| Before 10,000 B.C. |
Paleo-Indians migrate from parts of Asia and begin settling throughout the Americas. |
| 10,000–5000 B.C. |
Medicine-wheel spiritual sites are built in the Great Basin region. |
| 6000–5000 B.C. |
The subarctic regions are settled as the climate begins to warm with the waning of the last Ice Age. |
| 5000–3000 B.C. |
Earliest-known organized Native American settlements are built in the Southeast. |
| 1400 B.C.–A.D. 1500 |
Northeastern woodland cultures rise and prosper. |
| A.D. 300–900 |
Maya civilization reaches its highest point. |
| 300 |
Native Americans begin settling in the Plains region and migrating with the buffalo herds and the seasons of the year. |
| 1400–1521 |
The Aztecs dominate Mesoamerica. |
| 1492–1502 |
Columbus explores the West Indies and Central America. |
| 1740–1780 |
European wars in the Northeast severely affect lifestyles of Native Americans in this region. |
| 1760–1848 |
Growing Spanish influence around California begins to have impact on the lives of Native Americans in this region; missionaries begin attempts to “civilize” and “Christianize” Native Americans of this area. |
| 1830 |
Congress passes the Indian Removal Act, calling for Native Americans living east of the Mississippi River to be moved to a government-established Indian Territory located in what is present-day Oklahoma. |
| 1838 |
Cherokee are forced to move from the Southeast to Oklahoma on the “Trail of Tears.” |
| 1887 |
The Dawes/General Allotment Act divides reservations into 80- and 160-acre tracts; these land parcels are to be owned by individual Indians. |
| 1952 |
Federal Relocation Policy is passed; this policy seeks to terminate all government services for Native Americans, negate treaty agreements, and relocate Native Americans from reservations to inner cities. |
| 1971 |
Congress passes Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. |
| 1972 |
“Trail of Broken Treaties” organized by AIM results in a weeklong occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs headquarters in Washington, D.C. |
| 1992 |
This year marks the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ entry to the West Indies, prompting many Native American artists to create artwork expressing their feelings about Columbus and subsequent Europeans and their effects upon the Native American culture. |
| 2013 |
Recent census figures indicate that there are more than 5.2 million Native Americans living in the United States and Canada. |