Little-known Native Americans historyWarrior women, brilliant inventions, hoaxes, and your favorite snack food. If you didn't hear about these things when you studied Native American history in school, you missed out. Native American culture is not nearly as monolithic as your teacher might have had you believe. Read on to learn just a few of the things they might not have taught you about Native American history in school. Chances are, you didn't learn these 15 other facts about America in school, either.
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There were female warriors
In the movies, male Native American warriors rode off to battle while their female counterparts remained behind to cook, sew, and take care of the camp. In real life, this wasn't always the case. Many warrior Native American women fought alongside men. The most famous of these was probably Buffalo Calf Road Woman, a member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe who fought in the Battle of the Rosebud and the Battle of Little Bighorn. In fact, according to the elders of the Northern Cheyenne tribe, it was she who dealt with Custer's final deadly blow. Buffalo Calf Road Woman is just one of many amazing women you didn't read about in history class.
Little Tree wasn't who you think
Countless Americans grew up reading The Education Of Little Tree. Said to be a memoir of Forest Carter's childhood of him living with his Cherokee grandmother and part-Cherokee grandfather, the book was praised for decades, taught in schools, and even recommended by Oprah. However, in 1991 historian Dan T Clark proved in the New York Times what many had long suspected, the book was a hoax written by Asa Carter, a white supremacist, and one-time Klu Klux Klan member. These “facts” that everyone believes are also false.
Native Americans had diverse housing
If the only thing you knew about Native Americans came from Hollywood, you would be forgiven for assuming every tribe lived in teepees, but this is far from the truth. Native Americans were encompassed by many tribes who spoke different languages and had different cultures and ways of life. Many of the Plains Indians tribes lived in teepees, but the nations of the Iroquois nation lived in longhouses, while the tribes of the Mesa Verde region dwelled in cliffs, while the tribes in Taos lived in towns, a site which makes the area one of the top 16 American cities for history buffs.
Sometimes the truth is complicated
The phrase “Indian giver” has long been used as a derogatory term to describe a person who gives a gift, then takes it away. The implication is that gifts from Native Americans can't be trusted because you might be asked to return them. The reality was, in fact, far more complicated, largely due to cultural barriers. White settlers came from a tradition of using money to make purchases, while Native American tribes largely relied on systems of bartering, which meant the objects they were offering weren't actually gifts, but rather objects of value for which they understandably expected to receive something equivalent in return. You still wouldn't want to call someone an “Indian giver,” but on the other hand, these 11 old insults have turned into compliments.