[Detail] Chilkat dancers, Alaska, 1895
Historical Research
Multiple essays in the Special Presentation explain the potlatch ceremony and discuss its importance to Native American cultures of the Pacific Northwest. A search on potlatch provides materials that support research into this tradition, including scholarly articles and images that testify to the persistence and eventual revival of the ceremony.
Though the U.S. military fought numerous Native-American tribes in many wars during the second half of the 19th century, the ordeal most often associated with this time period is the Civil War. Researchers may use this collection to explore the similarities and differences between these conflicts and how they may have affected each other. The Subject Index heading, Indians of North America--Wars, provides many materials. Questions to consider include the following:
- What were the motives, goals, strategies, and resources of the U.S. government in each conflict?
- How did newspapers cover wars with Native Americans and the Civil War? What may account for any differences?
- What was the public opinion of each kind of conflict? What may account for very different attitudes towards these arenas of violence?
- What is the significance of the difference in location of these campaigns? How did the location contribute to the nature, newspaper coverage, and popular opinion of these campaigns?
- How might these conflicts have affected each other?
