Academic Journal Blog M1 - Web Resource

The web resources I’ve selected to describe from Module 1 is the American Indians Biographies A – Z website. This website provides a list of links to individual biographies for many important and well-known American Indians. While this by itself provides a wealth of information on individuals there are two companion websites shown on this page, Indian Battles, Movements, and Events and American Indian Tribes and Cultures which provide a wealth of information on American Indian tribes, their cultures and their histories.

There were 2 links on this website for Joseph Brant, a Mohawk Indian chief. I followed these 2 links to learn more about how the website worked and to learn more about the history of American Indians in New York. The first link to a PBS site was broken. I attempted to search PBS for something on Joseph Brant but was unsuccessful. Knowing that this happens more often that any of us would like, I successfully followed the second link to an Indians.org website where I found a lengthy biography on Brant.

Brant served as a spokesman for the Mohawks, a Christian missionary for the Anglican Church, and a British military officer during our War of Independence with Great Britain. Much detail followed but I was struck by the fact that he was an Indian, a missionary and a soldier. He fought against the colonists because he believed Indians would lose their lands if the colonists achieved independence. He was a missionary because he felt his followers could learn much from observing the ways of the white man. He was a spokesman because he saw the need for Indians to try to live with the white man because the white man was not going back to Europe. He tried unsuccessfully to arrange a settlement between the Iroquois and the United States government.

I briefly followed the links to Indian Battles, Movements, and Events and found an extensive list of links to descriptions of historical and significant battles, and to American Indian Tribes and Cultures and found an extensive list of links to individual tribal websites. Both of these lists of links may be useful throughout the remainder of the course.