From the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Read the entire article from Cultural Survival

The documentary To Brooklyn and Back tells the little-known stories of the artisans who played an important role in developing the infrastructure of the world’s most famous skyline. Hundreds of Mohawks left the reservations beginning in the early 1900s looking for work in the growing metropolis; taking a leap in the dark, some came with their families, establishing neighborhoods that still bear their name. Kahnawake Mohawk filmmaker Reaghan Tarbell traces her own family history in one of these communities.

PBS Documentary “To Brooklyn and Back: A Mohawk Journey”

Indian Country Today: Documentary Traces Brooklyn’s Mohawk Ironworkers

Image: Katja Esson – Skydancer

Skydancer: A Film by Katja Esson

Beginning with the St. Lawrence Bridge near the Canada border, built in the 1880s, Mohawk emigres first established a reputation in construction. As more Kahnawake crews joined the burgeoning steelworking industry, employers were impressed with their determined work ethic and remarkable coordination and balance – and they quickly became renowned as some of the country’s finest metal builders. The Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the World Trade Centers, and even the San Francisco State Bridge are all on the impressive list of projects to which they have contributed substantial effort.

The Straight Dope: Why do so many Native Americans work on skyscrapers”

Today, metalworking and construction are almost a family business among Mohawks – they work all over the nation wherever skyscrapers and steel frames go up; many still live in the New York boroughs where their ancestors first “boomed out.”

David Noble: The Mohawk Ironworker Series

From Language Among the Skywalkers by Mushkeg Media

One of my favorite horse portraits. From Wallcoo.net

“Thirty-six Faces of Expression”

Image: World Historical Comics

You can see the color version here, but personally I prefer the black and white reproduction (I believe the print was made by Dore, aptly enough). ArtMight.com: 36 Expressions

Boilly (1761-1845) was rough contemporary of Jacques-Louis David. He was a gifted portraitist and a specialist in genre painting of the French bourgeoisie.

Hidalgo is a quasi-historical production about Frank Hopkins, a Wild West rider who takes his mustang on a treacherous race through the Arabian desert. At face value, it’s fun and attractive and more of a family flick than a plausible historical epic. But once you’ve seen it (and the epilogue explaining that the whole thing was a true story) your first thought is to find out more about this amazing guy who used his outstanding feats on horseback as a catalyst for one of the greatest efforts of wild mustang preservation.

Aside from the mustang outreach, the film’s other attraction was its roots in Plains Indian culture. Hopkins isn’t just a cowboy; he’s a born-and raised Lakota struggling to come to terms with his mixed white heritage, serving as an army scout and finding himself involved in the fateful events at Wounded Knee. By movie’s end he is able to reconcile his purpose in life by embracing his Indian heritage and working to preserve the horse lifestyle.

It’s obvious to any objective viewer that the story line is a little far-fetched, slightly on the feel-good side of reality. The reinvented cowboy figure sanctified by his Indian heritage, making it more politically correct for a modern audience; damsels in distress (an Arabian princess, no less); a journey of self-discovery and redemption, and the impossible victory of the underdog in a typical Disney-ish fashion.

Add to this the faux pas of having a half-Lakota portrayed by a blond Nordic (you probably already know my feelings about Indians played by non-Indians), and some really deplorable geography (Damascus is nowhere near the sea, and a 3,000 mile race would take a rider far out of the range of the film’s setting). But that’s my more abrasive approach. You’d really have to see it to get that it really works. It’s good in a genuine, almost-but-not-really-believable sort of way.

The Hopkins Controversy

But back to my investigation. Unbeknownst to me, the movie had already stirred up a long-standing, long-winded debate about this marvelous legend of a man, Frank Hopkins. “Camp A” lauded Hopkins’s accomplishments as a champion endurance racer, and his landmark efforts of preserving the mustang and traditional Lakota knowledge of horsemanship. “Camp B” called him a hopeless huckster, and Hidalgo merely the cheap and devious sequel to his colossal fraud. Some of these even purport that he may never have ridden a horse in his life, and the whole legend was the pipe dream of a thwarted wannabe cowboy. Oddly enough, this time, the cry of stretched or embellished facts was not aimed directly at Hollywood.

