Saturday, July 4, 2020

Indian Reservations


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Indian Reservations


Bureau of Indian Affairs map of reservations in the United States.
An Indian reservation in the United States is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs. There are more than 300 Indian reservations in the United States, all established either by treaty or decree.
Indian removal was a policy pursued intermittently by American presidents early in the nineteenth century, but more aggressively pursued by President Andrew Jackson after the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The act led to the creation of Indian territory, the general borders of which were set by the Indian Intercourse Act of 1834. Eventually, the Indian Appropriations Act of 1851 authorized the establishment of legally recognized reservations in the U.S. While in the twenty-first century reservation travel is unrestricted, at the time of establishment indigenous residents were forbidden from traveling outside the reservation boundaries.
The Dawes Act of 1887, also known as the General Allotment Act, ended the general policy of granting land parcels to tribes as-a-whole by granting small parcels of land to individual tribe members. This system of fragmentation rendered much of reservation land unusable and had a catastrophic effect upon native culture, forcing the move from a clan system to a family system and imposing a patrilineal nuclear household onto many traditional matrilineal Native societies. The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 reversed the Dawes Act's privatization of common holdings of Indian lands and supported the return to local self-government on a tribal basis.
In 1983, President Ronald Reagan issued a policy statement which reaffirmed the government-to-government relationship of Indian tribes with the United States; expressed the primary role of tribal governments in reservation affairs; and called for special efforts to develop reservation economies.
Contents
Most reservations have suffered high rates of poverty, unemployment, and substance abuse. However in recent years they have come to represent an oasis of tribal and cultural identity, providing a base of support for the expansion of Native American rights. While the history of this system has been tragic, the Indian reservation has protected the indigenous peoples from complete assimilation and loss of identity.

Tribal sovereignty: Map of the United States, with reservation land shown in white.
Historical background

Thomas Jefferson, who initially believed Native Americans should live like settlers or be pushed aside, eventually came to support the concept that they should move westward and maintain a separate society.
In order to more fully understand the process through which Native Americans were "placed" in designated lands known as reservations, it is necessary to understand the broader scope of the fledgling United States.
Continental expansion usually meant the occupation of Native American land. The U.S. continued the European practice of recognizing only limited land rights of indigenous peoples. In a policy formulated largely by Henry Knox, Secretary of War in the Washington Administration, the U.S. government initially sought to expand into the west only through the legal purchase of Native American land in treaties. Indians were encouraged to sell their vast tribal lands and become "civilized," which necessitated (among other things) Native American men to abandon hunting and become farmers, and for their society to reorganize around the family unit rather than the clan or tribe.
While Thomas Jefferson believed that American Indians were the intellectual equals of whites, he also believed it necessary that they learn to live like the settlers or inevitably be pushed aside by them. Jefferson's beliefs, rooted in Age of Enlightenment thinking, which held that settlers and Native Americans would merge to create a single nation, did not survive his lifetime. Jefferson grew to believe that the natives should emigrate across the Mississippi River and maintain a separate society, an idea formulated and made possible by the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.
First land acquisitions
As the new nation expanded westward, the U.S. government's initial means of acquiring land was through a treaty-purchase process. There were various reasons the tribes agreed to signing treaties, which in most cases they could not read, and whose translations were often lacking. In numerous cases, government representatives procured the signatures of those not authorized to speak for the tribes, yet required them, to obey the conditions of the ill-begotten agreements. In other cases, tribes agreed to treaties in order to appease the government in the hopes of retaining some of their land, and to avoid conflicts with settlers. The signing of a treaty often followed a resignation of defeat and served as a last resort effort to bring peace.
Prior to the American Revolution, various colonies created unofficial reservations, some of which were later formally recognized as "Indian reservations." The first such reserve in North America was established on August 1, 1758, in Burlington County New Jersey by the New Jersey Colonial Assembly, and was designated a "permanent home" for the Lenni-Lenape tribe.
While the government initially sought to secure Native lands through treaty-purchase, eventually additional means were employed, such as "discovery," right of conquest, coercion, and military force. In 1823 the Supreme Court handed down a decision (Johnson v. M'Intosh), which stated that Indians could occupy lands within the United States, but could not hold title to those lands. This was because their "right of occupancy" was subordinate to the United States' "right of discovery."[1]
Creation of Indian agencies
In 1775 a trio of Indian agencies were created by the Second Continental Congress. Benjamin Franklin and Patrick Henry were among the early commissioners, who were charged with negotiating treaties with Native Americans and obtaining their neutrality during the American Revolutionary War. In 1789, the United States Congress placed Native American relations within the newly-formed War Department.
By 1806, the Congress had created a Superintendent of Indian Trade within the War Department who was charged with maintaining the factory trading network of the fur trade. The post was held by Thomas L. McKenney from 1816 until the abolition of the factory system in 1822. In 1824 the Office of Indian Affairs (now known as the Bureau of Indian Affairs) was formed. In 1832, Congress established the position of Commissioner of Indian Affairs. In 1869, Ely Samuel Parker became the first commissioner of Indian affairs who was himself an Indian.
The Indian Removal Act

