INDIAN HISTORY

1450  - 1499 A.D.



THE OJIBWA HAVE COMPLETED THEIR EASTERN MIGRATION
TO THE SALT SEA
THEY NOW BEGIN THEIR MIGRATION TO LAKE SUPERIOR

 
02/09/2008
  INDIAN HISTORY 1500 - 1564

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Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) claims to have discovered America 
but he was using maps developed by those who preceded him.  
No one said American was lost.
We are asked to celebrate this brutal man who among other things
sent 500 of our people as slaves to Spain.



1450  

The Penny Ice Cap on Baffin Island, Canada is growing..

The Iroquois Peoples tradition suggests the concept of 'The Peoples Republic' originated about this time and the Iroquois Confederation attributes it to Dekanawida, a statesman of the People.  It was the foundation of a government of the people by the people, for authority then flowed upward from the family unit or fireside, with men and women having equal responsibility.  This form of government was common place among the Peoples of North America suggesting it had its roots much earlier than this date.  Neither sex felt superior or inferior  It is noteworthy that in the southern part of North America the culture was more male dominated.  

The Iroquois, Cayuga, Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida and Onondaga, near the shores of Lake Onondaga (Syracuse) have reaffirmed their alliance.  The Wendat (Huron) refused to join as they are at the center of a trading network and antagonism began to develop between these related peoples.  The Cayuga tribal name Gwaugwck means, here they take the boats out.  The Oneida tribal name is from Onenhi and Kaniote meaning, upright stone.  The Peoples legend credits Dekanahwideh as being instrumental in establishing the first Iroquois federation.  Before the alliance some tribes practice cannibalism.  Nadowa was used for rattlesnake and means he who seeks and eats flesh and was a term often applied to the Iroquois, Dakota, Siouan, Teton.   As a result of Dekanahwideh's efforts he is renamed Hiawatha, meaning, he who combs, for he combed the twists out of mans perverted minds.  The Iroquois formed a union called Kansonsionni, the long house, under the tree of peace.  The Wendat had refused the Iroquois tree of peace and are thereafter classified as evil and hostile peoples by the Iroquois.  It is noteworthy that the Iroquois, Cherokee and Muskhogean are the only tribes known to use the blowgun in America that is usually associated with the Pygmy of Africa..

The Wendat however had formed their own alliance with the Canadian Algonquian, forming two differing cultures in Eastern Canada thereby setting the stage for an upper and lower America.  This would effectively establish the differentiation of Canadian and American culture.  The Algonquian peoples had a long standing and powerful federation long before the Iroquoian peoples arrived.  The major difference is the Algonquian Federation is defensive in nature whereas the Iroquois Federation is more offensive.  Much attention is focused on the Iroquois federation because the European culture understands an aggressive nature and has little use for more peace loving passive cultures.  Exploitation and domination of other peoples is just not in the nature of most aboriginal Canadians.

The Mandan of the Dakota’s began to fortify their towns about this time.  They raised corn, squash, beans and sunflowers.

The majority of Canada at this time is composed of Inuit, Dene and Algonquian people in a north south stratification.  The mountain and Pacific coast people are a different culture as are the east coast peoples.  The Siouan speaking peoples who are again penetrating into the Canadian prairies, Great Lakes areas and eastern regions are slowly being culturally assimilated into the Algonquian (Canadian) culture. 

It is wise to remember that most of these people inter-married as a matter of custom and are therefore of mixed blood. Just as we only have one race, the Human Race, we are really only one People. Cultural distinctions based on language, artifacts or other criteria however is helpful in tracking historical migrations of the People to improve our understand of our roots.

The Siouan Family includes:
    Crow, originally a Mississippi River people who migrated to the Stony Mountains.
    Assiniboin lived from Lake Superior, Lake Winnipeg to Missouri and Rockies.
    Hidatsa or willows lived in North Dakota, on the Knife and Missouri Rivers.
    Winnebago or winipyagohag (dirty water) were at Green Bay, Wisconsin in 1634
    Mandan of North Dakota
    Iowa, Oto formally Winnebago
    Omaha, Osage, Ponca, Quapaw, Kansa
    Sioux (Dakota)
    Catawba or Esaw (River People) of South Carolina
    Iroquoian Family: Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Mohawk, Oneida, Huron (Wendat), Tuscarora, Cherokee
    Caddoan Family: Caddo, Wichita, Pawnee, Arikara
    Yuchi

The Na-Dene Aphapascan Family, the most widely distributed linguistic group includes:
    Dogrib, Saschutkenne, Hare
    Chipewyan (Dene), Athabasca, Slave, Yellowknife
    Kutchin
    Tanna, Koyukon, Han, Tutchone
    Sekani, Beaver, Sarsee
    Carrier, Chilcotin
    Tahltan, Kaska
    Tanaina, Ingalik, Nabesna, Ahtena
    Eyak
    Chastacosta, Taltushtuntude, tututni
    Hupa of California
    Kato of California closely related to the Pomo
    Wailaki
    Mattole
    Tolowa of Oregon
    Navajo (Navaho) of Arizona and New Mexico in 1598, considered an aggressive lot. 
    The Apachie people differed from other natives by using place names vs. animal names
    del Perrillo Apache, Apache of the little dog near Rio Grande, New Mexico 
    San Carlos Apache
    Chiricahua Apachie of Arizona considered belligerent 
    Mescalero Apache (eaters of cactus) of Rio Grande River to Pecos, New Mexico
    Alachua Apachie the People of the canyon in Arizona.
    Jicarilla Apachie
    Lipan Apache of southern New Mexico and Texas, an aggressive people.
    Kiowa-Apache originally at the head of the Missouri River traveled as far as Texas
    Tlingit
    Haida of Queen Charlotte Islands closely related to the Tlingit and Tsimshian