I was interested in what first provoked such a vociferous debate. It seems that if Hopkins were half the man he was claimed to be – and did half the things he was claimed to have had accomplished – he should literally be the most famous man on earth. Excuse my ignorance but I had never heard of him before I saw the movie. Apparently, the historical record is none too familiar with him either. A quick read of his biography and you can easily sympathize with Hidalgo’s detractors:

“As well as spurring his mustang to victory in (to be exact) 452 endurance races around the globe, Frank Hopkins also has an impressive list of other achievements. He claimed to be the most famous dispatch rider in the West, an associate of Buffalo Bill Cody and one of the “cowboys” from the Congress of Rough Riders of the World performing in Buffalo Bill’s internationally famed Wild West Show. He says he was Chief Crazy Horse’s protégé, put on a two-hour equestrian performance before Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle and helped famed plainsman Buffalo Jones capture and tame the first buffalo.
 
Hopkins also said he served with the Pinkerton detective agency, was a secret agent of the US government during World War I, a guide in the Grand Canyon for big game hunters including novelist Zane Grey, and once charged up San Juan hill with Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders. All this, of course, was in addition to mentoring Billy the Kid.”
 
“Hidalgo: A Film or Flimflam?” by Peter Harrigan, Arab News

Please give me a break. Either he suffered from borderline personality disorder, senility, or the world’s worst midlife crisis – or someone was seriously messing with this man’s memoirs.

I am not about to get embroiled in the convoluted debate over whether Hopkins was the world’s greatest endurance racer, or which episodes of his exploits are plausible and which are merely spin; there’s far too much literature on the subject for me to add more (and almost nothing about the man is not in question, starting with his date of birth!) But the material points here are 1) what’s the best evidence for and against the legend of Frank Hopkins, and 2) what to make of Hidalgo the movie?

Supporters vs. skeptics

In Camp A are such supporters as writer John Fusco, the administrator of FrankHopkins.com, mustang preservation activist, and last but not least, author of the Hidalgo screenplay. He has spent many years researching Hopkins’s life and offers the testimonies of first-hand acquaintances and friends of Hopkins. They vouch for his vast knowledge of unorthodox horsemanship gleaned from many years of intimate association with mustangs and Native horsemen:

“Whoever Frank Hopkins was—whether or not he made some spectacular long rides in underground competitions; whether or not he or Gert [Gertrude Hopkins, who published her husband's biography after his death] padded a more modest history with purple prose– one thing is now incontrovertible fact, supported by living witnesses:
 
The man was acknowledged and respected as “the ultimate in horsemanship”, a skilled trainer who used natural techniques long before they became trendy, and a passionate and eloquent spokesman for the preservation of an endangered breed. He was extremely knowledgeable about Native American horsemanship and Native horse medicine. He was an inspiration to later preservationists… and he remains an inspiration to the new wave of preservationists. He was also–according to everyone who has come forward to say they knew him—a very decent and quiet man.”
 
John Fusco, from FrankHopkins.com

Fusco and others also tout Native oral traditions which may or may not support the story of the epic desert race depicted in the movie. This draws the ire of opponents such as Vine Deloria Jr., renowned Lakota scholar, and likewise of Arab scholars who contest the idea of screenwriters with insider knowledge of a grand ceremonial race which has apparently defied all historic record – even in the Middle East.

The rallying cry of the Hopkins supporters is the adage “absence of evidence is not evidence of absence” – this in response to the fact that there is no concrete information about his upbringing, his pony express career, his racing record, or any overseas performance; no record of his service as an army scout and interpreter; and no documentation of his being in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.