President Andrew Jackson called for an Indian Removal Act in his 1829 "State of the Union" message.
Indian resistance to voluntary removal and a decreasing willingness to sell land via treaty led to the Indian Removal Act, part of a government policy known as Indian removal, which was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 26, 1830.[2]
The Removal Act was strongly supported in the South, where states were eager to gain access to lands inhabited by the "Five Civilized Tribes" (the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole) In particular, Georgia was involved in a contentious jurisdictional dispute with the Cherokee nation. President Jackson hoped removal would resolve the Georgia crisis.
The Indian Removal Act met with great controversy. Indian removal was in theory intended to be voluntary, in practice great pressure was put on Indian leaders to sign removal treaties. Most observers, whether they were in favor of the Indian removal policy or not, realized that the passage of the act meant the inevitable removal of most Indians from the eastern states. After Jackson's landslide reelection in 1832, some Native American leaders who had previously resisted removal eventually began to reconsider their positions.
While many Americans favored the passage of the Indian Removal Act, there was significant opposition. Many Christian missionaries, most notably missionary organizer Jeremiah Evarts, agitated against passage of the Act. In Congress, New Jersey Senator Theodore Frelinghuysen and Congressman David Crockett of Tennessee spoke out against the legislation. Despite these efforts the Removal Act was passed following bitter debate in Congress.
The Removal Act paved the way for the reluctant, and often forcible, emigration of tens of thousands of American Indians to the West. The first removal treaty signed after the Removal Act was the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek on September 27, 1830 which Choctaws in Mississippi ceded land east of the river in exchange for payment and land in the West. The Treaty of New Echota, signed in 1835, resulted in the removal of the Cherokee via the Trail of Tears. The Seminoles did not leave peacefully as did other tribes; along with fugitive slaves they resisted the removal. The Second Seminole War from 1835 to 1842 resulted in the forced removal of Seminoles. Nearly 3,000 Seminole were killed resisting.[3] Only a small group of Seminole "renegades" remain on or near their traditional lands. Other treaties with dozens of other tribes resulted in their placement on lands often far from their homes and requiring treks of hundreds of miles.
The Indian Appropriations Acts
1851 Act
In 1851, the United States Congress passed the Indian Appropriations Act which authorized the creation of Indian reservations in modern day Oklahoma. Relations between settlers and natives had grown increasingly worse as the settlers encroached on territory and natural resources in the West.
President Ulysses S. Grant pursued a stated "Peace Policy" as a possible solution to the conflict. The policy included a reorganization of the Indian Service, with the goal of relocating various tribes from their ancestral homes to parcels of lands established specifically for their inhabitation. The policy called for the replacement of government officials by religious men, nominated by churches, to oversee the Indian agencies on reservations in order to teach Christianity to the native tribes.
In many cases the lands granted to tribes were hostile to agricultural cultivation, leaving many tribes who accepted the policy in a state bordering on starvation.
Reservation treaties sometimes included stipend agreements, in which the federal government promised to grant a certain amount of goods to a tribe yearly. The implementation of the policy was erratic, however, and in many cases the stipend goods were not delivered.
Controversy
The policy was controversial from the start. Reservations were generally established by executive order. In many cases, settlers objected to the size of land parcels, which were subsequently reduced. A report submitted to Congress in 1868 found widespread corruption among the federal Indian agencies and generally poor conditions among the relocated tribes.
Many tribes ignored the relocation orders at first and were forced onto their new limited land parcels. Enforcement of the policy required the United States Army to restrict the movements of various tribes. The pursuit of tribes in order to force them back onto reservations led to a number of Indian Wars. The most well known conflict was the Sioux War on the northern Great Plains, between 1876 and 1881, which included the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Other famous wars in this regard included the Nez Perce War.
By the late 1870s, the policy established by President Grant was regarded as a failure, primarily because it had resulted in some of the bloodiest wars between Native Americans and the United States. By 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes began phasing out the policy, and by 1882 all religious organizations had relinquished their authority to the federal Indian agency.
1885 Act

Unassigned Lands in Indian Territory, 1885
In 1879 Elias C. Boudinot began a campaign to open the land "unoccupied by any Indian" to settlement by non-Indians. He pointed out in a letter published in 1879 that four of the Five Civilized Tribes, unlike the Cherokee, had extinguished their complete title to the lands ceded following the Civil War and received full payment. He put forth the view that that area had thus become Public Land and suggested the names Unassigned Lands and Oklahoma for the district.
In an attempt to prevent encroachment, President Rutherford B. Hayes issued a proclamation on April 26, 1879, forbidding trespass into the area, "…which Territory is designated, organized, and described by treaties and laws of the United States and by executive authorities as the Indian's country…." His proclamation had little effect; almost immediately following Boudinot's letter, speculators and landless citizens began organizing and agitating for the opening of the land to settlement. The newspapers generally referred to these pro-settlement forces as Boomers and followed Boudinot's lead in referring to the area as the Unassigned Lands or Oklahoma.
The Boomers planned excursions, which they called raids, into the area and surveyed town sites, built homes, and planted crops. The United States sent troops to round them up and expel them. The Boomer raids continued for several years. In 1885, Congress passed a new Indian Appropriations Act which allowed Indian tribes to sell unoccupied lands in their possession.
1889 Act
After years of trying to open Indian Territory, President Grover Cleveland, authorized a new Indian Appropriations Act on March 2, 1889, which officially opened the Unassigned Lands to settlers via homestead. Cleveland signed the Act into law days before his successor, Benjamin Harrison, took over as President of the United States.
This led to what became known as the Oklahoma Land Run of 1889, as the previously restricted land was opened for homesteading on a first arrival basis.
The Dawes Act
Henry . Dawes, sponsor of the disastrous Dawes Act.
On February 8, 1887, Congress undertook a significant change in reservation policy by the passage of the Dawes Act, named after its sponsor, U.S. Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts. Also known as the General Allotment Act (GAA), it ended the general policy of granting land parcels to tribes as a whole by granting small parcels of land to individual tribe members. In some cases, for example the Umatilla Indian Reservation, after the individual parcels were granted out of reservation land, the reservation area was reduced by giving the excess land to settlers. The act was amended in 1891 and again in 1906 by the Burke Act. The individual allotment policy continued until 1934, when it was terminated by the Indian Reorganization Act.
Effects
The land granted to most was not sufficient for economic viability, and division of land between heirs upon inheritance resulted in land fractionation. Most allotment land, which could be sold after a statutory period of 25 years, was eventually sold to non-Native buyers at bargain prices. Additionally, land deemed to be "surplus" beyond what was needed for allotment was opened to settlers. The profits from the sales of these lands were often invested in programs purported to aid the American Indians. Native Americans lost, over the 47 years of the Act's life, about 90 million acres (360,000 km²) of treaty land, or about two-thirds of the 1887 land base. The result was that almost 90,000 Indians were made landless.[4]
The Dawes Act, with its emphasis on individual land ownership, had a negative impact on the unity, self-government, and culture of Indian tribes.[4] By dividing reservation lands into privately-owned parcels, the communal life-style of the Native societies was abruptly changed into a nuclear family system. Cultural values and economic dependency, previously on the tribal level, fell strictly within this small household unit.[5]
The allotment policy depleted the land base and ended hunting as a means of subsistence. The males were then forced out of their traditional hunter role into the fields—previously the woman's role as gatherer—and the women were domesticated. Thus this Act imposed a patrilineal nuclear household onto many traditional matrilineal Native societies. No longer were the traditional roles of hunter gatherer viable pursuits.
In 1906 the Burke Act (also known as the Forced Patenting Act) further amended the GAA to give the Secretary of the Interior the power to issue a patent in fee simple to people classified "competent and capable." The criteria for this determination is unclear but meant that those deemed "competent" by the Secretary of the Interior would have their land taken out of trust status, subject to taxation, and could then be sold by the person to whom it was allotted. The allotted lands of Indians determined to be incompetent by the Secretary of the Interior were automatically leased out by the Federal Government.[6] The use of competence opened up categorization, and made allotment of land much more subjective and thus increased the exclusionary power of the Secretary of Interior. Although this act gave power to the allottee to decide whether to keep or sell the land, the harsh economic reality of the time, lack of access to credit and markets, liquidation of Indian lands was almost inevitable. As above, it was known by the Department of Interior that virtually 95 percent of fee patented land would eventually be sold.[7]
Analysis of the Act

