History of Arkansas and Native Americans

The first part of the statement, that "Arkansas is one of the nation's richest states in Indian remains but one where the citizens know but little," isn't true for a couple of linked reasons. Firstly, because of the destruction of "Indian remains" in many sites and the fact that other states have preserved remains better due to a continued American Indian presence up to recent days. The second part of the statement, about the citizens knowing "but little," is true, at least partly due to several causes that eliminated any cultural or social involvement rather early in Arkansas history. This absence of involvement is implicated in the use of such colorless names as the ASU Indians

The remains of Indian life in Arkansas in existence today are meager compared to all those sites that have been recorded and destroyed or just destroyed. Parkin, one of those few sites that remains protected, is located in northeastern Arkansas and exhibits late Mississippian period development. Another, the Crenshaw site, gives a peek at the Caddo. Located near the Ozarks, the Crenshaw site contains evidence of a warring people such as collected skulls and hollow-point (read notched and barbed) arrowheads. Some of the many sites that have been destroyed are Zebree, notably converted into a drainage ditch, the Sloan site, which contained several graves and tools, and an untold number of mounds leveled for farmland. Most of our knowledge concerning Native American tribes comes from the writings of Europeans who encountered them, and information on religious practices and housing gathered after their being moved to formalized Indian territory in Oklahoma. Most of our knowledge of prehistoric people in the area stems from artifacts and mounds recorded and subsequently destroyed. Apart from sites like mounds or camps, arrowheads from many tribes and time periods, along with other stone tools, can be found at old stomping grounds.

The lack of remains is a result of there being an almost nonexistent Indian presence by the 19^th century, and the arrival of more foreigners who had no connection with their Arkansas history. Their presence was undermined by diseases brought by the Europeans, war, and the eventual removal of large numbers of those remaining to Oklahoma. Those "settlers" that arrived did things like leveling out mounds for farming and poaching whole artifacts for sale elsewhere while tossing the bits to the side as worthless, bits that would not be worthless to the archaeologist. Thus, while the people moving into Arkansas were unconnected with the history of the region, they were also destroying what remained of it making it more difficult to connect with in the future.

I think that the name "ASU Indians" is an example of lack of awareness, not of there having been Indians living in the region for thousands of years but of their having an actual culture comprised of religion and ceremony and politics. I remember a picture on the ASU website maybe, or in some mailed propaganda, of some student dressed up in Indian gear with face paint and leather ruffles and running with a grimace on his face. Most people see Indians as hunters and warriors, not as traders and farmers. This tends to perpetuate the myth that European settlers came here and domesticated, or civilized perhaps, the wild. In this context, ASU's nickname is a problem of a continuing idea based on poor perception.

In short, Arkansas has a history of Native Americans which wanes sharply after De Soto's tour de force through the region. The physical evidence of this that is preserved today is scant compared to all that has been lost due to ignorance and lack of political acknowledgement. This has in turn perpetuated ignorance by the average Arkansan leading quite predictably to commonly held, largely unwarranted stereotypes.