged him from his cabin.  The noise and commotion caused a large group of Sitting Bull’s followers to come to see what was going on.  One of them fired a shot at the policemen, setting off a brief gun battle. In the confusion that followed, more than a dozen people were killed including Sitting Bull.

Sitting Bull had many hard experiences in his life and there is a lot that we can learn from him.  He showed great bravery from a young age while hunting and in battle. He was also able to stay very calm under stress and pressure. Have you ever practiced trying to stay calm when you feel afraid or angry?  What works well for you?  I know it helps me to take deep breaths and try and clear my thoughts. Sometimes if I go outside or take a walk that helps, too. Reacting to stress that way is much better than yelling or calling names or other things we later regret. It’s completely normal to feel upset. I do all the time. The question is how we will deal with those feelings. Sitting Bull showed us that even in intense situations, we can be calm. 

Sitting Bull also fought for what he believed in and stayed close to his family and his tribe. Even when they were threatened and told to leave their lands, he refused. He put himself in great danger to try and save his people. Sticking up for yourself and your family is a very noble thing to do. Think of what you can do to take care of your family and the community in which you live. Like Sitting Bull, we can all be leaders in our communities and families if we stick up for what we believe and for our loved ones. 

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