Many reservations, such as the Laguna Indian Reservation in New Mexico (pictured 1943), are in arid locations poorly suited to agriculture.
In 1926, Secretary of the Interior Hubert Work commissioned a study of federal administration of Indian policy and the condition of Indian people. The Problem of Indian Administration – commonly known as the Meriam Report after the study's director, Lewis Meriam—documented years of fraud and misappropriation by government agents. In particular, the Meriam Report found that the General Allotment Act had been used almost since its inception to illegally deprive Native Americans of their land rights.[8] After considerable debate, the United States Congress in 1934 terminated the allotment process under the Dawes Act by enacting the Indian Reorganization Act ("Wheeler-Howard Act"). (However, the allotment process in Alaska under the separate Alaska Native Allotment Act continued until its revocation in 1993 by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.)
Despite termination of the allotment process in 1934, effects of the General Allotment Act continue. For example, one provision of the Act was the establishment of a trust fund, administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to collect and distribute revenues from oil, mineral, timber, farming, and grazing leases on Native American lands. The BIA's alleged improper management of the trust fund resulted in litigation, in particular the ongoing case Cobell v. Kempthorne, to force a proper accounting of revenues.
Angie Debo's landmark work, And Still the Waters Run: The Betrayal of the Five Civilized Tribes (completed 1936, published 1940), detailed how the allotment policy of the Dawes Act (as later extended to apply to the Five Civilized Tribes through such devices as the Dawes Commission and the Curtis Act of 1898) was systematically manipulated to deprive the Native Americans of their lands and resources.[9] Historian Ellen Fitzpatrick described Debo's book as having, "advanced a crushing analysis of the corruption, moral depravity, and criminal activity that underlay white administration and execution of the allotment policy."[10]
The "Indian New Deal"
The administration of President Herbert Hoover reorganized the Bureau of Indian Affairs and also provided it with major funding increases. However, lasting reform of federal Indian policy did not occur until the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 and the introduction of his New Deal policies.
As a reform-minded president, Roosevelt nominated John Collier as Commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1933. To alleviate the conditions brought on by the Great Depression, Collier set up the Indian Civilian Conservation Corps. The Corps provided jobs to Native Americans in soil erosion control, forestation, range development, and other public works projects. Coinciding with Roosevelt's New Deal, Collier introduced the Indian New Deal with the passing of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 which became one of the most influential and lasting pieces of legislation relating to federal Indian policy. Also known as the Wheeler-Howard Act, this legislation reversed fifty years of assimilation policies by emphasizing Indian self-determination and a return of communal Indian land which was in direct contrast with the objectives of the Indian General Allotment Act of 1887.
Collier was also responsible for getting the Johnson-O'Malley Act passed which allowed the United States Secretary of the Interior to sign contracts with state governments in an effort to share responsibility for the social and economic well-being of American Indians.
The Indian Reorganization Act
The Indian Reorganization Act of June 18, 1934, also known as the Wheeler-Howard Act or informally, the Indian New Deal, was a U.S. federal legislation which secured certain rights to Native Americans, including Alaska Natives.[11] These included a reversal of the Dawes Act's privatization of common holdings of American Indians and a return to local self-government on a tribal basis. The Act also restored to Native Americans the management of their assets (being mainly land) and included provisions intended to create a sound economic foundation for the inhabitants of Indian reservations. Section 18 of the IRA conditions application of the IRA on a majority vote of the affected Indian nation or tribe within one year of the effective date of the act (25 U.S.C. 478). The IRA was perhaps the most significant initiative of John Collier Sr., a social reformer and Indian advocate who was Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs from 1933 to 1945.
The act did not require tribes to adopt a constitution. However, if the tribe chose to do so, the constitution had to:
  1. Allow the tribal council to employ legal counsel
  2. Prohibit the tribal council from engaging any land transitions without majority approval of the tribe
  3. Authorize the tribal council to negotiate with the Federal, State, and local governments
The act slowed the practice of assigning tribal lands to individual tribal members and reduced the loss, through the practice of checkerboard land sales to non-members within tribal areas, of native holdings. Owing to this Act and to other actions of federal courts and the government, over two million acres (8,000 km²) of land were returned to various tribes in the first 20 years after passage of the act.
The Indian termination policy
The Indian termination policy was set by the United States Congress in the 1950s and 1960s to assimilate the Native Americans into mainstream American society. The intention was to terminate the U.S. government's trusteeship of Indian reservations and induce Native Americans to assume all responsibilities of full citizenship.
Congress passed termination acts on a tribe by tribe basis, but most included the end of federal recognition and all the federal aid that came along with being federally recognized tribes. The government terminated its recognition of a total of 109 tribes and bands as sovereign dependent nations. Their population totaled over 11,000 Indians or 3 percent of the total Indian population.[12]
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy decided against implementing any further termination measures, although he did enact some of the last terminations, including that of the Ponca Tribe, which culminated in 1966. Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon decided to encourage Indian self-determination rather than termination.
Some tribes resisted the policy by filing civil lawsuits. The litigation lasted until 1980, when the issue made its way to the US Supreme Court. The 1974 Boldt Decision was upheld in 1980 to recognize those treaty rights that were lost. With problems arising in the 1960s several organizations were formed, such as the American Indian Movement (AIM) and other organizations that sought to protect the rights of the Indians and their land.[13]
In 1975, Congress had implicitly rejected the termination policy by passing the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, which increased the tribal control over reservations and helped with the funding of building schools closer to the reservations. On January 24, 1983, President Ronald Reagan issued an American Indian policy statement that supported explicit repudiation of the termination policy and which reaffirmed the government-to-government relationship of Indian tribes with the United States; expressed the primary role of tribal governments in reservation affairs; and called for special efforts to develop reservation economies. The President’s policy expanded and developed the 1970 national Indian policy of self-determination for Indian tribes.[14]
Twenty first century

