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Frequently Asked Questions - Page 2

Where can I find pictures of Pueblo towns/Indian villages?

Pictures of the San Juan pueblo can be found on the Pueblo Harvest website. A photograph of the Taos Pueblo can be found on the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology website. Other archival photographs and discussion of them can be found from the appropriate section of the Index of Native American History Resources.

Are Indians able to grow facial hair?

If you think about it for a minute, you know the answer to this question. You have probably seen many pictures of Native Americans with full mustaches. Many of the Navajo leaders of the Long Walk era had mustaches. Although many, if not most, Native American cultural groups preferred to remain clean shaven, the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition encountered a tribal subdivision of the Paiutes in Utah who wore full beards. There has been speculation that the existence of this group accounts for the rumors at the time of that expedition that there was a group of Spaniards who lived in that region because their first impression was that they were meeting Jesuit priests.

I need to know the Indian word(s) for XXXXX.

There were hundreds of Native American languages at the time of contact, not one. These languages belong to many different language families. It is very unfortunate that many of these languages, each of which express a world view different than that of other languages, have been lost, to the great diminuation of the entire human race. Using a few words from one of these languages will not help in the effort to preserve them for future generations. First, the particular piece of information you are looking for can not be obtained from me; I don't have it. Second, support your local efforts to preserve endangered Native American languages. Also, use the Index of Native American Language Resources.

I want to learn about Native American Spirituality. Tell me about Coyote/Nanabush/Trickster.

Native American spirituality is not one thing. Humans are very complex beings. While some concepts are fairly common across tribes, others are very individual. Many books have been written about Coyote or the Native American trickster. However this character in no way encompasses all, or even much, of Native American spirituality. A simple email answer will certainly not suffice nor am I an expert on the question. One suggestion that I would make is to read Native American literature, lots of it, and not New Age drivel. A good place to start would be at the Storytellers: Native American Writers Online website.

Where can I find information on Chief Seattle's speech?

The most frequent rendition of Chief Seattle's speech, the one on which a recent children's book was based, was actually written by a white writer for a television script. The story of Chief Seattle's (actually Sealth) speech is detailed on this website.

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