The Eskimo-Aleut Family includes:
    Alasken Eskimo (Kuskokwim)
    Central Eskimo, Greenland Eskimo (Trans Arctic)
    Eastern Aleut (Unalaska)
    Western Aleut (Atka, Attua)

Algonkian speakers are the most numerous and prolific of Native Canadians, now and throughout prehistory always constituting well over half the country's population.  They are believed to be among the most ancient of those in North America.

The Algonquian-speaking peoples include:

    Cree of Canada
    Montagnais, 
    Naskapi,
    Menominee (wild rice people), of Wisconsin
    Sauk (live at the entry) of Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois 
    Fox (who live on the opposite side), Wisconsin.  Fox was a clan name assumed to be a tribe.  aka Reynard, Musquakies and Outagamies.
    Kickapoo (meaning he who moves about), of Wisconsin
    Shawnee meaning southerner, but the traveled a great deal, from the south east to west and north west.
    Potawatomi (who keeps fire), of Lake Huron and Wisconsin
    Ojibwa (Ojibway, Chippewa, Saulteaux), one of the largest tribes, living in the Great Lakes region.
    Bungi, 
    Mississaugas, 
    Algonkin or Weskarini (water people), of the Ottawa River 
    Ottawa (Odahwaug), meaning to trade, of the Great Lakes
    Delaware aka Loups or wolves (earth dwellers), they called themselves Lenape or Leni-lenape.
    Abnaki (Wabanakiyak) of Maine 
    Penobscot, closely related to the Abnaki also of Maine 
    Malecite, 
    Passamaquoddy, much fish, of Maine and New Brunswick, closely Abnaki related.
    L'nu'k ( Micmac), our allies, of the Great Lakes to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
    Blackfoot, 
    Piegan, poorly dressed hides, of Canada and Montana of the Black foot confederacy.
    Blood,
    Cheyenne (named by the Dakota meaning red talkers), lived from Minnesota to the Missouri River.
    Arapaho, (north and south) Nawunena, Atsina (Gros Ventre) big lodge people
    Yurok of California
    Wiyot
    Muskogean Family: Choctaw, Creeks, Chickasaw, Alabama, Koasati, Miccusukee, Hitchiti, Creek, Seminole
    Natchez of the Mississippi closely related to the Muskogean family group.
    Atakapa
    Chitimacha of Grand Lake in Louisiana
    Tunica of lower Mississippi
    Tonkawa those who stay together of Texas

Our Garneau ancestors the Ojibwa called themselves Anishinabe meaning men or human beings.  To others it means people whose moccasins have puckered seams while still others suggest it means voice of the crane.  The crane is a tribal totem called Businasse or echo-maker meaning orator of the clan.

The Ojibwa legendary figure is Nanabozho (the Great Rabbit) and their primary early trade items with other Native Nations are fur clothing, canoes, maple sugar, fish, wild rice and medicine.  Wild rice is called manomin meaning good berry.  Wild rice is an aquatic grain rather than rice, growing to almost eight feet.  They would develop the Grand Medicine Society.  They also originated the term Metis that is derived from the word Wissakodewinmi that means half-burnt woodsmen that describe their lighter complexion in comparison to that of the Native People.  The word Ojibwa also means gathering.  Wild rice, a mainstay of the Ojibway, had no value to the Iroquois or L'nu'k ( Micmac) though their lands possessed it in plenty.  The Ojibwa offered the canoes that are much in demand by the Iroquois.  The Ojibwa believe the Ottawa (Odahwaug), Sauk (meaning lives near river outlet) and Menominee are all Ojibwa at some earlier time.  Later the Americans would call them Chippewa and some French traders in the west would call them Saulteaux meaning from Sault Ste Marie (Bawating).  Some of the Ojibwa band names are Marmeg, Mantouek, Noquet, Saulteaux, Mississauga, Amikwa, Nikikouek, Achiligouan, Outchiugai and Ouasouaraini.  The Bawating (Sault Ste Marie) Ojibwa are called the Bawa'tigowiniwug or Saulteaux.  The Ojibwa had a tradition of freely adopting others into their tribe so that genetically they represented all their neighbors.  This is an important native distinction that family and brotherhood are synonymous therefore the belief of race or racial superiority is unknown.  The People would not understand European racial bigotry.

The Cree our other known ancestral roots had a legendary figure of Wisakedjuk (the trickster) and they are primarily located in northern Ontario and Quebec at this time.  The Cree would call the Metis o-tee-paym-soo-wuk that means their own boss.
They would eventually displace the Gros Ventre and Blackfoot who occupied central and northern Manitoba at this time.

