Children’s Virtual Exhibit

Treasures from a Moravian Attic: Native American Objects from the Wachovia Historical Society

Adapted from a project by Laura Bullins

This map shows the different Native Americans culture areas. Learn more about the people from these places by clicking on the links to the left.

Welcome!

Do you know what “Native American” means?

“A native is someone who belongs to a particular place. Native Americans are people who belong to the Americas. They knew America better than anyone else because they had lived here for thousands of years” (Native Americans, pp. 4-5). Not all Native Americans are the same, though. There are lots of different tribes that live in different places and have different cultures. “A tribe is an Indian group which possesses certain qualities and characteristics that make it a unique cultural, social, and political entity” (Indian Country Wisconsin: You Are Here).

 

Why do we not call Native Americans “Indians”?

Most prefer to be identified by their tribe. When there is a group made up of people from more than one tribe, some prefer to be called Native Americans and some prefer to be called American Indians. It is best not to use just “Indian” because that can be a native of the country of India. 

 

Do you know what “culture” means?

“Culture” is a word that means all the things that are part of a group of people’s life, like the language they speak, they foods they eat, the clothes they wear and the games they play. Can you describe YOUR culture?