Re: Prehistoric People of NW Iowa
It has come to my attention that there were some misunderstandings during my PowerPoint presentation Thursday evening (March 24) at the Marcus Public Library. I would like to clear up some of those misunderstandings below.
Native Americans were the first inhabitants of the Americas. Native Americans are also referred to as Indigenous People or Indians, The oldest archaeological site in North American is the Topper Site in South Carolina known for the oldest claim for human settlement in the Americas followed by the Paisley Caves in Oregon where human feces called coprolite were found. The first inhabitants hunted mammoths and not elephants.
Native Americans did not bring horses to the Americas. Europeans brought horses only around 300 years ago. Fort Cherokee was built due to the “Great Sioux Uprising of 1862” and was not built by Native Americans.
I want to stress that Native Americans were the first inhabitants of the Americas. The U.S. government officially recognizes 574 Native American tribes in the contiguous 48 states and Alaska.
Regards,
Quinn Black
Archaeologist
Sanford Museum and Planetarium