The Ojibwa and Cree believed that in earlier times the Ojibwa and Cree are one tribe and therefore treated them as close brothers.  Most natives believed all men are brothers and Europeans as an example are just lost tribes of the People.

About this time the Ojibwa of the Bawating Falls (Sault Ste. Marie) separated into two divisions designated as Northern and Southern.  The Lynx and Pike occupied the North and are called by many the Rabbits due to their mild and harmless disposition.  These people further divided into the Omushkegoes (Swamp People) because of the nature of the country they occupied.  The Southern Lake Superior people included the Nokaig (Bear), Awausewug (Catfish), Ahauhwauhug (Loon), Mousoneeg (Marten and Moose) clans.  This group settled Wequadong (L'Anse Bay) and Grand Island near the Picture Rocks.  The Crane clan claimed to have first settled Shaugahwaumikong a sand point two miles from La Pointe.  Others contend it is the Loon clan that first settle the region.  The issue of being first did not arise among the People until they made contact with the French.  Within native culture this is not an important issue and likely every clan is involved in the first settlements.
Living on the shores of Lake Superior is a great city filled with a numerous and powerful tribe of people called Mundua.  An exact dating is not given but it must be between 1450 and 1490.  The people are fierce and warlike, raising their hand against every other tribe and the captives taken in war are burned with fire as offerings to their spirits.  All tribes lived in great fear of these people so a Grand Council of all Ojibwa is called.  A large war party is sent against these evil people.  Being a wicked people, the Great Spirit didn't listen to their prayers of deliverance.  Their army is defeated and the women and children are adopted into the Ojibwa being called Marten now a much respected clan.
 
Common to most of the People at this time is the role of women who brought man forth, cultivated the land, kindled the fire and made clothing.  Woman could block the decision to war, depose a leader who misbehaved.  They could free or adopt captives and gave their advice on matters of diplomacy.  Children aged nine to ten are encouraged to join in adult discussion.  This is in sharp contrast to European custom that children should be seen not heard and women are subject (property) to their husbands.  A young man who married their daughters must live in the mothers tent for one year or until the daughter has a child.  During this time all his produce belongs to the mother's clan.

The Native women seldom weaned their young ones before three or four years of age.  Some Europeans who believed in sparing the rod and spoiling the child claims this is the bases for the Natives uncommon tenderness and affection towards their children.   The Americas are a maternal culture as is most of the world at this time except warring Europe and the Middle East.  Some believe the basis of this distorted European belief is systematic to their understanding of Government, Business, Laws and major religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  They also believe until this inherent evil is combed from the twisted systems of men, peace and harmony with nature will not again prevail.

A volcano at Long Valley Caldera, California erupted this year.

The Little Ice Age (1450-1850) lowered world wide temperatures by 1 to 2 degrees but north America and Europe were hit hardest.  Some suggest low sunspot activity caused this cold spell.

By this year the existence of Antilia, (Cuba?), Hy-Brasil (Brazil) and the Island of the Seven Cites was firmly entrenched into European fork lore.  There were several authentic accounts of voyages into the Atlantic in search of Antilia.  The Portuguese and French would later applied the name Antilles to the newly discovered West Indies.

1452 

Henry Henrique a prince of Portugal sent expeditions in search of islands reputed to be far off across the Atlantic Ocean.  They visited the westernmost of the Azores and some claim they reached the Caribbean but nothing survived to verify this claim.

1453 

This is a significant date in the history of the Peoples of the Americas.  A world away Constantinople fell to the Turks cutting off the trading routes to Asia.  Europe now turned its attention to the West for a new route to Asia, primarily India.

1470  

The Inca Empire finally defeated the Chimu, their last rivals giving them an Empire that spanned nearly three thousand miles, nearly as big as the Roman Empire.  Their span of trade is nearly twice as far as the Romans.  It is noteworthy that the Inca tradition of empire building is not endemic to North America.

It is generally believed that the Ojibwa Medawe (Grand Medicine) Society began about 1800.  The Medawa is a combination of priesthood, doctor and historian intertwined into a holistic oneness.  Both women and men are initiated into this Grand Society.  Their own historical understand suggest a form of this society dates to the time of the new world.  When the Ojibwa moved from the Great Salt Water to the shores of the Great River (St. Lawrence) at Moneaug near Montreal, they didn't practice the Medawa.  They lived in this location for some time then moved to Lake Huron where they again practiced the Medawa.  Tradition suggests the Medawa rites are again lost and not practiced until the Ojibwa reached Boweting (outlet of Lake Superior) where it remained for many winters.  This old story suggests the Ojibwa likely lived on the Great Salt Water much earlier than 1400.

