Crash Course on Native American history for Indigenous Peoples' Day

Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day, Canadian Thanksgiving, and, oh yeah, Columbus Day! Like last year, I'm concentrating on the first holiday with videos from Crash Course, beginning with the first in a series that started this year, Introduction to Native American History: Ep 1 of Crash Course Native American History.

Native American history didn’t begin in 1492, and it didn’t end in 1900. It stretches back thousands and thousands of years and extends into the present – and the future – of the United States. In our first episode of Crash Course Native American History, we’ll explore why and how we plan to tell this history.

The story the Klamath tell about the creation of Crater Lake is one I recount to my students, although the version I told before the pandemic turned out to be wrong. I found out part of the reason why when I read All the World's Deer: Small Deer of South America at Synapsida.

My first encounter with the word Mazama, the genus name for brockets, was for the stratovolcano that stood where Crater Lake now sits in its caldera. I originally thought the name was the original Native American one for the now imploded mountain and the deer was named after it. Not at all! The direction of the name runs the other way, from the deer through a mountaineering club with the name, who took it to mean mountain goat instead of brocket, which is what Mazama means in Spanish as well as at least one Native American language that borrowed it from the Aztec language Nahuatl, to the prehistoric mountain, as they named it after themselves. If your series on deer hadn't inspired me to do this research, I may never have found any of this out! By the way, since I'm also a geologist and lecture on Crater Lake in my classes, I can use this information when I teach. Thank you!

I now tell the story found in Wikipedia, of a battle between Llao and Skell, thanks to reading a blog about biology, not geology. This wasn't the only story I tell my students I changed while teaching from home. Not commuting during the COVID-19 pandemic gave me time to check my facts, as did realizing my students were doing a lot of their own research. I could tell they were reading Wikipedia and didn't want some student contradicting me in front of the class!

Speaking of the COVID-19 pandemic, it plays a part in Tribal Sovereignty Explained: Ep 2 of Crash Course Native American History.

What is tribal sovereignty? In this episode of Crash Course Native American History, we’ll explore how tribes can and can’t govern themselves, and why sovereignty isn’t something the U.S. ever gave to tribes — it’s an inherent right they already had.

"Isn't the legal system fun?" *snork* At least this video confirmed that what I knew about "dependent sovereignty," a term I first heard on CBC 30+ years ago, was correct. Native American tribes can't wage war, engage in diplomacy with foreign nations, or print/mint their own currency. That's worth knowing. What I didn't knew already was that the Chinook are not currently a federally recognized tribe. They should be.

I close with Myths & Misconceptions About Native Americans: Ep 3 of Crash Course Native American History.

From sports mascots to “the First Thanksgiving,” bland representations of Native Americans are everywhere. In this episode of Crash Course Native American History, we’ll tackle common myths and misconceptions about Native people and uncover the truth behind tribal casinos, government handouts, and more.

I enjoyed seeing all these myths busted.

There are 15 more episodes and counting, but I'm conserving those resources, so that's a wrap for today. Stay tuned as I plan on resuming my Emmy winners coverage tomorrow with the winner of Outstanding Commercial.