Native Americans of the Northeast,

Sustained on stream fish, and wild forest beast,

Hunting, fishing and growing some maize.

League of Six Nations, their warrior phase,

Fought bravely in the name of Iroquois,

Joined Tuscaroras, engaged war ploy.

Together, they resisted the White invasion,

‘Til American revolution gave occasion

To disagree which side earned their support,

As Americans, British both would court.

The tribal names of the northeastern woodland,

Are listed, no particular order planned.

Montagnais, Malecite, Machican,

Pennacook, Abenaki, and Mohican,

Delaware, IROQUOIS, Nanticoke,

Huron, Cayuga, Pequot, and Mohawk,

Massachuset, MICMAC, Naskapi,

Winnebago, Onondaga, and Cree,

Oneida, OJIBWA, the Chippewa,

Fox, Miami, Erie, and OTTOWA,

Sauk, the Susquahanna, and Kickapoo,

Menominee, Potawatomi, too.

Native Americans of the Southeast,

Were treated poorly to say the least,

Europeans, and by American hand,

In their efforts to settle on the land,

Spanish Florida’s Natives torn,

 Disrupted, destroyed, and forlorn

In 1813 War with the Creek.

Some of the displaced, though very weak,

With relatives in Florida subscribed

To establish a new Seminole Tribe.

American Revolution done,

Cherokees, to a White life were won.

But the discovery of metallic gold,

Insatiable demand for land to hold,

Brought much struggle and division,

Between Natives and White vision.

Federal troops, in a move so vile,

The Cherokee Nation would defile.

By 1839, the Chiefs’ worst fears

Materialized on The Trail of Tears.

The surviving Cherokees’ horror story,

Walk to scrub land Indian Territory.

Here is honor list of Southeast tribes,

No particular order transcribed:

Manahoac, Tuscarora, Choctaw,

Biloxi, Chesapeake, and Chickasaw,

Roanoke, Catawba, the Yamasee,

Seminole, TIMUCUA, Okeechobee.

Apalachee, Tunica, Tutelo,

Calusa, Atatkapa, Cusabo.

Powhattan, Yuchi, CHEROKEE,

Natchez, the CREEK, and the SHAWNEE,

Mattaponi and Pamunkey,

And then Illinois, and Utina

Add to the list a perfect fina.

Native Americans of the southern Plain,

Taught by soldiers of 17^th Century Spain,

To adopt the horse as their mode of attack,

Hunt efficiently from the animal’s back.

1800’s, northern plains tribes turned

To the horse for their sustenance earned,

While plains farmers built earth lodge villages,

For shelter from marauding pillages.

Cultivars of squash and maize to harbor,

Grow sunflowers on wide-vista arbor.

On the honor role goes the tribes’ names,

Tribute to their great horsemanship games.

Osage, Oto, Tonkawa, Kiowa,

Coahuiltecan, and the Iowa,

Wichita, Missouri, Caddo,

Cheyenne, Quapaw, and Sutaio,

The Crow, the Kansa, the Pawnee,

Mandan, Hidatsa, Comanche,

Ponca, Atsina, and the Karankawa,

Omaha, Arapaho, Arikara,

Plains Cree, Waco, and Dakota Sioux,

Assiniboin, and Gros Ventre too.

Native Americans of the Northwest,

Had well established systems, often best

Of social classes, their formal ceremonies,

To structure their lives and hegemonies.

Enjoyed prosperity from bountiful sea,

And wood-working was a major industry,

Nootka mastered oceangoing boat

Their cedar log bested all afloat,

Known as the finest Native sailors,

The Northwest Coast’s greatest whalers.

A varied environment, Plateau,

Includes a semi-desert tableau,

Mountainous forests thick with snow.

Neighboring tribes, harmonies know,

And were known for fasting, meditation,

To evoke supernatural sensation.

Here is the honor role list of tribes,

No particular order transcribed.

Blackfoot, the Coos, and the Palouse,

Nootka, Kwakiutl, Cayuse,

Chinook, Chilcotin, and the Suislaw,

Salishan, Chetco, and Yakima,

The Kutenai and the Salish,

And with Nez Perce, list will finish.

Native Americans of the Great Southwest,

Harsh environment, conditions less than best,

Into 19^th Century, preserved Native way,

Nomadic wanderers moved for food any day,

Their brush-covered shelters as season changes.

California tribes lived in their villages,

Spoke languages by the many score,

Hunted and fished, acorns they could store.

White settlers brought conflict and terrible disease,

Almost annihilated them, their land to seize.

   Pueblos: farmers, herders. Navajo learned

Agriculture and weaving from them, and turned

Silversmithing from the Spanish Plateros to gold.

Here is the honor role of tribes to forever hold:

Papago, Costanoan, Ute,

Tolowa, Pomo and Paiute,

Pueblo, Navajo, and Suma,

Tipai, Cahuilla, and Yuma,

Mojave, Miwok, Serrano,

Chumash, Yokuts, and Jumano,

Yuri, Wiyot, and the Bannock,

Maidu, Zuni, and the Yubok.

Salinan, and the Shoshone,

Pima, Washo, and Apache.

Northeast, Southeast, North and South Plains,

Northwest, Southwest, all Native Americans,

These great tribal names will live in history,

To help hold Native spirit forever free.