Small Catholic Church on the Pottawatomie Indian Reservation , Mayetta, Kansas, 2007.
Today there are about 310 Indian reservations in the United States, with a collective geographical area of 52.7 million acres (82,343.75 mi²)[15], representing 2.21 percent of the area of the United States (2,379,400,204 acres; 3,717,812.82 mi²). Not all of the country's 562 recognized tribes[15] have a reservation—some tribes have more than one reservation, others have none. In addition, because of past land sales and allotments, most reservations are severely fragmented to the point of being non-usable. Each piece of tribal, trust, and privately held land is a separate enclave.
The Navajo tribe owns the largest amount of land (15,573,760 acres; 24,334 mi²), roughly the size of West Virginia.[16] There are twelve Indian reservations that are larger than the state of Rhode Island (776,960 acres; 1,214 mi²) and nine reservations larger than Delaware (1,316,480 acres; 2,057 mi²). Most are significantly smaller; about two-thirds of them encompass an area less than 32,000 acres (50 mi²).[16] Reservations are unevenly distributed throughout the country with some states having none. Notably, Missouri and Arkansas are the only two states that are a part of the contiguous 48 states west of the Mississippi River without Indian reservations.
The tribal council, not the local or federal government, has jurisdiction over reservations. Different reservations have different systems of government, which may or may not replicate the forms of government found outside the reservation. These conflicting jurisdictions and rules, as established by the Indian Reorganization Act, have resulted in confusion, frustration, antagonism, and litigation that severely reduces the quality of life, the potential for economic development, and the prospect for social harmony on reservations.[17]
Legacy
The forced cultural loss and fragmented land base resulting from the General Allotment Act, compounded by the economic, social, and physical isolation from the majority society, has produced extreme poverty, high unemployment, unstable families, low rates of high school graduation, and high rates of alcoholism and/or drug abuse and crime on many reservations.[18]
While reservation life has historically been faced with challenges, it has also offered a strong sense of place and cultural identity, supporting a resurgence in tribal identity and a renaissance of traditions. They have emerged as the focal point for the retention of unique cultural identities and for issues of sovereignty and self-determination. They provide a geographical and political platform to expand Native American rights, and serve as a home-base for those who have moved away. While they can be a reminder of the tragedies of American expansionism, they are viewed by many as the last remaining stronghold of sovereignty and cultural traditions, ensuring the perpetuation of Native American survival.[19]
Notes
  1. ↑ Public Broadcasting Service, People & Events: Indian removal, 1814 - 1858. Retrieved January 27, 2009.
  2. ↑ Francis Paul Prucha, The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1984), 206.
  3. ↑ Eric Foner, Give me Liberty!: An American History (New York: W.W. Norton, 2004 ISBN 9780393978728).
  4. ↑ Jump up to:4.0 4.1 David S. Case and David A. Voluck, Alaska Natives and American Laws (Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska Press, 2002, ISBN 9781889963082).
  5. ↑ Arrell M. Gibson, "Indian Land Transfers," Handbook of North American Indians 4: 211-229.
  6. ↑ David Bartecchi, The History of "Competency" as a Tool to Control Native American Lands, Village Earth - Pine Ridge Project. Retrieved January 27, 2009.
  7. ↑ Paul Robertson, The Power of the Land: Identity, Ethnicity, and Class Among the Oglala Lakota (New York: Routledge, 2002, ISBN 9780815335917).
  8. ↑ Brookings Institution and Lewis Meriam, The Problem of Indian Administration; Report of a Survey Made at the Request of Hubert Work, Secretary of the Interior, and submitted to Him, February 21, 1928 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press).
  9. ↑ Angie Debo, And Still the Waters Run: The Betrayal of the Five Civilized Tribes (Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press, 1991, ISBN 0691046158).
  10. ↑ Ellen Fitzpatrick, History's Memory: Writing America's Past, 1880-1980 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002, ISBN 067401605X), 133.
  11. ↑ Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, The Indian Reorganization Act (W'heeler-Howard Act)—June 18, 1934 Retrieved January 26, 2009.
  12. ↑ David E. Wilkins, American Indian Politics and the American Political System (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002, ISBN 9780847693061).
  13. ↑ Indian Education Coordination Program, The Millennium Is Now Here To Celebrate But We Should Also Celebrate 1900s. Retrieved February 25, 2009.
  14. ↑ United States Environmental Protection Agency, American Indian Policy. Retrieved February 25, 2009.
  15. ↑ Jump up to:15.0 15.1 Bureau of Indian Affairs, Quick Facts. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
  16. ↑ Jump up to:16.0 16.1 Klaus Frantz, 1999, Indian reservations in the United States: territory, sovereignty, and socioeconomic change (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, ISBN 9780226260891).
  17. ↑ Darrel Smith, Indian Reservations: America's Model of Destruction,Citizens Equal Rights Alliance. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
  18. ↑ Gary D. Sandefur, American Indian reservations: The first underclass areas? Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
  19. ↑ Answers Corporation, Indian Reservations. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
References
External links
All links retrieved March 1, 2018.

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The Vikings




Monks prayed while anticipating the arrival of their foreboding doom. A clairvoyant monk had a premonition about impending danger. The other monks followed his lead and started praying. The monastery referred to as the church of St. Cuthbert was nestled on the banks of England in Lundisfarne. Religious institutions were not protected from outside marauders in Europe. These places of worship were usually never in danger. The monks realized they were sitting ducks. A few of the monks took a break from praying and looked towards the open water and could not see anything but the spray of the sea as it hit the bank crashing into the rocks and sandy shore. They were willing to pay the price of man’s amassed sins without question. It did not mean they met their demise without trepidation.
            Early Viking raids began in 793. Many unsuspecting victims fell prey to the plunder of the harrowing, blood thirsty explorers. The first known Viking incident occurred at the Lindisfarne monastery off the coast of Northumberland in northeastern England, which marked the beginning of the Viking era. The Norwegians did not destroy the monastery completely, but the raid greatly upset the European inhabitants. The intruders appeared to have no respect for religious institutions.
            The monastery was situated near the shore. The monastery was soon spattered with the blood of some of the priests and its ornaments and sacred objects were confiscated. The monastery was held in highest regard in Britain. This unnecessary act of violence gained notoriety all over Europe and beyond, and the villains were considered barbarians (Chartrand, Durham, et. al., 2016).
           