The Ojibwa believe the move from Montreal to Bawating (Sault Ste Marie) resulted in the cultural separation of the Ottawa (traders) from the Ojibwa.  Tradition suggests they stayed for a long period of time before moving to La Pointe.  The move from Bawating (Sault Ste. Marie) to La Pointe marked the separation of the Pottawatumies from the Ojibwa.  The Pottawatumees (those who keep the fire) moved up Lake Michigan taking with them the sacredly kept national fire.  They believe as a result of this separation the People became known as Ojibwa.  It would appear that sickness rather than war drove the people westward from the salt water. Ojibwa domed lodge  
The creation of the domed lodge is likely the result of a more sedentary life style.  The tipi structure however is better adapted to rapid movement especially on the prairies to follow wild animals. The domed lodge is formed by a frame construction covered by black ash and birch bark. It takes longer to construct than a tipi. They also constructed large domed long houses for religious and trading ceremonies especially at Sault Ste Marie.  It is noteworthy that the early Canadians did not re-discover the advantages of framed construction techniques until much later.

Some suggest 1470 to 1520 was a cold period leading up to the Little Ice Age 1550 to 1850.

Didrik Pining and Pothorst established a beacon on a rock named Hvitsark to the west of Iceland.  It is believed they made a number of voyages to trade with the Norse colonists in Greenland.

1471  

The North Dakota region suffered very dry years until 1518 likely driving the people from the Great Plains to the river valleys.  The Mandan likely migrated to Minnesota and Wisconsin during the drought years.  Cultural traits support this contention.

Tupa Inca reigned (1471-1493) the Inca Empire from Cusco and is credited with expanding the empire.

1472  

Deitrich Pining a Danish navigator claims to have discovered Newfoundland.  

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) was a naval mercenary in the service of Rene d'Anjou, King of Naples 1772-73. 

1474  

Some suggest Columbus had access to a map from the Florentine cosmographer Paola Toscanelli, this year, others don't agree.

1476  

Johaunes Scolvus (Skolp), a Danish explorer, with Joa Vaz Cortereal, Pining and Pothorst wintered in the Nunavut Territory  (Hudson Bay).  Nunavut means our land by the Inuit (Eskimo).  Some claim he was Jan of Kolvo (Kovno) of Poland.  Others that he was Colom Christopher Columbus II in 1477.

1480  

A Mandan village is located at Huff, North Dakota and their city state culture stands in contrast to their neighbors and relatives the Dakota.  Even the Cree of Canada are impressed with their different culture but not enough to adopt it as their own.  The Lynx and Pike clan of the Ojibwa migrated along the north shore of Lake Superior to the mouth of the Kahmauatigwaaug (Pigeon River.  From this location they spread north and west with an early occupation of Rainy Lake.  At Rainy Lake they encountered the Assinebois and entered into a firm and lasting peace treaty.

There is some evidence to suggest that some seamen from Bristol reached America this decade but hard evidence is wanting.  The merchants of Bristol, England claimed to have commissioned a number of western expeditions of discovery.  Some believe they reached Labrador and Newfoundland some time during this decade.  Claims of this nature go back to 330 B.C. when it is claimed the Phoenician's sailed beyond Britain to a land called Thule.   The Milan Chart lends credibility to numerous visits to America.   The cod wars between England and Iceland may have driven the fishermen to venture more westerly.

1481  

The British Merchants of Bristowe claimed to have landed on Beothuk Territory (Newfoundland).  It was suggested they were is search of the Isle of Brasile.  Little is known about this expeditions as they were in competition with the Portuguese, Spanish and French for fishing on the Grand Banks.

1483  

Some claim a Spanish or Portuguese sailor produced a map of the Caribbean after being blown ashore and this map was available to Christopher Columbus.  Others don't agree with this claim.

1485 

Some contend that Christopher Columbus sailing for the Vatican discovered America this year, few support this belief.  

1490  

Mississippi (Mayan based) culture dominated Central Eastern America from 700 A.D. to post contact with the European and in time spread out from the cultural heartland along the lower Mississippi valley.  They are master farmers and built mounds for burial and temples.  The largest discovered and most famous temple mound site is Cahoka in Illinois near St. Louis, extending six miles along the Illinois River and containing eighty five temples and burial mounds, sustaining approximately seventy five thousand people.

The aboriginal peoples as a rule are relatively disease free.  Much of this is attributed to their clean living life style and their changing locations as the resources become strained.  Archeological evidence however suggests they suffered from syphilis, tuberculosis, a few intestinal parasites and some types of influenza.  By not living in tight confined spaces especially with their animals had basically minimized the epidemic spread of diseases.  They are however immunologically defenseless by European standards.

Some suggest the Ojibwa built their first settlement on Madeline Island, Lake Superior.

The Ojibwa Mide Ceremony that is a part of the Medewewin or Grand Medicine Society recorded their migration from Eastern Canada, the great Salt Sea, through the Great Lakes to the Prairies.  They departed their Great Town on the Salt Sea because of sickness and death.  They first moved to Moneaung (Montreal).  After a long period they moved to Lake Huron.  Again after a great period they moved to Bawating (Sault Ste Marie).  Then after much time they moved about 1490 to the Island of La Pointe (Madeline Island).  Madeline Island is 14 miles long and 3 miles wide.  This great migration of the people is recorded on birch bark pictography, glyph stones, wooden slabs and hide is also sometimes used.  These sacred records are not shown to the black Robes for fear of their ridicule.  Alexander Mackenzie also believed the Algonkin originated on the Atlantic coast. Ojibwa Shaman  
The Medewewin or Grand Medicine Society represents a preoccupation by the Ojibwa with medicine. There were eight levels of apprentice required before one became a full Shaman. Their training exceeded the European doctors of the time.  They were required to become well versed in 100's of herbal remedies.  There were also  numerous surgical procedures required not including incantations to relax the patient.  This picture demonstrates an Ojibwa shaman using a sucking tube to withdraw the cause of illness.  The sucking tube was also used to extract foreign objects from the body.  This photo also provides a good view of the Ojibwa framed construction for their domed lodges.