Oddly enough, the only extant employment records for Mr. Hopkins are from the early 1900s – as a manual laborer in the shipyards and subways of the Eastern seaboard, and as a horse handler for the Ringling Brothers Circus (the irony there being that the show horses were Arabians, not mustangs).

A History Channel documentary entitled “The True Story of Hidalgo” featuring many of Camp B’s Hopkins opponents outlines many of the arguments discrediting the Hopkins story. Most damning perhaps is the text of the autobiography itself, with its outlandish Quixotic exploits (some of which no doubt were added at a later date) and its egregious distortions of Native history. In this respect it was a dubious move on the part of Fusco and the producers to use such a distasteful example of cultural appropriation as a source for a film supporting a Native image. Really, would it have been so difficult to start from scratch?

The most extreme naysayers paint a portrait of Hopkins as the most insidious kind of charlatan, slandering the movie Hidalgo and conjuring every possible criticism to the point of crying conspiracy. But between those who claim he is a neglected and maligned hero, and those who claim that he never rode a horse in his life, my instincts tell me that the truth is to be found somewhere in the middle. Our best bet is to work backwards – before the movie, before the publications.

Hopkins did work as a horse handler, so it’s likely he was able to pick up a good bit of the trade. Unfortunately any evidence of his prowess as a rider is circumstantial at best. If he was anything as good as he is claimed, then it is highly suspect that no more substantial record exists in all the annals of the West. (Movie fans should also remember that the film depicts only one hand-picked episode from Hopkins’s fantastic memoirs; if we had been presented with the lump sum of his Wild West escapades, it would certainly never pass for reality.) Until Hopkins researchers come up with more solid evidence to support his reputation as a champion horseman, his case is shaky at best. The fact that almost nothing is known about his life outside of his memoirs remains the primary obstacle, and explains why the story is such fertile ground for imagination.

What about his real role in mustang preservation? Supporters claim that he started the first wild mustang preserve in eastern Oklahoma, where his beloved Hidalgo was released to run free with a wild herd. I haven’t been able to find record of any such preserve. In fact the next best thing is the project organization of none other than writer John Fusco, who founded a mustang refuge for the Indian ponies of the Oklahoma reservations. This, incidentally, is the place where he claims Hidalgo’s descendents can be found today – an uncanny and somewhat confusing find that brings the search full circle. (I’ve got to admit, I’m not totally on board with Fusco’s line of logic through all of this.)

During Hopkins’s time in the limelight, and up to his death in Queens, New York in 1951, he was an outspoken advocate for the mustang and urged for steps to be taken to ensure its survival:

“In my day I watch the destruction of the buffalo and the antelope, We say their destruction was due to a benighted profligate generation, If we permit the MUSTANG to disappear we may be accused of the same qualities and we will deserve the accusation, The MUSTANG is as AMERICAN as George Washington and AMERICA is a vast enough land and IMPORTANT enough Nation to have A HORSE of our very own, HE IS FACING HIS LAST STAND, TO LET HIM GO WOULD IN MY OPINION BE A MAJOR AMERICAN NATIONAL TRAGEDY.”

Frank Hopkins, quoted from Reno Wild Horse Tours – About Nevada and Mustangs

Whether his interest in the mustang was from personal experience, or merely part of some fantasy, wild horses were the height of romance in the early 1900s – part and parcel of the “vanishing frontier” that spawned so much sensational spin and so many hollow heroes. Hopkins’s legend survived because it embraced the lure of the West, interwove it with popular fantasies about its Native peoples, and captured the romance of the horse in much the same way as the Wild West shows, dime novels, and early Western movies. If Hopkins was a complete fraud, then he’s by far not the biggest or the worst that has been perpetuated into the present day.