            “Look at this. You put it in water and it shows you the direction to travel,” said Brynhild. He was demonstrating to Leif, a boat builder, how they could sail west by using the small round device. Halvor, Brynhild’s brother, grabbed the device and placed it in a bucket of water. It shifted momentarily and then the main dial moved and faced north. Brynhild moved the bucket and the dial turned around and faced north again. No matter how the bucket was placed the dial always pointed north. Navigation on the water would involve following the direction of the clever device. Brynhild held up a shard of glass which served as a prism. It glowed brightly when it faced the sun which rises in the east and it was early in the day. Leif was impressed.
            A few hundred years before the first Viking raid, the area in which they lived was hit by meteors. The sky blackened during that period of time. Food was scarce and fighting occurred amongst the inhabitants due to the uneasiness of the constant darkness and lack of food. When there was only darkness, they did not have a growing season. The people of the north relied heavily on the fish in the water and the planting and harvesting of food. Because of the scarcity of food and the fighting that ensued due to a lack of resources, aggression towards others as self-preservation was ingrained with the inhabitants, later referred to as Vikings.
            They were taught to defend themselves and became fierce warriors, even the women. The inhabitants discovered and explored some of the sites where the meteors had fallen and found some rocks that appeared to have magnetic properties. Some of the rocks were broken up and used in various ways. The make shift compass was one of the inventions. 
            “We know our lord will not be happy with our wanting to travel west instead of east to plunder other lands, but I feel very optimistic about traveling west,” said Brynhild.
            “We will need to be sneaky when we leave for our adventure,” replied Leif.
            “You mean to tell me you are going to let us use your fine boat,” said Brynhild. He was astounded con-cerning Leif’s generosity.
            “Under one condition, I get to go with you on your adventure.” Leif had constructed a sea worthy vessel that could accommodate up to 50 men. The boat was built with consideration of the open seas and the possible turbulence of the ocean.
            “I told my wife we will pretend we are going fishing for the bigger fish which will require us to go further out to sea,” said Brynhild.
            Halvor and Brynhild climbed aboard Leif’s boat and admired the sail and other parts of the boat. They were elated things were falling into place regarding their adven-ture.
                       
            The Northmen were of hardy stock and were known to endure harsh weather conditions that ensued during the long winter months. Surrounded by water, lakes and streams, they were no strangers to sailing. It was their nature to be on the water. Denmark had 50 islands and traveling between the islands and the mainland proved to be a challenge at times. The boat builders became masters at constructing boats that could handle the harshness of the waters. The boats were streamlined for speed.
            Oak trees were used for building because oak was considered a very durable wood that could withstand the harshness of waves and possible attacks from enemies. Out of dire necessity they were forced to use other woods such as ash, willow, pine and birch when oak was not readily available. Each ship was approximately 66 to 82 feet in length. Thousands of the Viking long ships were constructed during the Viking era. A master shipwright was an honorable trade and a master shipwright had a team of artisans working under him. The skill for the building of ships was passed down from one generation to the next (LaFay, 1972).
           
            “I promise you we will hit land and find vast treasures,” Brynhild stood above the men who were sitting listening to his speech.
            “What kind of treasures?” asked Reynard.
            “There will be gold and silver in abundance,” Brynhild replied.
            “The lord will be angry with us and may chop off our heads,” said Barnard.
            “We will have to make sure we bring back plenty of treasures so he would not be upset with us,” said Halvor.
            “Do you really think we will find land in the west?” asked Barnard.
            “I am sure of it,” responded Brynhild.
            The men were drinking mead while they were pondering Brynhild’s request.
            They were sitting on rocks near the harbor. All of the men explored Leif’s boat and they were very impressed with the vessel.
            As the night wore on, they began to be persuaded to go on the adventure as they drank more and more mead.
           
            The waves of the ocean were large and rolling. Water was splashing over the sides of the boat and everyone was getting wet. Leif’s boat was holding up nicely against the tumultuous sea. Many of the men were sleeping wherever they could find a place to rest their weary bodies. Only a few of men, Brynhild included, were manning the direction of the vessel along with the men rowing the boat. It has been days and they haven’t seen any sight of land.
            The sun was beginning to rise. The men started stirring. One grumbled and turned over to block the sun from his eyes. Some of the men looked out over the vast water with apprehension. Many were giving up hope they were ever going to see land as they traveled further west. Brynhild was beginning to feel discouraged. They released two ravens from cages and if they return they were not close to land. The birds flew off towards the west and did not return. Soon they saw seagulls. Everyone cheered. That meant they were close to land. They were approaching a shore.
            Several of the monks approached the doorway to the monastery and saw a boat emerging out of the fog near the shore. The sight of the massive structure was intimi-dating. They bowed their heads and began praying again. Some of the monks were trembling.
            The boat easily glided close to the shore. The anchor was set and the men got out of the boat and headed to the shore. The sandy embankment was easy to navigate. They spotted a large building, which ended up being a monastery. Brynhild motioned for them to get closer to the structure.
            Some of the monks tried to run for cover but could not get away from Brynhild and his crew.
            Several of the monks were murdered brutally immediately after coming into contact with the Vikings. The intruders needed to set an example of what could happen if others resisted. Some of them were spared to take back as slaves.
            The Vikings saw the vast amount of gold and silver such as a large gold cross with a dead man on it. They frowned and placed it in a netted basket.
            “Why does their god require so much gold? He appears to be a greedy god,” said Halvor.
            The men gathered more valuables: challises, more crosses and plates. They felt they hit a vast amount of treasure in just one building. What could the rest of the land produce?
            The slaves were bound and led to the boat. Most of the monks were trembling and praying silently. One of the monks actually died of fright on the voyage back to the Baltic Sea area.

