Native American Culture and Insects

The role of insects in the culture of the indigenous peoples of North America is, for the most part, poorly documented. This is not entirely surprising, because as Europeans occupied North America, they did not attempt to document or preserve the culture of the native peoples. Generally, any cultures encountered were assumed to be inferior and attempts were made to convert the indigenous peoples to European ways. The indigenous peoples, also called Native Americans, American Indians, or Amerindians, rarely left substantial archeological evidence that would shed light on their way of life. Substantial information regarding insects and culture can be found only in western North America, where native culture remained intact until the middle or late nineteenth century. At this time, the United States government and various museums began to realize the importance of documenting the life of the various rapidly declining western tribes, so ethnologists were dispatched to observe, record and...