Entries by pemmican

Language and Communications

There’s been a common misconception that Indigenous people all spoke the same language. A widely known fact is that the Navajo “Code Talkers” made an impact during WW1. But did you know that Choctaw, Cherokee and Comanche languages contributed to the “code” as well? Just as there are different Spanish or German dialects, the same […]

Bison or Buffalo?

What should we call the national mammal of the United States – bison or buffalo? Actually, the two are distinctly different. “Bison” is the scientific name for the animals that live in North America and Europe. Distantly related are “true” buffalo (Cape and water buffalo), native to Africa and Asia. It’s likely that the term […]

African-Native Americans

Until recently, the topic of historic relations between Native Americans and African Americans has been somewhat neglected. The lives and experiences of people who share African American and Native American ancestry contain stories that have been invisible for ages. Some reports indicate that, after 1492, large numbers of Natives were being shipped to Europe as […]