            After their return, Lord Henry was crushed to learn that Brynhild was right about finding land to the west and they were able to bring back treasures. He gladly accepted the treasures but his ego was dinged considerably. He felt he was made to look foolish. Nothing can raise the hackles of a ruler more than to have his pride suffer under the tute-lage of his subjects.
            The Lord pointed to the treasures on the table and looked directly at Brynhild. “What do you want to take as payment for your service?” asked the lord.
            “I want the priest,” replied Brynhild adamantly. Brynhild was impressed with a specific priest who could speak the Norsemen language. He had plans to be taught the priest’s homeland language to be more prepared for his next visit to the lands in the west.
            Meanwhile, after the ceremony of welcoming the Norsemen upon their return from their voyage, the lord began plotting to get back at Brynhild. His deeds could not go unpunished. The lord had to instill fear back into his subjects and demand their utmost respect.
            Phillip, the priest, was skeptical about his new forced assignment of serving as a slave. He knew the Norsemen were considered barbaric and unruly. A memory of the time some of the English visited one of islands of Denmark to spread their religious beliefs. They were greeted with hostility and had to leave immediately soon after their arrival. The Vikings’ beliefs were vastly dif-ferent from his Christian beliefs. He began praying silently in his head for redemption. He clutched his Bible close to his chest when he laid on his bed made of straw at night.
            Phillip worked in the garden and took care of the livestock for Brynhild’s family. He worked hard and prayed whenever he could for salvation.
            Brynhild told Phillip he could run if he wanted. Brynhild smiled when he did not run.
           
Another voyage to the west was being planned. Brynhild told his wife she could go with him. She was surprised. The women of the north were highly trained as warriors. Helka was a fierce warrior. Brynhild knew he could count on her if they were in battle. She has defended their homestead and children from other aggressive men from the north. Phillip was instructed to watch over their farm and children while they were away.
“Leif, we need to go on another voyage. I feel it in my blood. I know I will find even more treasure,” said Brynhild.
Lief was prepared for a request for further travel west. He had started the construction of another vessel so more men could travel west.
            “I believe you are right, my friend,” replied Leif.
            Leif began examining the vessel to make sure it is seaworthy.
            Brynhild elated about the impending venture, started approaching the lord to gain his blessing.
            The lord regretfully told Brynhild to go ahead with the voyage. His greed superseded his pride. Brynhild’s haughty attitude was more than the lord could handle. He always appeared to have a smirk on his face. He seemed to have a hidden agenda behind his actions.

            “Say Valhalla,” ordered Brynhild.
            “Valhalla,” stuttered Phillip.
            Brynhild was teaching Phillip more of the Viking language and Phillip in return was teaching the language from his homeland. They spent hours working on this task. Both became fluent in each other’s language. Brynhild was ready to make his second voyage to England. 

            The inhabitants residing near Lindisfarne were warned about possible future invading barbarians. They were prepared to fight the interlopers upon their arrival. A lot of confusion occurred when Brynhild could speak their language. They scratched their heads and held their swords in front of them ready for an attack.
            Halvor became inpatient and charged the Englishmen standing in front of them. The fighting began harshly and did not end well for the English.
            The lord sent his brother, Arvid, to keep an eye on Brynhild. Arvid was discovered by Helka raping an English woman. She pushed him off the woman and a fight ensued between Helka and Arvid. Arvid was trying to tear Helka’s clothing off her so he could rape her. Helka kneed him and he fell hard to the floor. She stabbed him in the neck.
            The Vikings discovered a vast amount of treasure in the castle. They managed to capture more men and women to take back as slaves. They headed back to the Baltic Sea area with their loot.
            Brynhild was taken away in chains because he admitted killing Arvid when asked where the lord’s brother was. Brynhild had a smirk on his face. Tears were running down Helka’s face because she was afraid she was going to lose her husband.
            Public court was held the next day. Brynhild was on trial for the death of Arvid. One of the Norsemen rules were if the killer admitted to the crime of killing, the sentence would be lessened. Since the lord had it in for Brynhild, he wanted Brynhild to be beheaded for his crime.
            Brynhild stood before the court and admitted to the killing again and then said, “Arvid was killed because he tried to rape my wife.”
            Helka approached the lord and told him she killed Arvid because he tried to rape her.
            “Now we have a man and his wife colluding to a crime they both supposedly committed,” said the lord.
            “I killed him to protect my wife and I should not be punished for doing so,” said Brynhild.
            Halvor approached the lord and said he was a witness to Arvid’s crime and witnessed Brynhild killing Arvid to protect his wife.
            The lord was forced to release Brynhild. He was furious.
            The next day, the lord sent his soldiers to kill as many of Bynhild’s friends and comrades as they could and burn their properties. Brynhild was hunting and heard the commotion. He managed to kill many of the lord’s men with the help of some of his comrades. He took a fierce stab to his chest and deep lash to his leg. His family and Phillip were waiting for him in a boat. They were laying down in the boat so they would not be spotted.
            Phillip dove in the water to rescue Brynhild. The injured Brynhild was brought to the boat by him. His family was glad to see he was alive. They headed to Leif’s home to seek his help. He lived across the river.
            Brynhild took a few months to heal from his injuries. Then he plotted revenge against Lord Henry. A fight occurred between the Lord’s and Brynhild’s fol-lowers. Lord Henry faced Brynhild. The others stopped fighting. Henry fought a valiant fight but finally lost to Brynhild. Lord Henry’s lady declared Brynhild the Lord.
           