A group of Ojibwa traveled the Chequamegon territory around Kitchi Gami meaning big water (Lake Superior) and settled Moningwunakauning La Pointe, Wisconsin.  This home of the golden breasted woodpecker is presently called Madeleine Island.  The Ojibwa tradition claims they arrived at La Pointe from the Salt Sea (Atlantic Ocean).  When the Ojibwa are at the Salt Sea, many years ago, the Cree, Ottawa (Odahwaug) and Ojibwa are one nation.  They would remain in the La Pointe area in large numbers until 1610.  Some believe their numbers at this ancient site reached some 20,000 people.  They sustained themselves through agriculture primary Mundamin maze and pumpkin, fishing and hunting.  This included moose, bear, elk, deer and buffalo that ranged within a half-day march from La Pointe.  Beaver, otter, muskrat and fish abound in this place.  The Ojibwa are smelting copper.  They worked it into sheets, smoothing it with stones.  Most is used for sacred objects, and writings used in Medawe rituals.  They also made clay pots mixed with pulverized stone for cooking.  Mining is not required due to the abundance of surface copper.  One report suggests the existence of an eight hundred-pound natural ingot that supplied their needs for centuries.

It is believed the Ojibwa culture built a village on Madeline Island, Lake Superior this year.  Prior to this time it was believed the Dacotah (sioux) occupied the S.W. end of Lake Superior.

Ojibwa tradition suggests a Grand Council be called at La Pointe to settle major national issues.  The Awause claim the Businause, Noka and Monsone formed a league to wage a power war against the Awause.  The Awause are not defeated and thereby rose to pre-eminence in the Grand Council.  The Ahahnauk it is reported remained neutral during the conflict.  This is likely the Council that acknowledged the Businause as orators of the Ojibwa league of Nation.

1491  

Henry F. Dobyns estimated the Aboriginal American population this year is about 112 million people more than all of Europe.  American was immunologically unprepared for the disease ridden Europeans against their diseases such as smallpox, typhus, influenza, diphtheria, measles etc.  The Europeans were the invading barbarians on a relatively peaceful civilized People.

1492  

A letter of Alexander IV (1492-1503) this year wrote: Greenland suffers from scarcity of bread, wine and oil, live for the most part on dried fish and milk products.  Ships rarely visit the bishopric due to the immense quantities of ice, the poverty of the land and the scant means of living.  The last ship to visit Greenland was 1484 in August when the ice is broken up.  No priest or bishop has been in Greenland since 1418.

Florentine Toscanelli (1397-1482) wrote Christopher Columbus "I notice your splendid and lofty desire to sail to the regions of the East by those of the West as is shown by the chart which I send you."  Toscanelli wrote to the King of Portugal before Christopher Columbus sailed 'the Island of Antilia is known to you (Antilla is Puerto Rico explored by the Chinese in 1421).

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), an Italian, using a map by the Florentine Toscanelli (1397-1482) pursued a course suggested by sailors and numerous  records and maps.  It is believed these maps are based on Chinese maps from the early 1400's.  Columbus courage is in taking a direct sea passage to known lands in a known direction but without knowing precisely how long the passage might be.  He is fully aware of Vineland and his quest is for a direct passage to India.  His intent therefore is to by-pass Vineland and he set sail southwest.

Christopher Columbus's log, October 24, 1492 wrote "I should steer west-southwest to go there (Antilia) and in the sphere which I have seen and in the drawings and mappe mundi it is in this region."  Mappa Mundae is the Portuguese maps that are based on Chinese maps of America.

Some contend Christopher Columbus discovered America but this is absurd as it wasn't lost and Bjarni Herjulfsson an Icelandic explorer first arrived Vinland likely Nova Scotia, Canada in 985, over 500 years earlier.  Columbus also recorded in his private journals the sighting of a shipwreck suggesting he knew he was not the first in that area.

Christopher Columbus is a habitual liar who suffered from self-deception, is driven by greed allegedly for Church and State however he consistently demanded his share and died a very wealthy man indeed.  Christopher Columbus however believed he had visited India and referred to the Natives as Indians and the name is generally accepted by Europeans, perpetuating the myth even to this day.  Christopher Columbus described the Natives as "so tractable, so peaceful, are these people, that I swear to your Majesties (King and Queen of Spain) there is not in the world a better Nation.  They love their neighbors as themselves, and their discourse is ever sweet and gentle, and accompanied with a smile; and though it is true that they are naked, yet their manners are decorous and praiseworthy."  Christopher Columbus however recommended the Natives be "made to work, sow and do all that is necessary and to adopt our ways."  Those who did not adopt European ways had hands and feet chopped off.  Tens of thousands are killed out right.  In short where there is love let us sow hate, where there is peace let us sow war became an unwritten motto.  The Europeans and their Roman Church would support this policy knowing that anyone who kills the People thinking he is doing a Holy Duty for God, never knew either the Great Spirit or Jesus Christ.

