Native American Contributions
abstract art- Abstract art was used by nearly all tribes and civilizations of North and South America. Native American art was believed to be primitive until the 1990s, when it served as inspiration for the modern American abstract art movement.
adobe- Adobe was used by the peoples from South America, Mesoamerica, and up to Southwestern tribes of the U.S. It is estimated that it was developed around the year 3000 BC.
almanacs- Almanacs were invented independently by the Maya. Their culture arose and they began using them around 3,500 years ago, while Europeans are known to have created written almanacs only after 1150 AD. Almanacs are books containing meteorological and astronomical information, which the Maya used in various aspects of their life.
anesthetics- American Indians used coca, peyote, datura and other plants for partial or total loss of sensation or conscious during surgery. Non-Indian doctors had effective anesthetics only after the mid-19th century. Before this, they either had to perform surgery while the patient felt pain or knock the patient out.
aspirin- Native Americans have been using willow tree bark for thousands of years to reduce fever and pain. When chemists analyzed willows in the last century, they discovered salicylic acid, the basis of the modern drug aspirin.
Read more about Native American Contributions: B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, See Also
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“The Great Spirit, who made all things, made every thing for some use, and whatever use he designed anything for, that use it should always be put to. Now, when he made rum, he said “Let this be for the Indians to get drunk with,” and it must be so.”
—Native American elder. Quoted in Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography, ch. 8 (written 1771-1790, published 1868)
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That to me gave this life’s first native source;
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An house of ancient fame.”
—Edmund Spenser (1552?–1599)
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—David Blankenhorn (20th century)