            The Vikings were conquerors and unscrupulous raiders during the warm months and hunkered down with family and other community members during the colder months. Not all of them settled in the countries after they pillaged them. Raiding and plundering goes back in time to the earliest inhabitants of this world. It was a quick way to provide for someone’s village by taking things from others.
            The Vikings came from the areas of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and other Scandinavian countries. Vikings were considered more barbaric by the Europeans and most importantly they were not Christian. The word Viking came from a Scandinavians word meaning the Old Norse word “vik” (bay or creek) which formed from the root word “vikingr” which meant pirate. They were also referred to as Nordmanni  meaning Northmen or Normans. Germans referred to them as Ascomanni meaning ashmen because they built their ship by using the wood of ash trees. The Spanish Muslims called them al-Madjus which meant “heathen wizards.” They were despised and feared by many people (Chartrand, Durham, et. al., 2016).
            During the Viking Age, wealth was amassed by conquest and from the lord’s massive land holdings. Revenue was obtained through the collection of taxes which was collected by the lord’s officials. The king had certain obligations such as ensuring the merchants could carry out their transactions without being attacked. They also converged on other regions and pillaged and raided to build up the kingdom’s wealth. The major portion of the lord’s debt involved maintaining a standing army of professional warriors. Expenses involved housing, training, and feeding of the warriors.
            When residing at their home locations, the governmental structure was highly stratified and resembled a hierarchal society. The king or lord was the highest order, then the aristocracy, the military leaders, and the powerful landowners with much control of the regions’ resources. It was a diverse group of individuals filling the role of many types of jobs such as fishermen and craftsmen.
            Professional warriors held a special rank because of their ability to protect the kingdom. Social status, like other parts of the world, was determined by the extent of the individual’s wealth. At the base of the pyramid of control were the slaves, who were regarded as having a little more status than animals and they were usually treated with little respect, more like objects. Many of the slaves were abducted during raids. The avarice and superiority of the rulers often fed the violence behind many of the raids (Chartrand, Durham, et. al., 2016).
             The religion of the Vikings was forced onto their slaves. They believed in various deities. Sacrifices of animals, crops and humans were often made to appease their gods. Slaves were used for the human sacrifices. They strived to live in a world they thought was flat and surrounded by a vast ocean. Within the ocean realm lived the Midgard Serpent. The earth was supported by a giant oak tree referred to as Yggdrasill.  The roots of this tree expanded from the freezing depths of Hel to Jotunheim, the home of the giants. This realm existed on the far side of the ocean at the world’s end.
            The Vikings were influenced by an ancestral group of fallen angels who encouraged their beliefs. They served as gods when they lived in their Baltic lands during ancient times. For example, Thor was a Nephillim and possessed great strength and abilities. Their religious practices were fraught with supernatural undertones similar to other religious practices including Christianity.
            Odin, the almighty of the gods was one of the strongest and wisest of the fallen angels. He provided them with knowledge, understanding, magic and poetry. They were instructed on the tenets of war. The worldly creatures were the wolf and raven. Every Viking warrior wanted to die a hero’s death on the battlefield defending their country and be chosen to be placed in Odin’s great “Hall of the Slain,” Valhalla. The legends of the ancient gods were passed down from one generation to the next.
            Weapon handling was a finely tuned skill. Many of the warriors could throw javelins with ambidextrous skill, using both hands and arms with equal ability. Spears were caught in the air and returned. Archery was also an achieved skill and considered a legal requirement. They needed to acquire and maintain strength and accuracy, skills required in warfare. Warriors needed to employ quick thinking and reflexes to fully utilize their warrior abilities, which was why they were able to take over so many people from outside their homelands.
            Viking women were strong, durable and considered equal partners to their mates and pursued blood feuds. They have ordered Viking men into battle. When a husband went on hunt or voyage he would hand her the keys. The keys were kept on her person at all times. The most important of the keys protected the family’s treasures. Most families had chests which hid their family’s precious items. The slaves assisted the Viking women with handling the daily household chores which involved weaving, brewing drink, preparing food, spinning, stitching, making clothes and handling farming chores.
           
            Brynhild’s wife, Helka, was weaving cloth on a large loom.
            “We eat when I am done with this row. Phillip has cooked the lamb. I have roasted beans. Please be patient my child,” order Helka.
            “I am hungry,” pleaded Brynjar, Helka’s oldest son.
            Helka reached into her pocket and handed a piece of hard cake to Brynjar. He thanked her and ran outside to play with his sister.
            The running of the household and farm was arduous work. All family members assisted with the taking care of the animals and gardens. The making of clothes took a lot of the women’s time and energy. All cloth was woven by hand. The clothes were made from woolen cloth. Lots of steps were carried out to produce the clothing. Yarn had to be spun from fleece after removing it from the sheep and then the yarn was dyed and woven into a finished cloth on a loom.
            Helka was covered in dust and her feet were covered in mud. She spent much of the morning practicing the art of warfare with her oldest son. He was taught to never lose sight of his opponent and to not waste time thinking about his next move. Brynjar needed to act more quickly. Helka had him pinned against the wall of their home with a knife to his chest. She made her point. She was known to be a tough and fierce warrior amongst her people and she was highly respected.

            “I taught our son a valuable lesson today, Brynhild,” said Helka.
            “What is that?” asked Brynhild.
            “I taught him how to never take his eyes off his enemy and get the best of him. He still has more to learn,” replied Helka.
            “I will continue working with him,” said Brynhild.
            Brynhild touched the fabric Helka was weaving and smiled at her. “I like this. What are you going to make from this?” asked Brynhild. The colors of the fabric were a light brown, tan and off white.
            “I plan on stitching you some britches and a vestment,” replied Helka.
            “I look forward to wearing them.”
            Phillip placed wooden serving bowls on the table and filled the bowls with roasted lamb and beans. Mead was poured in the horns and handed to Helka and Brynhild. The children were handed small wooden bowls with water to drink. The atmosphere of Brynhild’s domain was filled with light chatter about their day as Brynhild’s family satisfied their appetites. Phillip smiled at Brynhild’s daugh-ter, Elsi, when she told her story about finding a frog and a butterfly.

            Another group of Vikings set fire to a monastery near the coast of Spain. The Vikings used a unique liquid to start fires. They were pretty ingenuous with their inventions. They collected a fungus called touchwood from tree bark and boiled it for several days in urine. Then they pounded the material into something that resembled felt. The sodium nitrate found in urine allowed the material to smolder rather than quickly burn when set on fire. They placed the smoldering material around the inside of a monastery. Some of the material was laid upon bedding made from straw which quickly caught on fire. The clergymen were tied to posts while the monastery was blazing (La Fay, 1972).
            “I found some small pieces of gold in the monastery before we started the fire. We need to find out if there are more treasures to be found,” said Ivar, a Viking warrior.
            “They do not speak the language we do so we will have to show them what we want,” replied another Viking.
            Ivar held up a gold coin in front of one of the clergymen and asked where he could find more. The clergyman did not know what he wanted so he shrugged his shoulders. He was slapped hard and asked again. The clergyman pulled a coin from his robe and handed it to Ivar. The Vikings ordered them to strip and hand over their clothing. No more coins were discovered. The clergymen’s clothing was thrown on the fire of the burning monastery.
            Many of the nuns were caught and raped by the Vikings.
            Word was spreading fast about the barbaric intru-ders. Terror was felt throughout the coasts of many of the countries on the western portion of Europe including England and to the northern tip of Africa.
                       
