Native American Contributions to the United States

The United States has always been closely connected to Native Americans, most notably in its earlier years. There are the stories of the famous interactions between Natives and Colonists, like Squanto and the Pilgrims, or Pocahontas and the Powhatans meeting John Smith and the colonists of Jamestown, and Sacagawea guiding Luis and Clark across the west. Along the coast of what would be the United States and Canada, there are numerous accounts of Natives and Colonists interacting, sharing ideas, weapons, technology, and much more. These are the major contributions many think of Natives when it comes to the origin of colonial and early American culture, but this only scrapes the surface of the impact Natives have had in shaping colonial and the early republic of the United States.