15,000-11,000 B.C.E. Earliest archeological evidence of human presence in Americas
10,000 B.C.E.              Clovis Point Technology Emerges
9,000 B.C.E.                Extinction of Big Game Animals
8,500 B.C.E.                Evidence of group hunting in Colorado
8,000 B.C.E.                Beginning of Archaic Period
7,000 B.C.E.                Cultivation of plants in Mexican Highlands begins
4,000 B.C.E.                Old Copper Culture of Great Lakes Region Begins
2,500 B.C.E.                Gulf Formation Period begins
2,000B.C.E.                 Pecos Culture Begins
1,700 B.C.E.                 Mound Builders Culture Begins
1,100 B.C.E.                 Anasazi build cliff cities at Mesa Verde, CO
1,000 B.C.E.                Beginning of Adena Period: Urban Cultures in Mexico

1450               Formation of Iroquois Confederacy
1492               Christopher Columbus is discovered by American Indians
1496               Santo Domingo becomes first European permanent settlement
1524               First kidnapping in America took place.  Florentine explorers kidnapped an Indian child and brought them to France
1528               First major Spanish exploration of Florida
1637               First Exchange of Indians for Africans in slave trade
1680               Pueblo Revolt (Popé’s Rebellion) – Pueblo peoples successfully repel Spanish forces
1756-1763     French Indian Wars
1775-1783     Revolutionary War
1776               U.S. gains Independence
1778               U.S. signs first treaty with Indian Nation: Treaty of Fort Pitt
1824               Bureau of Indian affairs founded under Department of War
1823-1832    Marshall Trilogy  (1823 Johnson v McIntosh, 1831: Cherokee Nation v Georgia, 1832: Worcester v Georgia)
1830               Indian Removal 
1835                Treaty of New Echota Signed, giving way to U.S. forced removal of Cherokee
1841                Bartleson-Bidwell Party make first wagon crossing from Missouri to California
1846               Donner Party makes their way for California
1848               Gold found in Sutter’s Mill, CA
1849               California Gold Rush and Bureau of Indian Affairs Transferred to Department of Interior
1851                First Treaty of Fort Laramie Signed
1854               Kansas-Nebraska Act 
1854-1891     Sioux War (1854: Grattan Fight, 1862: Dakota War of 1862, 1863-1865: Colorado War, 1865: Powder River War, 1866-1868: Red Cloud’s War, 1876: Battle of Little Big Horn)
1860               Paiute War
1861-1864     American Civil War
1862               Homestead Act
1863               Ruby Valley Treaty Signed
1864               Sand Creek Massacre
1868               Second Treaty of Fort Laramie Signed
1869               Transcontinental Railroad built
1878               Bannock War
1878                  Standing Bear v Crook – First time Indians recognized as people under U.S. Law
1883               Ex Parte Crow Dog
1884               Elk v Wilkins
1885               Major Crimes Act
1886               United States v Kagama
1887               Dawe’s General Allotment Act
1890               Massacre at Wounded Knee
1924               Indian Citizenship Act
1928               Merriam Report
1934               Indian Reorganization Act
1941-1945     U.S. involvement in WWII- Navajo Code Talkers integral part of war
1944               National Congress of American Indians founded
1946               Indian Claims Act 
1953               House Concurrent Resolution 108, also known as Indian Termination Act, passed
1968               American Indian Religious Freedom Act AND American Indian Movement founded
1969-1971     Occupation at Alcatraz
1972               Trail of Broken Treaties
1973               Siege of Wounded Knee
1975               Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act
1978               Indian Child Welfare Act

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