Author Archives: Stephen Carr Hampton

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About Stephen Carr Hampton

Stephen Carr Hampton is an enrolled citizen of Cherokee Nation, an avid birder since age 7, and a former resource economist for the California Department of Fish & Game, where he worked as a tribal liaison and conducted natural resource damage assessments and oversaw environmental restoration projects after oil spills. He writes most often about Native history and contemporary issues, birds, and climate change.

The World Cup, the Ball Game, and the Little Brother of War

Posted on July 11, 2014 by Stephen Carr Hampton

They say is closes the shops, schools, and businesses, starts and stops wars, and fully engulfs societies on game days.  But the drama and passions of the World Cup are far from unique.  In the 1600s, the Ball Game in … Continue reading →

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On this date… July 7, 1540… New Mexico

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Stephen Carr Hampton

Just nineteen years after the conquest of the Aztec Empire, young Coronado came north.  More than an “explorer”, his expedition came with 300 soliders, 800 Indian scouts, over 500 horses, and a large herd of cattle, sheep, and pigs.  He … Continue reading →

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On this date… July 4, 1744… Pennsylvania

Posted on July 4, 2014 by Stephen Carr Hampton

Exactly how much the formation of the United States of America was inspired by the Iroquois Confederacy is a matter of debate. But we do know that on the 4th of July in 1744, Canasatego, a Lord of the Onondaga, … Continue reading →

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On this date… June 13, 1717… New York

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Stephen Carr Hampton

On this date in 1717, the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee (or Iroquois) Confederacy were conducting an investigation into the cause of a small pox epidemic.  They had sent investigators as far as Maryland and Virginia.  They met with the … Continue reading →

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On this date…  June 1, 1773… Georgia

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Stephen Carr Hampton

Many people believe that Europeans took the land from Native Americans by military conquest.  That was almost never the case.  On this date in 1773, the Creek and Cherokee signed over 2.5 million acres of land to the British to … Continue reading →

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On this date… May 21, 1542… Mississippi River

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Stephen Carr Hampton

On this date in 1542, Hernando De Soto, the explorer, the invader, the pillager, the rapist, died somewhere along the Mississippi River.  Fearing his grave would be desecrated, his body, bedecked in armor, was released into the current to sink … Continue reading →

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On this date… May 12, 1879… Nebraska

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Stephen Carr Hampton

On this date in 1879, a US judge declared that “an Indian is a person” and may not be imprisoned (so long as they renounce their Indian ways). Following two decades of some of the most genocidal “extermination” policies, the … Continue reading →

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Range Wars and White Privilege

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Stephen Carr Hampton

Throughout the history of the west, white settlers encroached upon Native American lands, creating conflict.  More often than not, there was minimal violence.  Instead, the Natives went to the federal authorities, with whom they already had a treaty, and asked … Continue reading →

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On this date… April 17, 1680… Quebec

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Stephen Carr Hampton

On this date in 1680, Kateri Tekakwitha breathed her last.  She was a captive orphan, a girl convert, a French Iroquois, and a Catholic saint.  Descriptions of her death are colored with racial overtones.  A priest at her bedside observed, … Continue reading →

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Absolutely True Ban of Sherman Alexie’s Book

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Stephen Carr Hampton

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie gets the ultimate endorsement:  censorship.  This fabulous illustrated book, geared toward a junior high and high school audience, is both a funny and sobering look at life on the rez. … Continue reading →

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