Who are the Aborigines of United States and the North America?

The narrative of the North American continent does not commence with Columbus's discovery of America. An integral and important part of this history are the tribes and peoples who lived here before the arrival of Europeans and long before the emergence of the United States. The relationship between the natives and the representatives of European civilization who settled on the continent was complex, often dramatic, but over time they were humanized.

• American Quarter and Native Memory

In the United States of America, there used to be a 25-cent coin, but since 1838 it has received a new denomination – the quarter dollar. Like all coins worth more than 10 cents, it was minted from silver until 1964, then from a copper-nickel alloy. But the quarter dollar coins in question are covered with 999-carat gold and are distinguished by the high quality of minting “proof-like”! The series of 50 coins is dedicated to the indigenous people of America – the Indians.

• Indians of North America: History…

The people who lived on the American continent, whom Columbus and his followers took for the inhabitants of India (which explains the name that stuck to them), are classified by modern science as an Americanoid race. Genetic research indicates that the forebears of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas migrated from Eurasia, most probably from the Altai region, traversing the isthmus that once occupied the area of the Bering Strait. This happened in the Stone Age. For many millennia, the tribes of the true discoverers of America developed the continent. By the time the Europeans arrived here, the various tribes and peoples of America were at different stages of development, but for all of them, the clash with European civilization was tragic: epidemics of unfamiliar diseases, loss of ancestral lands, cruel persecution by the authorities... The American authorities did not immediately admit their mistakes and began to take measures to correct the situation.

• Modernity

Today, there are about five million Indians in the United States (a little more than one and a half percent of the population) and 565 Indian tribes are officially registered, that is, recognized by the federal authorities. The largest of them are the Cherokee, Navajo, Sioux and Chippewa. However, sociologists note that fewer and fewer Indians speak their native language: according to statistics, four fifths of them speak mainly English even within their families. Two-thirds of Americans of Indian descent have assimilated and lead the same way of life as the rest of their compatriots. This process began a long time ago, as evidenced by the term "five civilized tribes", which appeared in the early 19th century - the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole had already adopted many of the customs and achievements of their white neighbors.

About a third of Indians still prefer to preserve their ancestral way of life whenever possible, and therefore live on reservations. Modern Indian reservations are a kind of protected Indian territory. Suffice it to say that they have almost the same rights as individual states. The government recognizes the rights of these tribes to self-government and self-determination, and supports their sovereignty. Tribal courts and law enforcement agencies operate on reservations, and local authorities have the right to impose taxes. 

• Interaction of Peoples and Cultures 

The further we go, the more the cultures of two peoples who have lived side by side for a long time – the descendants of the indigenous inhabitants of the continent and the heirs of the colonizers – interpenetrate. Historically, helicopters by Americans have derived their names from Indian tribes of the ancient past: Sioux, Lakota, Apache. The tactics of helicopter combat use – a sudden attack on the enemy from the flank and a quick disappearance – are similar to those used by Indian warriors. Purely human, friendly and especially family ties also mean a lot. It should be noted that among the ancestors of such famous figures of American culture as Johnny Depp, Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Costner, Cameron Diaz, there were Indians.

• Indian Coins

All 50 coins in the collection were issued under the auspices of the Mesa Grande Tribe. The Mesa Grande Band of Diegueño Mission Indians is a tribe residing in an area situated in the northern part of San Diego County, roughly 75 miles northeast of San Diego, California. The territory is located at an elevation of 3,500 feet above Black Canyon, on a plateau adjacent to the Cleveland National Forest.

The Mesa Grande Tribe is recognized by the U.S. government as a sovereign nation that has the right to issue its own coins. Each coin in the series depicts an Indian from one of the tribes living in each of the fifty states. The depicted characters are shown in traditional costumes or engaged in traditional crafts.

• Preserving Traditions

An essential element of the traditional Indian costume is a headdress made of feathers. In the United States, a separate federal law is devoted to these feathers. Or rather, not to the feathers themselves, but to the right of Indians to freely practice their religious cults, which require eagle feathers. Since eagle hunting is prohibited in the United States, the law makes an exception for Indians: tribal members can purchase eagle feathers, but they are prohibited from selling or transferring them to non-Indians.