Native American Contributions to Modern American Culture
Tanaf Almenhali
Jan Looking Wolf Reibach
MUS 108
Native American Contributions to Modern American Culture
By most accounts, the culture of modern America compared to that of Native Americans is like yin compared to yang. Many conceptions of American culture, that are not attributed to virtues like heroism and bravery, revolve around materialism and indulgence. Meanwhile, most people understand Native American culture as one of collectivism, and integrality with nature and spirituality. For example, it is infamously purported of the Native Americans that they did not understand the value or ownership of land in the ways that American society applied. Often this seems to paint a picture of naïve natives, or of scandalous colonialism. In any case, it generally implies that the two cultures are virtually opposed; since, how could a culture that all but annihilated native culture be thusly compatible with it? Despite this, there are many subtle indications and obvious evidences of the influence of Native American culture on that of modern America. Among the most obvious is the integration of native names in American geography, which, despite seeming to imply a commandeering of native names, is generally perceived by Americans as honorific. A second less obvious, but arguably more important example is found in agriculture, while the third, and most contentious of these, are influences in the structure of the American government itself. These factors can help elucidate how significant and imminent native culture was to historic Americans, and thus why it remains so now.
American culture has extensively integrated Native American vocabulary to the point that many native words are hardly recognizable as such, and seem intrinsic to the English language. Some examples of such words acquired from native languages include barbecue, hammock, hurricane, chipmunk, and numerous others (USDA 2). However, perhaps more significant is the affixation of Native American names to numerous locations throughout the US, sometimes even forming the names of cities or even entire states. For instance, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, and Alabama are all named after native tribes (Swandaru). Many other towns, cities, and river also bear the names of tribes, including cities like Seattle, Spokane, Milwaukee, Miami, and Wichita, among others (USDA 2). This sort of designation can produce a variety of interpretations, considering the spotty past between natives and early American settlers. There are plenty of tales of cooperation, and just as many of treachery. However, generally speaking, the use of these names is meant to somewhat ironically honor the many native cultures who were marginalized in the process of conquering those lands. Although the average American may not frequently recognize it as such, the adoption of such names also confers an admission of guilt in America’s role in diminishing these tribes, greatly complicating or even preventing the preservation of their cultures. Thus, their sacrifice is perpetually embedded into the various geographic centers of American culture, as well as in the English language itself. The significance of this representation may be debated amongst scholars, but regardless of the interpretation, most Americans recognize the honorific nature of such designations.
When the first settlers came to America, they faced many challenges, but few were so dire as the challenge of mastering agriculture. While some of these early settlers may have had some farming experience, farming in a new land with its own distinct climates was not exactly a comparable task. As such, natives made an immense mark on American culture by way of enabling Americans to be more self-sufficient. Native Americans are credited with helping early American settlers survive by sharing their farming methods with the settlers (USDA 1), allowing them to establish a diverse array of crops that would help support a large settling population. In fact, the United States Department of Agriculture, or USDA, writes that 60% of the entire world’s present-day food supply comes from Native American agriculture, heavily based on corn and potatoes (3). The USDA also notes the irony that potatoes are often considered an Irish vegetable (3), while other seemingly multicultural foods – like beans, peanuts and tomatoes – also originate from native crops (1). Thus, as with many other aspects, the native influence has frequently been glossed over; yet without it, American culture as a whole would not be the same. It does not seem to be much of a possible exaggeration to even say that American culture might not even exist without native influence. This perhaps explains why some particular natives, like Squanto, had “become immortal because of his…role in teaching immigrant Englishmen how to plant corn” (Hallowell 205). While America’s entire history is not even a few centuries long, the knowledge and techniques cultivated and expressed in native agriculture were the product of other centuries and generations of tribes before. Yet, this largely goes unaccounted for in modern agriculture, despite its instrumental role in facilitating American agriculture. For example, we could not imagine today the US agricultural sector without corn, and at one point there was a minor movement to make corn the national emblem (Hallowell 206). This is not even to mention the multi-faceted roles agriculture plays, like with prevalent use of high fructose corn syrup in American foods. So it is simple to see how extensively Native American culture influenced American culture through agriculture, despite the fact that it receives little credit for such apart from occasional, brief textbook references to natives teaching pilgrims to farm.
Finally, while there is a lot of contention over the issue, some have claimed that natives had a direct influence over the shaping of the US government. In particular, the USDA credits Benjamin Franklin with evidencing this. He is alleged to have said that the idea of a federal government, in which certain powers are given to a central government while all other powers are reserved for states, was borrowed from a system of government used by the Iroquois League of Nations (USDA 2). This is a particularly compelling insight, but unfortunately it is unclear how true this actually is. Although the USDA is a credible source in itself, it does not indicate where Franklin said this. Meanwhile, historian Ellen Pearson confirms that Franklin did write about the League of Nations, but it was not an especially flattering context. Pearson also argues that the League of Nations had a very different structure, while other scholars argue that there were plenty of European models to base the US government on. Even so, it seems likely that natives still had influence over some aspects of the US government structure, even if not in ways that the USDA implies. For instance, Pearson concedes that Franklin did write of the League of Nations in a letter, but was quoted as saying “It would be a strange thing if Six Nations of ignorant savages should be capable of forming a scheme for such and union…and yet that a like union should be impracticable for ten or a dozen English colonies.” Again, not the most flattering reference, but clearly indicative of the fact that Franklin and others were aware of this arrangement, and understood its structure. Thus, even if they did not draw direct elements from it, Franklin’s own words indicate that, at the very least, natives served as a similar model for the practicality of such an arrangement that America champions today, even if the context of the model’s appraisal was not particularly savory.
To recount all the ways in which Native Americans influenced modern American culture would be an extensive task. But to prove that they did in fact influence it is much more straightforward, even if it is not always obvious. With this paper, we reviewed three ways in which natives left a mark on American culture, and how this has affected America as it is known today. First, there are many instances of native language in English, whether as discrete words or in the proper names of places. Afterward, we considered the immense significance of native agriculture, and especially corn in early American survival. Finally, we looked at potential influences in the US government. Although native influence is not always clear cut, it is clearly prevalent throughout American culture.
Works Cited
Hallowell, A. I. "The Impact of the American Indian on American Culture." American Anthropologist, vol. 59, no. 2, 1957, pp. 201-217.
Pearson, Ellen H. "Iroquois and the Founding Fathers." Teachinghistory.org, U.S. Department of Education, 2018, teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/24099.
Swandaru, Randi. "Native American Influences on Modern American Culture." PradanaNusantara, 19 Oct. 2011, pradananusantara.com/2011/10/19/native-american-influences-on-modern-american-culture/.
USDA. "Native American Contributions." Natural Resource Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture, www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs141p2_024206.pdf.