Christopher Columbus in appreciation of their hospitality kidnapped ten friendly American Natives and carried them off to Spain.  One died soon after arriving there, but not before he is baptized a Christian.  The Spaniards are so pleased that they had made it possible for the first American-Indian to enter heaven that they hastened to spread the good news.  In short their lust for gold and power caused them to pervert Church, Business and Government into the most horrific genocide campaign ever conducted by Homo Sapiens.  Native Americans suggest if we must glorify Christopher Columbus then we should also glorify Hitler.  Haiti as an example had 300,000 people and by 1508 only two villages of the Peoples survived.  The standard price for an American slave is four pesos apiece.

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) told the Spanish King and Queen that the pagan American-Indians he had met readily embraced Christianity, they are always smiling, their speech is the sweetest and gentlest in the world, they are a loving people, without covetousness, weapons they have none, it appears the people are ingenuous and would be good servants.

Christoper Columbus violated Canon Law by depriving the Indians of liberty and their possessions and therefore is excommunicated ipso facto.  However others contend that the high authority of the Church sanctioned the institution of slavery to the extent that the leading theologians had declared all barbarous and infidel nations who shut their ears to the truths of Christianity, are fair objects of rapine, captivity and slavery.

One estimate is that the Spaniards killed 1.5 million Americans within a few years after Christopher Columbus entered the New World.  It is noteworthy that more people lived in America, at this time, than lived in Europe.  Disease, however inadvertently killed most of the Peoples.

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) is credited with the spread of corn to Europe and some suggests its eventual spread to China over the next 50 years.

Martin Alonzo Pinzon (1441-1493) of Spain sailed with Christopher Columbus aboard the Pinta.  He was co-owner of the Pinta and the Nina.  His brother Vicentre Yanez Pinzon commanded the Nina and his other brother Francisco Pinzon was first mate (Pilot) on the Pinta.  Martin was very competitive with Columbus and didn't accept his leadership.  Martin explored other areas of the New World against Christopher's orders and almost beat Columbus return to Spain to claim credit for their discoveries.

The Arawakan People of the Caribbean gave us the words, canoe, hurricane, barbecue and cannibal.

It is estimated that between 100,000 to 300,000 People are in Florida this year.  This includes the Timucuans, Apalachee, Pensacola, Tocobaga, Calusa, Tequesta, Jeaga, Jobe, and Ais.  By the late 1700's non of these Peoples survived the brutality and diseases of the Spaniards.  The Seminoles were not among the early inhabitants of Florida having only arrived in the early 1700's.   

October 12:   Christopher Columbus's crew member sighted what they thought is Asia and returned February 1493 to commence the most important promotional campaign in history to ensure interest and funding for future exploration to India.  Printed accounts were as follows:

    April 1, 1493, in Spanish, at Barcelona,
    April 29, 1493, in Latin, at Rome,
     March 1496, in English and 1497, in German.

October 21:  The journal of Christopher Columbus said he wanted to go to another very large island, which I believe must be Cipangu (Japan), according to the signs made by these Indians I have with me; they call it Colba (Cuba).  They say that there are many ships and many very good sailors there.  Beyond that Island there is another which they call Bofio (Santo Domingo), which they say is also very large.

October 27:  Columbus named Colba (Cuba) as Juana.  The Native name of Colba or Cuba however prevailed.  Some suggest Asiatic chickens were in evidence before the arrival of Europeans.  They also contend they are not of the European varity.

1493  

Huayna Capac an Inca ruler reigned (1493-1527) and died in an epidemic making his successor unclear.

Diego Velazquez is with Columbia's expedition and completed the conquest of Cuba by 1514 with help from Pedro de Alvarado and Panfilo de Narvaez (1470-1528).  Velazquez established Baracoa on the eastern end of Cuba.  Alonso de Ojeda (Hajeda) (1466-1515) is sent out on this expedition 1493-1496 to verify the Columbus discoveries.  Included were Amerigo Vespucci and Juan de la Cosa of the Columbus voyages.  Before reaching land, Ojeda and Vespucci decided to seperate.  Cosa and Ojeda explored South America to about the Colombia-Venezuela border. 

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) and other representatives of the Spanish Government,  the Holy Roman Catholic Church and before God were to read King Ferdinand's edict to the Native People of America (in Spanish) to absolve all Spaniards of the depravity and horror of their actions.  It is noteworthy that this is based on the philosophy of one God, one Church and one King as taught by the Jesuits.

