Norwegian author Helge Ingstad discovers the ruins of an ancient settlement near the village of L’Anse aux Meadows, in northern Newfoundland. The remains include multiroom houses built using 3,000-year-old Norse technology. The date is consistent with Norse sagas of the 12th and 13th centuries that tell of the travels of Norse seamen from Greenland and Iceland to a location they called Vinland (see entry for CA. 1000). Many scholars have identified Vinland as Newfoundland, but the discovery ofL’Anse aux Meadows is the first evidence of pre-Columbian Norse settlement in North America that is widely accepted by archaeologists.
Half a million Americans identify themselves as Indians in the U. S. Census.
For the first time in American history, the U. S. Census Bureau allows Americans to report their own racial origins as “Indian.” Approximately, 513,500 people identify themselves as Indian, and an additional 28,000 Alaskans call themselves Aleut or Eskimo. Over the next few decades, the new system of self-identification will help account for a rapid rise in the official Indian population (reported as 1.9 million in the 1990 census).
The Tuscarora lose their lawsuit against the New York State Power Authority.
The Tuscarora tribe’s legal case against the New York State Power Authority (see entry for 1958), which is attempting to seize a large portion of their land to build a reservoir, goes before the Supreme Court. In a split decision, the Court rules against the Tuscarora. The ruling is an enormous blow to the tribe, which staged many highly publicized protests while the case was in the courts. Although their fight ends in defeat, their protests will inspire other Indian groups to use the media to bring attention to their own causes.
World History
