Students in SFC Success Program enjoy history lesson on Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Children in the Success Program celebrated Indigenous Peoples’ Day with a visit from guest speaker Ryan Smith, a park interpreter with the Delta Heritage Trail State Park in Phillips County.
Smith brought several tools and furs that would have been common for Native Americans who once lived in the area.
"Indigenous Peoples’ Day is an annual celebration in parts of the United States to honor the contributions of Native Americans to America's culture," Annie Norman told students in the program.
Norman said the day has been a counter-celebration to Columbus Day since 1991.
"In 1937, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed Columbus Day a federal holiday," said Norman.
Norman went on to say that Catholic Italian Americans wanted the day to recognize the role of Christopher Columbus, an explorer who conquered natives in the Caribbean in the name of the Spanish Crown.
"They specifically wanted Columbus to be included in American History," said Norman. "The day commemorates the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492."
Norman shared information from Leo Killsback, a citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Nation and Assistant Professor of American Indian Studies at Arizona State University.
"He says one of the biggest misconceptions about Columbus is that he was righteous," said Norman. "He also emphasized that Columbus did not actually land where the United States is geographically located today."
Norman said there were several major controversies surrounding the celebration of Columbus Day, including accounts on how the native population was treated by Columbus and his crew.
"They were treated as slaves, dead bodies were sold as dog food, some were burned alive, women were held as sex slaves
and used as currency and most were forced into slave labor," said Norman. "Some historians argue that the voyages of Columbus set the stage for institutionalized slave trade in the Americas.
Norman said, as a result, most of the native population of that area was wiped out for generations.
"The idea of having Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the United States was first conceived in 1977 during the United Nations International Conference Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas held in Geneva, Switzerland," said Norman.
Norman shared that in 1989, the South Dakota legislature passed a law proclaiming 1990 as the Year of Reconciliation, which later gave way to replacing Columbus Day with Native Americans Day.
"Then in 1992, native groups agreed to celebrate native culture as a counter-celebration to Columbus Day," said Norman.
Norman shared worksheets with children about America's First People which included woodland nations of Haudenosaunee, Wampanoag, Cherokee and Chickasaw, according to Norman.
"These are just a few of the many tribal nations that lived in the east from the Canadian border to the Gulf Coast," she said.
For the southwest area, tribal nations included Apache, Navajo (Dine) and Pueblo nations.
Students were asked to read information on housing, diets and lifestyles of each region and compare and contrast the way of life for those tribes in the Venn Diagram.
Smith shared that there had been people living in what is now known as the Americas for thousands of years.
"Then in 1541, Hernando De Soto of Spain came through this area," said Smith. "He probably came within 10 to 15 miles of where we are standing right now."
Smith said when De Soto was in the area, Spanish records mention there were large groups of American Indians living here, literally in the thousands."
Smith told students they would be talking about the different types of animals that would be caught and used.
"But they also grew crops, like corn, but if they wanted to eat meat, they'd have to go catch it," said Smith.
Smith said children learned early to use bows from traded and found items. "They would trade osage orange wood and that made the best bows," he said.
Smith shared replicas of Native American artifacts such as a bow and several arrows as well as a quiver.
"Arrows were made of giant cane or bamboo that is grown all over this area," said Smith, who added the tip was made of stone. "They had special types of stone that they made their arrows of and one of them was Crowley's Ridge chert."
Smith said the Ridge was a good place to live because it was a good source of chert that could be used to trade for other items to be made into tools such as spears for catching fish or hunting bear.
He shared many furs that natives of the area might have utilized including a bear skin and bobcat skin.
Smith asked students to think about the different texture of each fur and discuss the possible uses for that as well as what other parts could be used besides the fur.
"If this bear would have been shot, what would you have seen?" asked Smith, to which students answered a bullet hole. "Hunters wouldn't want a small pelt like this. This is a small bear pelt, but we bought this one for demonstrations."
"What Americans would do is their life started to change and they'd start to trade for items like guns for beads and silver," said Smith before asking d which pelts students thought would be worth the most to trade. Some students felt deer would be worth a lot. "Yes, but really, beaver pelts were also very valuable at one point."
Smith shared a deer pelt as well.
"These were very common and your blankets back then would probably be made of this," said Smith.
Smith also said that much like current times, natives also had to deal with pests, such as raccoons, around their areas.
"Native Americans grew large amounts of corn," said Smith. "Guess who also liked corn? Raccoons. They'd like to get into the corn."
"It was the younger kids whose job it was to drive things away," said Smith. "They were pretty good at it. They weren't messing around. This was their food the pests were messing with so you'd definitely want those pests gone."
Smith also said that diets included reptiles such as rattlesnakes.
"If you cut the head off, then the venom is all gone," said Smith of the safety of eating a venomous snake.
"What they would do, and we know this from pottery found in Florida, they'd take those teeth, and score and decorate their vases with it," said Smith.
Smith encouraged students to visit their local state parks, like the archaeological park in Parkin, to learn more about local Native American finds and how Native Americans survived.
"There was a chief that ruled over people who lived almost all the way to Forrest City," said Smith. "He ruled over thousands of people and he controlled a pretty big area, and one of his jobs was to get up in the morning and greet the sun."
Smith shared that the Native American group in Parkin thought their chief was related to the sun.
"What he'd do is take his hand and point to the east then guide it across the sky in the direction the sun would go, and this was a big ceremony," said Smith.
Smith told students he had given them the bare bones information.
"This is just a basic overview. It is a good way to celebrate today and learn how people used to survive," said Smith before again encouraging them to visit Arkansas State Parks to learn more.