Archaeological research proves the Moundbuilders were eastern Indians.

Archaeological research proves the Moundbuilders were eastern Indians.

Working for the Smithsonian Institution, Cyrus Thomas publishes Report on the Mound Explorations of the Bureau of Ethnology, which outlines the results of his extensive research into the ancient burial mounds in eastern North America (see entries for CA. 1000 B. C. TO A. D. 200; CA. 200 B. C. TO A. D. 400; and CA. 700 TO 1550). Thomas provides conclusive evidence that the mounds were constructed by the Indians of the region, thus laying to rest a wide variety of far-fetched theories regarding the Moundbuilders’ identity. Since the late 18th century, non-Indians were largely unable to believe that the “uncivilized” Indians native to North America could have acquired the technological knowledge to build the mounds (see entry for 1848). Displaying their racist notions of Indian inferiority, scholars speculated that the mounds were the creation of various foreign peoples, including Phoenicians, Egyptians, Aztec, Danes, and Hindus.

The Census Bureau reports the Indian population at an all-time low.

The Bureau of the Census releases Report on Indians Taxed and Not Taxed in the United States (Except Alaska) at the Eleventh Census: 1890. The publication holds that the Indian population has dropped to less than one-quarter million, down almost 40 percent from census figures for 1850. Although the figures may be inaccurately low, the 1890 census seems to confirm the view of many non-Indians that Indians are a “vanishing race” that will disappear in a matter of generations.

Thomas Edison produces the first film about Native Americans.

The Sioux Ghost Dance, the first motion picture to deal primarily with a Native American subject, is produced by Thomas Edison’s film company. The company soon follows up its success with two more films about Indians—Eagle Dance (1898) and Serving Rations to the Indians (1898). Capitalizing on whites’ fascination with Plains Indians, these short movies are privately viewed on Kinescope machines and run less than a minute. The films offer many Americans, particularly in the East, their first glimpse of Indian peoples.