Tidbits

In 1902, the United States Commissioner of Indian Affairs prohibited all male American Indians from wearing their hair long. On January 13, he sent a notice to all Indian school superintendents that failure to abide by the rules would affect their yearly allotments

On May 5, 1969, N. Scott Momaday, a Kiowa Indian, at the age of Thirty-four, was the first American Indian to win a Pulitzer prize for Literature. It was for his novel "House Made of Dawn."

Roads and railroads across America follow the original paths used by American Indian hunters, warriors, and traders. These paths were the original trails wild animals created and hunters marked and followed. Many migratory animals created trails which at times were miles wide. The American Buffalo across the North American plains is a good example. With the mountain goat, it may be...single file only.

The State of California, USA, has more American Indian Tribes within its bounderies, than any other State, Province or Territory in North America . . . A total of 129, as of the year ending, 1992.

Cherokee, American Indian,Andrew Hartley Payne, was the winner of "The Great Cross-Country Marathon Race" from Los Angeles, California to New York City, New York. The race began on March 4, 1928 with 275 participants. Payne finished the 3,442.3 mile race in 573 hours, 4 minutes. He was inducted into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Famein 1991.

In 1760, one third of the Cherokee Nation died of a small pox epidemic.

Many foods cultivated, harvested, and prepared by the American Indian have been shared with the world. American Indian farmers were the first in the world to domesticate potatoes, tomatoes, and many other food plants that help feed the peoples of the world today.

Native Americans were first to raise turkeys.

Americn Indians found uses for such plants as rubber, tobacco, the sugar maple, and the cinchona

tree (for quinine).

For the American Indian, the tail feathers of the eagle, especially the immature Golden Eagle, are prized above all others, because they are white with black tips

American Indians used a slash and burn technique on the trees, bushes and brush, to clear the ground for gardens. Some trees were felled by a unique method called "Girdling," which did not destroy the tree. A ring of wet clay was packed around the tree to keep the flames from spreading up the trunk, as intense heat was generated at the base. The fire set at the tree's base would char the wood sufficiently, so that a stone ax could chip away at it until the tree fell.

A hotel in Saratoga Springs, called the Moon Lake House, featured great hospitality and good food, as did most other competing hotels in the area. The chief cook at the hotel, George Crum, was an American Indian of the Huron tribe. One day, a well traveled, loud complaining guest made a very big fuss about the "much too thick" french fried potatoes on his dinner plate. A summer kitchen was not the place for a Huron Chef to be getting angry. George Crum was not going to let this grouch get the best of him. So, just for spite, he took some potatoes and cut them into the thinest slices one had ever seen, you could see right through them! He fried them, and demanded the waiter serve them to the vocal customer. But instead of getting angry, the guest thought the new thin fries "were simply wonderful, great!" Almost immediately, Moon Lake House began featuring their newest delicacy on the menu. And, it wasn't long before other competing hotels in the area began their own version of what came to be called "Saratoga Chips," commonly known today as "potato chips."