Native American Games Online

On the morning of 12th October 1492 an event occurred that was to fundamentally change the way of life for the tens of millions of native Americans who inhabited North America. They had lived there developing their own hunter-gatherer way of life for tens of thousands of years since first migrating as nomads from Asia. This event was the sighting of the Americas by a sailor on board the ship Pinta that had sailed from Europe. The Europeans had arrived and brought with them war, disease, a totally different culture and a thirst for land to colonise. Land that was the ancestral native American home. Within 400 years that land was lost, stolen or purchased and the native Americans were herded into settlements. Today the term "Red Indian" is seen as derogatory with most preferring the term "Native American".

The Term Red Indian was used because Christopher Columbus thought he had discovered a western route to India and they were called "red" because of the paint they used on their faces. The term stuck and was in common use until recent years. We have used it on this games page simply to explain why the term is no longer acceptable with many not only rejecting "Red Indian" or "American Indian" but preferring to be named after their tribe. As the publisher and editor of The Navajo Times, the largest Native American owned weekly newspaper, puts it, "I . . . would rather be known as, 'Tom Arviso Jr., a member of the Navajo tribe,' instead of 'Arviso, a Native American or American Indian.' This gives an authentic description of my heritage, rather than lumping me into a whole race of people." Here we present some of the best native American games online.