The mustang – and by extension the man who rides it – has always captured our imaginations and embodied our wildest fantasies of adventure and freedom. That’s the natural reason most people will be biased in favor of this kind of story: just like enthralled audiences of the early 1900s, we’d really love to believe it’s true. It’s why the Hopkins’s legend still looms large and the movie has caused such a huge splash.

The legend and the movie

“As far as I’m concerned, if they [the producers] would’ve made it clear from the very beginning, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

Juti Winchester, curator of the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, Wyo. (Quoted from “Hidalgo the Horse Hoax” – Blue Corn Comics

This is only partly so, given that the Hopkins controversy was seething long before Hidalgo ever saw the light of day. But the interest stirred by the movie’s production has certainly served to intensify the public debate over historical accuracy, and added a few more questionable elements to the mix.

For instance, the movie makes a focal point of Hopkins’s Native heritage, whereas beyond his memoirs’ aggrandized tales of kinship with several well-known Native leaders, there’s no indication that he had any Lakota ancestry. As far as it’s presented in the movie, it’s pure literary license. And the part about his using the winner’s purse from the Arab race to save a herd of doomed mustangs that still roams free today, is likewise pure fiction. It appears that the film writer has channeled his own honest desire to protect and celebrate the mustang into a partly fictional persona who was less real than his on-screen portrayal.

“I took what was a very banal, saddle-tech account of Hopkins’ own desert memories of 1891 and turned them into an action-adventure celebration of a story that has long fascinated me. Today, some critics actually believe that Hopkins himself dreamed up bandit ambuscades, hunting leopards, daring rescues, a three second victory margin, and the dramatic name of the race: the Ocean of Fire. He did not. I did.”

John Fusco (FrankHopkins.com)

In my mind, tacking on the “true story” line was the clincher – an underhanded marketing spiel that contributed absolutely nothing to the efforts of validating Hopkins’s life and achievements. It merged the Hopkins controversy with what should have been a completely separate issue about film making and performance. If writers or producers want to take a few liberties with a historical idea and make it into a movie, we can all live with that. But using already disputed material, embellishing it, and then passing it off as the real thing, is a recipe for disaster – hence the ridiculously voluble debate that’s still going strong several years after the film’s release.

Critic Roger Ebert’s 3-out-of-5-star review sums it up perfectly (in addition to describing the movie to a tee):

“Whether you like movies like this, only you can say. But if you do not have some secret place in your soul that still responds even a little to brave cowboys, beautiful princesses and noble horses, then you are way too grown up and need to cut back on cable news. And please ignore any tiresome scolds who complain that the movie is not really based on fact. Duh. ”

“Hidalgo” Review – RogerEbert.com

The Long Riders Guild “The Hopkins Hoax” – a huge directory of Hopkins-related research (mainly debunking the legend)

Weaving a Cinematic Web: Hidalgo and the Search for Frank Hopkins By Juti A. Winchester, Ph.D., Former Curator, Buffalo Bill Museum

FrankHopkins.org Article about the Hopkins debate – from John Fusco’s site dedicated to Hopkins research

“Hidalgo – the Horse Hoax” from Blue Corn Comics – more research about Hopkins and the movie Hidalgo and correspondence with John Fusco

“Hidalgo” on Internet Movie Database

Images:
Brego.net – Hidalgo
Wikipedia

This fantastic-sounding chimeric creature is a small mammal that most of us probably wouldn’t recognize: the musk deer. And you’d almost have to see it to believe that it really exists.

There are several species of musk deer in the Moschidae family, which used to be widely distributed in prehistoric times but today are found only in parts of Asia. Their name is a bit of a misnomer as they are not actually deer (who belong to the neighboring Cervidae family, and can be distinguished for instance by their horns). While these unusual animals may lack the jackalope’s signature antlers, their weird combination of features may make them the closest living thing to its mythical cousin.

Left: The taller Siberian musk deer.

Musk deer are shy herbivores who inhabit the remote woodlands of Asia’s high terrain. The males are highly valued for the potent scent they produce, a commodity that can bring enormous market value and has led to aggressive hunting and trapping, especially in China.

