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Colonial Government in the Spanish Empire
The apparatus of colonial government in the Spanish Empire consisted of multiple levels, starting with the monarchy and Council of the Indies at the top and moving down to the viceroy, audiencias, mayors, and local councils. The system was...

Interview
Interview: The Last Days of the Incas (Kim MacQuarrie)
How did a mere 167 Spaniards conquer an empire of 10 million people? The Spanish were outnumbered 200-to-1 yet they were able to seize the Inca capital, Cuzco, and dispose of the Inca ruler within only a year. Kim MacQuarrie's The Last Days...

Article
Weapons of the Conquistadors
The Iberian conquistadors ("conquerors") were the first military men to explore, attack, and conquer territories in the Americas and Asia that would then become a part of the Spanish or Portuguese Empire. Indigenous peoples could not match...

Video
Why It's Time To Give Native Americans Their Land Back
For some reason, Oct. 12th is still Columbus Day in a lot of the United States. Fortunately, more and more cities and states are adopting that day as Indigenous Peoples Day – a nice rebuke to a day used to commemorate someone who not only...

Article
Polynesian Navigation & Settlement of the Pacific
Polynesian navigation of the Pacific Ocean and its settlement began thousands of years ago. The inhabitants of the Pacific islands had been voyaging across vast expanses of ocean water sailing in double canoes or outriggers using nothing...

Definition
Anglo-Powhatan Wars
The Anglo-Powhatan Wars were a series of conflicts between the English colonists of Virginia and the indigenous people of the Powhatan Confederacy between 1610-1646 CE. The Powhatan Confederacy (of over 30 tribes) was led by the chief Wahunsenacah...

Definition
Ghost Dance
The Ghost Dance (Spirit Dance) is an expression of rebirth and renewal using the traditional Native American circle dance, first practiced by the Paiute Nation in 1869 and again in 1889 when it was adopted by other Plains Indians nations...

Definition
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés (1485-1547) was a Spanish conquistador who led the conquest of the Aztec Empire in Mexico from 1519. Taking the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in 1521, Cortés plundered Mesoamerica as he became the first ruler of the new colony...

Definition
Plains Indians
The Plains Indians (also known as Native Americans of the Plains and Prairie, Indigenous Peoples of the Great Plains) are the original inhabitants of the western plains of North America, now part of the United States and Canada. They are...

Article
Twelve Famous Native American Women
Native American women are traditionally held in high regard among the diverse nations, whether a given people are matrilineal or patrilineal. Traditionally, women were not only responsible for raising children and caring for the home but...