King Ferdinard of Spain is said to have established "The Requirement" to absolve all Spaniard's of the depravity and horror of their actions in the New World.  The procolation (from the procurator) reads in part, you must recognize the (Roman) Church as your Mistress and as Governess of the World and Universe, and the High Priest, the Pope...I tell you that with the help of God I will enter powerfully against you all.  I will make war everywhere and every way that I can.  I will subject you to the yoke and obedience to the Church and to his Majesty, I will take your women and children and make them slaves, to sell and dispose of as his Majesty commands, and I shall do all the Evil and Damage to you that I am able, and I insist that the deaths and injuries that you will receive from here on will by your own fault and not that of the Gentlemen that accompany me.    

Pope Alexander III unilaterally divides America between Spain and Portugal, the rights of the Native Peoples are not considered. 

During the period 1493 to 1495 the Spanish re-introduced the horse to America.  Their horses included Spanish Barbs, Arabians, Lipizzaners and other European breeds.  

January:  Hispaniola (La Isla Espanola) a fort called La Navidad, is built on the Republic of Haiti, with the help of the Arawak People.   Forty men were assigned to this fort but are killed the first year because they mistreated the Arawak People.

September:   Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) and his army, liked young girls, ages 8 to 10 years and if they did not submit they beat them into submission before raping them.

 

 

1494  

The People of Cuba were considered a friendly people as a result of first contact.

Hurricanes of 1494/95 struck Bahia Isabela (Republica Dominicana) destroying eight ships, the Gallega, Mariacalante, Cardera and San Juan, Columbuss.  Of the second fleet only the Nina survived.

June 7:   The Treaty of Tordesillas gave Spain possession of all lands lying west of a line of demarcation running north and south through the Atlantic Ocean, about 1600 Km (1,000 miles) west of the Azores.  Portugal was given all new lands east of this line.  Newfound and America therefore is the property of Spain and the French and English are trespassing on Spanish soil.   The line was later shifted to the west giving Newfoundland to Portugal.  The Pacific Ocean later called the Spanish Lake was hereby given to Spain.

1496  

Thousands of Spanish flooded into Hispaniola, conquering the People and established La Nueva Isabela later called Santo Domingo.

March 5:   Giovanni Caboto Montecataluna (John Cabot) (1450-1498) an Italian sailed from Bristol and is forced back without reaching the land of the Great Khan.

1497  

Patawomeke an Algonquian village, located on the Potomac River in northern Virginia is a major palisade village of the Potomac People and is excavated by W.J. Graham between 1935-37 and by T.D. Stewart 1939-40.

Amerigo Vespucci an Italian sailing for Spain visited the West Indies 1497-1503.

King Henry VII of England decided there was not an Englishman capable of sailing to the New Lands to the West.  He therefore allowed Giovanni Caboto Montecataluna aka John Cabot (1450-1498), an Italian slave trader from Bristol, England, at his own expense to sail to America.   The John Day letter dated to 1497-98 period describes in considerable detail the John Cabot journey but clearly indicates the men from Bristol preceded the Cabot expedition lending credibility to earlier claims.  John day writing to Columbus this year says John Cabot did not go ashore save at one place of terra firma, which is close to where they made the first landfall.  It is considered certain that this is the same point of land at an earlier time had been found and discovered by those of Bristol.  Cabot says he arrived Grand Cham (Gram Cam), likely Cape Breton Island.  He said he did not meet people but discovered snares to catch animals, needles for making nets and some cut trees.  On his return he saw two Islands but did not land.  A Spanish report of 1498 suggests since 1491 the people of Bristol had sent two, three or four caravel's to America.  John Day of Bristol wrote the land discovered by Cabot was found and discovered in times past by the merchants of Bristol..  A map dated 1480 supports this claim.

Some suggest the Beothuk of Newfoundland likely numbered no more than 500 persons.  They were shy of Europeans but were in possession of European trade items before 1501.  The actual date of first encounter is not known.

Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512) claimed to have discovered South America this year.  Many do not believe this claim.

Christopher Columbus rounded up 500 Natives and sold them to Spain as slaves.  He claimed he had found a New World but the People were not aware that the world was lost.

May 20:  John Cabot (1450-1498) sailed from Bristol, England to the west with 18 men in one ship called Watthew..  Cadot claimed they landed June 24, 1497 at an unknown location possibly Newfoundland. They only spent a few hours on land and raised two banners one for Rome and one for England.  Some suggest they kidnapped three L'nu'k ( Micmac) and reported sighting of Beothuk, Abnaki, Massachuset and Powhatan peoples bur this is highly unlikely.  Others suggest they never made land fall in America and its even questionable if they sighted land.  Some suggest if land was sighted it likely was Greenland.  One of his sons Sebastian Cabot (1476-1557) claimed to have sail with his father but most consider this a false claim.  Some suggest he sighted large quantities of fish and good timber for making ship masts but this is pure speculation.  Record keeping in England at this time was very poor and most accounts were rendered years after an alleged event.  The Juan de la Costa aka Juan Biscayno (1460-1510) map made in 1500 suggested Cabot sailed farther south along the Atlantic coast than other documents indicate.  This map challenged that America was part of Asia.