Interestingly, the musk deer resembles the oldest living species of deer, the Muntjac or “Barking Deer” of Eurasia. Muntjacs have small antlers in addition to tusk-like teeth. It is believed that these two species are remnants from a prehistoric population ancestral to both Moschids and Cervids.

So what of the infamous Jackalope?

Jackalopes – the cunning, antlered hare whose lore has been the bane of many a green tourist – is not just a specialty of the West. Similar “hybrid” creatures exist in the fables of countries around the world, most especially in Alpine regions. Like the winged Wolpertingers, Rasselbocks, and Skvaders of Germany and Scandinavia, they are an elusive but prized catch and a favorite folk spoof.

One peculiarity of jackalope lore is the tale that its milk is aphrodisiac. This is strangely reminiscent of the musk of its real-life counterpart, the musk deer, that has led to its near extinction.

I am not sure if there were any Moschids indigenous to America’s West in prehistoric times – or if the “jackalope” is merely an import of European settlers – but it is interesting to note the overlap of habitats between the musk deer, muntjacs and the jackalope’s Eurasian cousins. Could it possibly hint to a stored cultural memory of a time when strange, small bounding mammals with horns and tusks were not quite so scarce?

Ultimate Ungulate: Moschids (Musk Deer)

Wikipedia: Musk deer, Muntjac and Jackalope

Museum of Hoaxes: Jackalope

Images:
Wikimedia Commons
World Wildlife Foundation/HW Schuldei/Leipzig Zoo
BorealForest.org
BlueSkyBirds.co.uk “Mutjacs”

It’s time to check in on my post from this time a year ago and see how I measured up on some of my resolutions. (I’m being completely transparent!)

• Updated portfolio – In progress as I speak. It’s grown to an inconvenient size for one e-magazine, so I am condensing some of the material and breaking it up into four digital publications of a more manageable size. My current Issuu-based edition will still be available when I publish the new version.

  This year I’m using a fantastic ad-free Flash flip book offered through Code Box which I would highly recommend for any kind of artist portfolio (and it’s free – all it requires is a PDF file to convert, a little knowledge of computer code, and FTP access to your site). It’s not the solution for everyone but in my case it’s a great option.

• More Curtis portraits & wildlife – See below

• Nature photography – Check! Not as much as I would like, but I have contributed to my Flickr photostream. Autumn was gorgeous in this part of the world and I had a fantastic time going for these shots.

• Pastel pencils – Not yet; we’ll have to add that one on to this year’s list.

• Drawing – Absolutely. In fact I am expanding my portfolio to include a line of charcoal and graphite portraits AND wildlife pictures. Thanks to my Flickr contacts for some great inspiration.

  Flickr photostream: Sketches and Drawings

Anything new for this year? You can expect to see more of the work in charcoal and some small-scale pastels. In the spring (spoilers!) I plan to do a bit of traveling abroad so I look forward to lots of fantastic photos to share.

Best wishes to all my readers, and as always feel free to comment with your thoughts and ideas – I’d love to know how I’m doing!


Sunrise over a new year.

BBC News: Rare lenticular clouds over West Yorkshire (Photo Gallery)

Lenticular clouds form when a moist air mass moves downwind of a mountain range where it reaches the dew point, causing quick condensation. This is why they are so often seen capping a mountain peak. Their odd shape and apparently low altitude account for their common identification as space ships.

This page on WeatherVortex.com has a very good picture gallery of some amazing lenticular effects from all over the world.

(Google Images)

From the Cornell Ornithology Lab’s photo contest – a beautiful shot of a female Northern Flicker, taken by Gary Mueller.

