Articles

How the Rabbit Lost His Tail is a Sioux legend, part origin myth and part didactic tale, explaining why the rabbit looks as it does, why the owl is a night bird, and how one should treat a member of one’s family and also one’s community...

Black Elk Speaks (1932) is the popular and controversial book of the narrative by the Oglala Lakota Sioux medicine man Black Elk (l. 1863-1950) on his life and people as given to the American poet and writer John G. Neihardt (l. 1881-1973...

The Battles of Saratoga (19 September and 7 October 1777) marked the climactic end of the Saratoga Campaign during the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). The battles, which resulted in the surrender of an entire British army, convinced...

The Origin of Game and Corn is a Cherokee origin myth explaining how wild game first began to run free and corn came to be cultivated. The central figures of Kenati (also given as Kana'ti) and Selu are the embodiment of the Lucky Hunter and...

The Saratoga Campaign (20 June to 17 October 1777) was one of the most important military campaigns of the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), in which a British army under General John Burgoyne invaded the Hudson River Valley but was...

During the European Enlightenment, a concept was developed in philosophy and aesthetics called the sublime. In the arts, literature, and the works of intellectuals, the sublime referred to the awe-inspiring capacity of nature and beauty...

The Wise Man of Chief Mountain is an origin story of the Blackfeet nation explaining how they came to wear brightly colored clothing. Although Native American nations generally wore clothing dyed different colors, the Blackfeet were famous...

In 36 BCE, Mark Antony (83-30 BCE) invaded Parthia, hoping to render himself one of the great conquerors of the Greco-Roman world, but he was stymied by Parthian forces and obliged to undertake an arduous, costly retreat. What to make of...

The Battle of Germantown (4 October 1777) was a major battle of the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) in which General George Washington launched an unsuccessful assault on the British army garrisoned in Germantown, Pennsylvania. After...

The Battle of Brandywine (11 September 1777) was a major battle of the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), fought between a British army under Sir William Howe and the American Continental Army led by General George Washington. The battle...