 

1498  

John Cabot (1450-1498), the slave trader with three ships and three hundred men sailed Bristol, England for the west.  Others suggest he was promised 10 ships, armed to his orders.  Still others suggest 15-20 ships.  He was also offered all the prisoners, except traitors, for his crew.  The Englishmen ran after Cabot, like mad dogs, hoping to get chosen for the expedition.  There are wild claims he arrived the Isle of Baccalaos, Newfoundland, named after the Beothuck's name for fish, that is the same word used by the Basque for cod fish.  The Beothuck had canoes, snowshoe and lived in bark or skin long houses some fifty feet long.  The had perfected a method of food preservation.  Some suggest their numbers are 2,000 to 20,000 people.  Others claim Giovanni Caboto Montecataluna sailed north until they could proceed no further.  The ship then returned south and back to England.  Others suggest he sailed for the New Lands with five ships and never returned.  One ship ran into problems early and returned to Ireland.   If this is true, and most accounts suggest all but one ship was lost, who witnessed land fall and returned to tell the tale.  The trip from their perspective is a failure.  It is most likely that his son Sebastian Cabot (1476-1557) who claimed to have sail with his father in 1497 is the prime source of these false claim.  One account in 1529 states that Sebastian Cabot was not qualified for leadership of a maritime adventure.  Some suggest he lost 4 ships along the south coast of America, likely the Carolina's.. 

The fisheries of Newfoundland however expanded with enterprising captains from Bristol and St. Malo, Basque and Portuguese ports.  Trading between the two peoples and the Natives is also reported.  

During this period the Iroquois speaking peoples are steadily driving northward displacing some of the Algonquian of the St. Lawrence region.  Some members of this ancient Proto-Iroquoian People arrived Canada about 50 B.C.

The Iroquoian (people of the long-house) speaking peoples included:

    Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga,
    Mohawk (meaning cannibal),
    Oneida,
    Tuscarora,
    Cherokee (people of a different speech),
    Wyandot (Huron) or (Wendat, which means people of the island),
    Tobacco,
    Neutral.

The Iroquois are said to be about 70% agricultural and used crude dugouts for boats and depended on the Algonquian for the canoe and snowshoe, in trade, as the Algonquian is more advanced in the manufacturing sector.  There is little evidence of hostility between the Algonquian and Iroquois peoples during this period.

The Wendat numbered about twenty thousand and lived in the Georgian Bay area in more than thirty villages, trading primarily in corn and are adapting more to the life style and culture of the Algonquian.  This would be used to cause major conflict between the two Nations in the future.

The Tobacco people as their name implies grew and traded in tobacco.

The Dakota (Sioux) are pressing northwest having originated from the same Mississippi culture as the Iroquois.  Some early Dakota claimed to have originated near the Pacific Ocean and that the Ojibwa had checked their advancement east, at the Mississippi River.  The Ojibwa called the Dakota the Nadowaysioux that is later shortened to Sioux.  Earlier pioneers believed the Dakota language is the closest language to the Mongolian language.  The Dakota Sioux called themselves Dakota and the Black Hills of South Dakota are considered the heart of the Dakota Nation but it is a place to visit not stay.  The Dakota held the same belief as all Natives, "one does not sell the land upon which the people walk.  The people are caretakers only, God owns the land."  Early traders suggest the Dakota are always war like by nature similar to their relations the Iroquois.  There is much evidence to support the contention that they are made war like by the intrigue of French traders and Jesuit Missionaries and are peaceful by nature before exposure to European culture.

To round out the orientation of the Canadian native peoples we need to consider the Athapascan speaking peoples who are pressing south from the northeast in British Columbia and Yukon areas.  The Proto Athapascan appear to have originated about 10,000 B.C. with the Proto Salish group separating about 5,000 B.C.

The Athapascan speaking peoples included:
    Sarcee,
    Chipewyan,
    Slave,
    Yellowknife,
    Kootena,
    Apache.

The meaning of Athapascan is enemy or alien and they appear to have migrated north through the interior of British Columbia from the south.  The term enemy appears to be synonymous with alien meaning a different peoples who have not entered into a trading relationship.

Francisco de Bobadilla was sent out to Hispaniola (Quisqueya) to arrest Columbus and his two brothers and sent them back to Spain in chains.  The people of Hispaniola (Quisqueya) were angry as Columbus had lured them out with promises of gold and other riches. 

Alonso de Ojeda (Hajeda) (1466-1515) became governor of Tierra Firme, the mainland of Central and South America.  He would establish a colony near the Pamama-Colombia border, encountering problems with the Natives and starvation under the leadership of Pizzarro.  The colony was later abandoned..

1499  

Juan de la Cosa aka Juan Biscayno, (1460-1510) with Alonso de Ojeda (Hajeda) (1466-1515) and Vespucci surveyed the islands off northern South America.  

Alonso de Ojedo (Ojedo) of Spain visited the West Indies on slave raids and was killed by poisoned arrows of South American-Indians, in 1505.  Some suggest he was killed in 1510.  Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512) was on this voyage to the Caribbean but the two seperated by mutual agreement.  Vespucci sailed south to reach Guiana and possibly as far as the mouth of the Amazon River.

Alonso de Ojedo (Ojedo) of Spain sighted Aruba off the Venezuelan coast.  It was virtually ignored for nearly 150 years being a safe haven for pirates and buccaneer's.

 


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