A Blink in Time

The earliest recorded studies of snowflakes date back to China in the first century BCE. Later, rudimentary sketches of crystal structures first appeared around the time that early microscopes made close observation possible for European scientists. But it was the camera that really gave the humble snowflake its well-deserved place in the spotlight. One of the pioneers of this field was Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley (1865-1931) who made thousands of unique photomicrographs on black velvet (his photos were widely used by the scientific community and today are in the public domain). An 1885 photograph by Bentley is believed to be the first time a snowflake was captured by camera. So passionate was Bentley in the pursuit of the snowflake’s elusive beauty, the elderly photographer died of pneumonia after tramping through a blizzard for six hours with his camera.

Blueprint of a snowflake

A snowflake is essentially a molecule of water vapor crystallized by freezing temperatures. The more molecules accreted together, the more complex the form. Snowflakes most often develop six-sided figures because the layout of a water molecule and its ratio of oxygen and hydrogen atoms affects the way the molecules bond with each other in a crystal lattice. Snowflakes form in a cloud when the H20 is supercooled (around 14 F) and water condenses into droplets. The remaining vapor molecules cling to the water droplets and to each other as they begin to crystallize. In essence it’s more accurate to say that snowflakes are pieces of cloud, rather than mere frozen raindrops – which of course would be sleet.

This diagram illustrates how temperature and moisture affect the formation of snow (courtesy of Caltech’s Snowflake Study page):

Sorting infinity

As you might imagine, snowflakes come in so many forms that classifying them is no easy task. Many come in unfamiliar shapes with no resemblance to the famous “dendrite” types with their intricate fractal branches.

There are a number of basic snowflake forms: simple polygons; needles and rods; capped columns that look like spools of thread; clustered bullet-shaped snowflakes; and lumpy, irregular flakes of frozen water droplets. Some flakes form in a three-dimensional shape like a Christmas tree star.

Everyone knows the saying that “No two snowflakes are alike” – just like human fingerprints. But snowflake experts say that this very well may be a myth. It’s not as though there is a world database of “flake prints” to prove it; after all, if there were lots of identical crystal patterns hanging around out there, could we really expect to know about it?

Since nature favors diversity – and since there is a nearly infinite combination of variables affecting temperature, humidity, and other atmospheric conditions – it’s more likely that any two snowflakes will share only a passing similarity. There are more than enough crystal patterns to go around!

Psychological snow?

Finally, there is some research done by Mr. Masaru Emoto, who claims that snowflake formation is determined not only by temperature and air movement, but by mood. He has theorized that water responds to music, speech, and even human emotion, to create crystals that are correspondingly more or less aesthetically pleasing. Most serious academics ridicule this hypothesis, since the studies are based chiefly on the subjective taste of the researcher, perhaps blurring the line between control and variable – and because the results cannot be successfully reproduced in experiments.

If Mr. Emoto’s research has proved one thing, it seems to be that humans are at least as open to the power of suggestion as snowflakes are. Maybe it’s just pleasing to think that snowflakes could be as much a marvel to themselves are they are to us.

The next time you have the chance to see a cascade of the fluffy white stuff, I can be pretty sure you won’t be giving much thought to molecular geometry. You could always put on some of your favorite music and enjoy the show – maybe you won’t end up with happier snowflakes, but a moment to savor some of nature’s simple wonders is always a good call.

Snowflake photos from Wilson Bentley’s Official Site (Public Domain)

SnowCrystals.com – the definitive site for snowflake studies (Caltech’s project page)

Newscientist.com: Snowflakes as you’ve never seen them before with photography by Kenneth Libbrecht of Caltech

Snowflake “Bentley” Official Site

Wikipedia: Snowflake

EarthSky.org: How to take photos of snowflakes

Web Design Depot – a collection of more modern (but equally beautiful) snowflake macro shots

This installment of video-photo essays by Syracuse Post-Standard photographer John Barry explores the winter traditions of the Onondaga nation.

Iroquois people are no strangers to winter weather – their upstate New York homeland gets more than its share of frigid temperatures and snowfall.

