IN FRATERNAM MEAM: GETTING TO KNOW....AMERICAN INDIANS

IN FRATERNAM MEAM

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

GETTING TO KNOW....AMERICAN INDIANS

It's an .....American Indian thing.

EAGLE FEATHERS:
Because the eagle is an endangered species, American Indians are the only people who may legally possess its feathers in the United States.

American Indian culture dictates the only people who may wear the feathers--- considered the most sacred because the eagle flies highest, and therefore closest to God--- are combat veterans or American Indians who receive a feather from a combat veteran.

If an eagle feather is dropped during the powwow, it is immediately danced over and protected by the veterans who sees it first. A special song is played, and the arean is cleared while the veteran, through special dance, retrieves the feather and returns it to its owner.

GETTING TO KNOW THE AMERICAN INDIANS

The first group of American Indians encountered by French Explorers and missionaries in what later became known as Illinois were the Illinois or Illinwek, Indians. Their 12 tribes lived in what is now the Central Mississippi River Valley.

Number of Illinois Indians throughout the central Mississippi River Valley in 1673:
More than 10,000.

Number living in what is now Illinois 150 years later:
Fewer than 300.

Estimated number of people, as of July 1,2003, in the United States who are American Indian or Alaska native, including those combined with other races:
4.4 million

Percent of population: 1.5

Largest American Indian tribal groups:
Cherokee, with 234,000 people and Navajo, with 204,000.

Tribal groups with more than 50,000 members:
Apache, Cherokee,Chippewa,Choctaw,Lumbee,Navajo,Pueblo and Sioux.

Percent of American Indians and Alaska natives who are married:48

Number living in reservations or other trust lands:583,300

Median Income: $34,740

Poverty rate: 20 percent

Percent age 25 and older who have at least a high school diploma: 75

Most commonly spoken native language:
Navajo, with 178,014 speakers.

Number who are veterans of the U.S. Armed forces: 159,000

Native American tribal boundaries: 1700-1769
In the state of Wisconsin: Winnebago
In the state of Iowa: Sauk-Fox
In the state of Illinois & Wisconsin: Potawatomi and Kickapoo-Mascouten
In the state of Indiana: Wea
In the state of Missouri: Osage and Quapaw
In the state of Indiana: Piankashaw
In the state of Kentucky: Chickasaw

(Source: American Indian Center of Chicago,Northern Illinois University's NATIONS,the Smithsonian Institution/ U.S. Census Bureau, Illinois State Museum)

posted by infraternam meam @ 10:11 AM

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