The American Indians——A people in Crisis Indians lived in Nor

The American Indians—A People in Crisis
   Good morning, everybody. In today’s lecture I’d like to talk about American Indians who are considered a people in crisis. Indians were the first Americans. They lived in North America long before the continent was settled by Europeans. Through a long and difficult struggle that continues to this day, the Indians have striven to preserve their traditions, their religion, and their culture. In this they have shown great determination, continuing to hunt and fish or to manage small farms just as their ancestors did. But compared to other Americans, most Indians are poor. And this is their problem. Conditions which favored the old life are gone for ever, and yet many Indians are unable to adopt the white man’s ways. Now some of them are in trouble with the law. How did this trouble start? Who are the Indians? Where did they come from? Where do they live today? Why is it so difficult for them to assimilate?
   The American Indians are of Asian ancestry. Thousands of years before Columbus came to the New World, they entered North America by crossing a narrow strip of land that once connected Alaska and Siberia. Ancient geological changes raised the level of the oceans covering this natural bridge with water. Today this place is called the Bering Strait. At its narrowest point, the Strait is only 56 miles wide. In ancient times, as today, a crossing there, even by primitive boat, must have been comparatively easy.
   The migrants entered a new world in which there were no people at all. But there were many animals to hunt, and there were forests where nuts, roots, and berries could he gathered.  Living comfortably on this food supply, the newcomers spread out. Some moved south into Central and South America. Others travelled east to the Atlantic Ocean. These migrations were gradual, probably taking thousands of years.  Eventually, the people who became the American Indians had spread across North America.
   These migrants contained groups of quite different cultural ancestry. This is evident in the variety of languages they spoke. There are at least 200 separate Indian languages in North America, each with its own grammar and vocabulary. And none is related in any way to English or any other European language.
   The regions of North America where the newcomers lived varied greatly in climate mid food supply. In the plains and eastern forests where game was plentiful, the Indians hunted and fished. In the dry Southwest, they fanned. These regional differences explain the richness and variety of Indian culture: dissimilar economics produced quite different systems of society.
   For instance, many Indians of the Southwest, such as the Hopi and the Zuni, were village Indians. They built mud brick houses and developed agriculture. Many of them learned to irrigate; others became expert dry farmers. They grew beans, corn and other vegetables. They made baskets, raised and wove cotton, and made beautiful pottery.
   The Sioux, on the other hand, were Plains Indians. They were nomads who moved from the place in the area that is now North and South Dakota, Nebraska, and Minnesota. Being great hunters, they were able to kill the buffalo. Killing a buffalo was no easy matter. It took skill and courage.  When a herd was sighted, the men, who were called "braves", would creep silently through the tall grass toward an animal on the edge of the herd. Then they would shoot it with their bows and arrows. A safer method often used by the Indians was to drive the herd over a steep cliff. The animals would be killed by the fall. Any survivors would be quickly finished off by the Indian braves at the bottom of the cliff. Then the Sioux would have a great feast. There was plenty of meat for everyone. They made tents from the buffalo skins, and also used it for clothes and shoes.
   From the European viewpoint, the Indians were a primitive stone age people, who made their tools from stone, bone or wood. The Indians did not know how to work metal. Their farms, if they had any, were small. And they did not ranch. These were all enterprises which the whites were eager to start, but the Indians were in the way.  A cultural clash was unavoidable.