Food

Few indigenous peoples not only to have made permanent settlements on U.S. territory but also to survive the long-term effects of intergenerational trauma through their cultural practices. While they are one of fewer species with a complex way of surviving, Indigenous peoples across the Western Hemisphere face many challenges. These include physical threats such as severe winters and limited access to safe drinking water; economic barriers such as forced assimilation onto reservations or loss of land-based resources; social barriers such as lack of basic necessities such as food, clothing and shelter, and political barriers such as discrimination, corruption, and violence.[5]

In this sense, Alaska natives can be considered to inhabit an almost exclusive state. They are the last true inhabitants of the continent before European colonization.[6] The vast majority of other North American societies were destroyed and replaced by Europeans. However, Indigenous society was able to retain some traditions or religious rituals while living in isolation. Although they did not have access to the necessary foods or technology required to provide good health, the Indigenous culture has retained some elements of its diet and spiritual beliefs. For example, indigenous groups may bathe using herbs and flowers. This practice is said to help protect the body against infections, diseases, parasites, bacteria, and fungi.[7]

This form of hygiene practices is similar to modern hygiene practices such as brushing our teeth in order to remove germs from our bodies. In addition, Indigenous peoples bathed in hot springs which provided them with natural medicine and were often used for medical treatments, such as cold therapy and healing of wounds. Some traditional medicines include herbs and wild plants.[8]

While in general, all indigenous cultures have common dietary practices and beliefs, several distinct cultures exist within the North American continental shelf today. Within these cultures, there are many variations ranging from small villages to large multigenerational populations of thousands.[9][10] Some of these cultures practice hunter–gatherer lifestyles[11] while others are associated with fishing, hunting, gathering, and sometimes agriculture.[2] Other cultures are found on other continents such as Australia and South Africa.[12] Most of these cultures do not engage in agricultural efforts.[13]

Archibald discusses contemporary issues affecting Natives including poverty and the growing impact of climate change.[14] Additionally, he notes that although many traditional remedies are still being used, new technologies have emerged that make life less taxing. Examples include herbal medications, medicinal mushrooms, and even genetically modified crops.[15][16] He also warns of how certain substances such as alcohol and tobacco affect the heart, lungs, brain, liver and pancreas.[17][18] Some examples include poisoning of alcoholic beverages with cyanide or tobacco smoke inhalation. According to one study, cigarette smoking causes the death of around half of women in India.[19]

History [ edit ]

The earliest humans to enter Central and South America were cave inhabitants known as Australopithecines.[20] Archaeologists have determined at least three different possible sites of early human occupation in what is now Mexico, Peru, and Argentina, and at least two potential sites in China. None of those areas appear to have the earliest human fossils. There are no traces of any other hominid remains such as bones, teeth, or clothes found anywhere else. Archeologist Steven Pagels suggested that modern humans may have started arriving in New Guinea later,[20] possibly after 200,000 years ago. His theory is based on genetic analysis comparing ancient DNA samples. In 2016, researchers have discovered a 2% increase in Neanderthal DNA in the present-day northern hemisphere compared to previous studies.[20]

Alaska [ edit ]

It is believed that the first people came into contact with humans over a thousand years ago when early humans began settling in eastern Siberia near the Bering Strait. Around 8500BCE, ancestors of the Alaskan native Athabascans lived in southern Siberia. Many years later, these early humans began expanding southward into Alaska.[20] About 3000 BCE the Athabasque left Siberia and entered western Alaska.[21] Over a millennium later they reached central Canada and then populated Manitoba, Montana, California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia in North America.[22]

In prehistory, the native people of Alaska were hunters–gatherers and gathered fruits and seeds.[23] At first, they relied mainly on plant materials such as bark, twigs and roots, which contained many nutrients and vitamins. By developing sophisticated stone tools, the Alaskan people were able to create fires and cook them, hence saving time. Later, they adapted to fire and started cooking instead of just collecting food. Eventually, they became sedentary farmers. They cultivated wheat, barley, potatoes, maize, squash, berries, apples and cranberries. They fished salmon, trout, walleye, and other wild game. A domesticated dog and domestic pig also existed.[24]

The first European settlement with European settlers was founded near Denali,[25] which was settled around 1619 by Christopher Columbus.[26] After that, Alaska was colonized by Spanish conquerors during the Mexican War of Independence in the early 1800s.[27] Due to harsh weather conditions, Alaska's original natives fled northward around 1790 before returning east in the late 19th century and founding various trading post towns.[28][29][30][31] The US government recognized the existence of Native Indians in 1861, and subsequently approved the Dawes Act of 1887, which established the Bureau of Indian Affairs.[32]

The United States declared federal recognition of Alaskan Abenaki as a nation in 1965.[33] Since then, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) has regulated the production of rice, salt, cotton and sugar for use by aboriginals.[34][35] The US Congress passed legislation in 1975 calling for increased funding for research on animal nutrition and development.[36]

Aboriginal women wear scarves around a neck.

During the 1970's and 1980s, the number of Alaskans who became registered as citizens increased.[37][38][39] Today, Alaskans numbers exceed 15 million.[40][41] Native Americans comprise 12 percent of the entire US Population (USP).[42] Between 1900 and 2000, Native American population grew from 1.05 to 6.5 million.[42][43] During that period of time, native births represented 31 percent of total births in the US at birth.[44] It is estimated that 90 percent of Alaska Native kids were born to white fathers,[45] though data vary greatly. In 2002, 56 percent of children born to Alaska Native mothers were foreign born, and 42 percent of children born to White women were foreign-born.[46]

Alaskan native Alfred Scott traveled to the Yukon Territory, northwestern Canada where he witnessed the first recorded case[47] of tuberculosis. Two hundred years later, his journey returned him to his homeland to write his autobiography, Travels of Discovery, published in England.[48]

After seeing many sickened natives, Scott felt compassion. Instead of ignoring their ill health, he decided to offer them food, clothing and shelter. The following passage describes Scott's experiences:

I saw many sickly wretches, both young and old, and some very poor and some very rich: they covered their faces with a white sheet. The poor, particularly the old, put up little with the sickness, and I soon found myself standing apart from their suffering, and feeling some sorrow, for the misery of mankind, their weakness, and their desire to better themselves; for there was none to give them assistance or relief or care, except me. But what was worst of all was that they had neither arms nor legs, and I should stand helplessly between them and the enemies of my spirit — in spite of all hope of succour they seemed so insistent on getting well for fear of infecting each other. When I saw that many of them could not walk without any support, and many of them showed signs of insanity in the absence of the strongest encouragement, I resolved not to leave my companions — I would stay as long as they were needful. Then, taking their blankets from her, she wrapped me about the shoulders and laid me down upon an acacia- trunk, which I could not see — she gave me some pieces of hay, and I ate my bread and meat. We walked together for many miles without rest, and when we stopped, I sat, looking back over the tops of snow-dried spruce forests and past the village of Tukwila. From here I saw beyond our mountains to the ocean — it stretched so far that I thought our souls might reach out to embrace it. That night we lay down under the stars and rested for a short period. Then we went again to bed, and there we slept until morning. Finally we set off again, carrying with us our dogs. My wife was a woman of about twenty-five, and her complexion had a yellowish tint; her hair was thin, but she had a fine head — which reminded me of that of another woman, belonging to the tribe of the Kalapaya, which is called Arikara, after its chief, Kiriakok, a Pessnitzian of Russian origin, whose