Wow, I always thought it was more than that but then again they lived a hard life and fought many tribal wars. I hate the way Indians are portrayed as living in harmony with the Earth and all mystical and wise. I’ve read that there were areas where they had hunted deer into near extinction and they used to set forest fires to drive game.
My ancestors the Britons and the Scotts lived much as the Indians did and the clans fought over territory and raided each other. When the Anglo Saxons came with their culture and their common law which was a better system than the old tribal system of the Britons,instead of recognizing a superior way they fought with the Saxons and the Norse much as the Indians fought with the settlers. And, I think the Indians on the reservations today are in such a sorry state in part because they refuse to give up those old, irrational, mystical beliefs and embrace the 21st century.
Well, its was Norman England that actually conquered them, or rather that blend of Norman and Saxon which we see coming together in the 13th Century that subdued the Celts of Briton. As you know, the Scots have never achieved full acceptance by the English, not to this very day, and their snobbery may finally result in the end of the Union. Certainly if the UK goes into Europe, that is more likely to happen.
Many Indian reservations that have legalized gambling are now doing extremely well economically. The Ho-Chunk tribe of Wisconsin, close to where I live, has casinos that rake in millions annually. But there are Indian tribes in Wisconsin that do not do so well. There is one county in Wisconsin (Menominee) that is part of the Menominee Indian tribe. It is the poorest county in Wisconsin and has the worst health rates.