Below: Throwing snow snakes and mud cats is a favorite traditional winter sport for Iroquois guys.

Togetherness and thankfulness are the cornerstones of traditional Iroquois culture. The coldest part of the year marks the time of the Iroquois midwinter ceremonies, held in the community longhouse.

Schoolkids make visits to senior citizens to help with chores and errands and share stories, bonding the two pillars of Iroquois society: the children and the elders.

A symbolic circle of pine trees at a counseling center. Members of the community struggling with substance abuse gather for support and healing.

Syracuse Post-Standard: People of the Hills – Winter

Ice sculptures in Banff National Park, Alberta – Photo by Stacy Conaway

Of course there are some REAL winter junkies out there – and though you’re probably outnumbered by sun-loving snowbirds who migrate (at least in their dreams) to more southerly latitudes as the days get shorter, you know there’s little that can compare to the awesome sparkling splendor of a snowy landscape, urban or rural. Whether it’s the glitz and nostalgia of the holiday season, or the pristine cleanness of the crisp air and a soft blanket of snow, there’s a certain subtle magic that no other time of year can offer.

So here’s to lovers of winter; feast to your hearts’ content on snowy snapshots and festive photography from places in the world where folks know how to do winter up just right.

National Geographic: In Praise of Winter

Prestvannet Lake, Norway – Photo by Einar Nilsen
You’ve got to take winter seriously when it brings darkness much of the year, as it does in Norway. Be sure to see the gallery of Scandinavia photos.

Brown bear cub in snow, from Gary Lackie’s photostream on Flickr. Doesn’t look like the Alaskan cold bothers this little fellow a bit, does it?

Watch Reel Injun – Trailer on PBS. See more from INDEPENDENT LENS.

A film about the modern-day Wampanoag people and the resurrection of the Wampanoag language. Members talk about living with their nation’s past and dealing with their popular image as “the Thanksgiving Indians” or “the Pilgrim’s Indians.”

You can watch the complete episode online through Thanksgiving (Thursday the 24th) at PBS Video.

(See also: We Shall Remain: After the Mayflower)

From the same author that brought us 1491: New Revelations About the Americas Before Columbus and numerous excellent essays and articles comes this very interesting piece on one of Native America’s most important staple crops.

This time of year, with Thanksgiving just around the corner, foodstuffs with deep connections to Native culture come to the forefront of popular culture: turkey, pumpkin, cranberry, just to name a few. There’s an aura of bounty and nostalgia around the foods that hallmark the holiday, as if the lingering memory of the land’s plenty as first experienced by early colonists has been passed down along with its ever-evolving traditions and legends.

Most people aren’t aware that their Thanksgiving turkey was first savored by the Aztecs, or their steaming bowl of mashed potatoes is an Andean specialty – or for that matter, that their European, African, or Asian ancestors would have been completely unaware of these dishes. Likewise, few know about the underlying circumstances that made the introduction of these foods possible for the rest of the world. But there’s a subconscious cultural connection that still links them – however vaguely – with their Native source.

Maybe it’s the grade school story of Squanto befriending the Pilgrims, teaching them how to plant maize – recounted again and again, and plastered all around us in countless cartoons and caricature – that gives the modern Thanksgiving its ostensible “Indian” savor, and makes it a uniquely American holiday. But maybe there is more to be gleaned from today’s Thanksgiving rituals about the intertwining of cultures that forms the roots of both the holiday and the country.

Food for Thought: Little-Known Facts About American Indian Innovations

National Geographic News – 16 Indian Innovations: From Popcorn to Parkas

“Celebrating an Indian Summer” by Richard B Williams The importance of the material contributions from Native cultures

Countdown: 10 Things About Thanksgiving A series about the foods, traditions, and legends of this distinctly “Native” holiday

Charles C Mann, “Native Intelligence” from the Smithsonian Magazine – a background study of the events and people of the mythical Thanksgiving