            Eric the Red, a Norwegian, was a notorious Viking. He had a murderous streak. After his marriage to a wealthy heiress named Thuodhild, he settled down on a large plot of fertile land. Eric killed two of his neighbors in order to gain hold of their property. Eric was causing dissention and chaos in many areas near his newly found territory. Iceland’s king condemned him and he was banned from the country for three years.
            These circumstances put Eric in the worse of moods.  He was fretting and fuming and decided to leave and explore an island west of Iceland. Eric discovered land with fertile valleys and beautiful streams filled with fish. Eric recruited a large host of volunteers from Iceland to join him in his newly found land. He called his new land base Greenland. He picked the name because more people would be drawn to the land due to what the name repre-sented.
            The inhabitants of Greenland ended up depending on trading with the greedy Norwegian merchants. The colonists needed to be supplied with iron, timber, grain, and salt in which they traded buckskin, sealskins and rope made from walrus hides.
            Freydis, Eric’s daughter, was as bloodthirsty and power hungry as her father. She convinced her husband, Thorvard, to kill everyone on one of their enemy’s ships. Thorvard refused to kill the women so she took over the ax and killed the women.

            Hastings was another famous Viking who led his Danish fleet to the city of Luna between Pisa and Genoa. The towering walls and marble buildings led Hastings to believe he landed in Rome. He was elated. The citizens of Luna barricaded their city against the marauders. Hastings took it upon himself to plead with the king to allow him to enter the gates. He assured the king that he came in peace and he was in poor health. Hastings requested to be baptized and he agreed to join in their religious practices. Hastings said he needed the bishop’s blessing because the end was near for him.
            He headed back to his ship and had his men place him in a coffin and had them carry him back into the city for a Christian burial. He had his men wear armor and axes under their clothing. The bishop was clothed in sacred vestments and carried out a prayer ceremony to save his soul. Hastings burst out of the coffin and killed the bishop and his count. It was a bloody massacre of the inhabitants of the city of Luna. The people who were not killed became slaves for Hastings and his followers.
           
            In 860, Rus, a northern warrior, attacked Constantinople. The fighting abilities of the Vikings were admired by the Byzantine emperors. A treaty was signed in 911 and the Norsemen were recruited to serve as guardians of the empire of Constantinople. The Vikings joined the empire’s royal guard and served as the Varangian Guard. Harald Hardraada considered his role on the Varangian Guard an honor before taking on the throne of Norway. They were regarded as loyal to the emperors and held fast their commitment to protect the empire they were guarding. They fought battles for the empire from Sicily to Syria. In 1066, the Guard changed when William the Conqueror took over England. In order to avoid annihilation, the Anglo-Saxons and Anglo Danes enlisted in the Guard.  (La Fay, 1972)
            The Norsemen had a soft side. A custom of the Norsemen was the creation of elaborate poems. One Viking warrior escaped execution because of the poem he created in short order and recited to a lord. The lord was impressed and saved his life.
            The Norsemen have taken on many harrowing adventures and have braved the north Atlantic seas in winter. A poem the “Seafarer” gave a rendition of their escapades.

…Lest man know not
That he on dry land loveliest liveth,
Weathered the winter, wretched outcast
Deprived of my kinsmen;
Hung with hard ice-flakes, where hail-scur flew,
There I heard naught save the harsh sea
And ice-cold wave, at whiles the swan cries,
Did for my games the gannet’s clamour,
Sea-fowls’ loudness was for me laughter,
The news’ singing all my mead-drink.
Storms, on the stone-cliffs beaten, fell on the stern
In icy feathers; full oft the eagle screamed
With spray on his pinion. (La Fay, 1972)

            A sleepy little village in northern Africa was about to be awaken by sadistic intruders. The long boats of the Vikings crept along the coast. Waiting for a sign of life along the banks, they maneuvered their crafts along the shoreline. They saw the faint light of a camp fire in the distance. When they got closer to the shore they saw movement from the small village. No one appeared to be watching for any trespassers.
            It was late in the afternoon. The sun was shining brightly. Common Kingfishers, chirping, were swooping down to gather small fish from the clear water near the coast. The birds broke the silence of the quiet little cove. The Vikings docked their boats along the shore and retrieved their swords from the bottom of the boats, the blades of their swords shown luminously in the sunlight. They stealthily walked as a group of foreboding voyagers up the narrow path through the trees to the village.
            Women were cooking over fire pits and weaving mats of straw. They looked up at the visitors with surprise and fear, gathered their children and tried to run into the woods on the other side of the village. The women were stopped by a wall of Vikings. The women sat down in a huddle near the fire pits. They were trembling and hanging onto their children tightly.
            The men stopped cleaning fish and charged the Vikings with their sharpened rocks and spears they were using to catch and clean fish. Two of the men were killed instantly while the others were tied up by the use of vines. Some of the villagers were killed and some of the men were taken as prisoners. The male and female prisoners were going to serve as slaves for the intruders. The Viking warriors were ravenous. It’s been days since they had their last meal. They helped themselves to the food that was being prepared over the fire. They began pillaging the huts to find things they may find useful. They discovered more spears and bowls made of hardened clay.
            Living a calmer and quieter existence did not prepare the villagers for the onslaught of the invasion of the Vikings and many communities started living in fear of brutal attacks from the unwanted barbarians. Many of the communities settled down to an agricultural way of life in which they abandoned their nomadic way of life of hunting and gathering. The inhabitants were living off the land, hunting wild game, catching fish, picking fruit and growing vegetables. They provided for their own and did not feel the need to seek outside resources. They went from an adventurous nomadic way of life to one of mostly peace and harmony.
            Several of the villagers were murdered one by one as the others watched to demonstrate what could happen if they ran away or were not submissive to their new owners. Many were held captive in little burrows dug into the side of a hill. Some of the villagers were able to escape because they were out gathering berries for the evening feast and heard cries of anguish as the victims suffered terribly under the harsh lashings of raw steel as it ripped at their flesh. The survivors who were not held captive made their way to another village to seek their assistance.
                       
            The villagers were ordered to build homes for the Vikings. They wanted nicer homes than the ones the villagers were living in which were grass huts with thatch roofs. Axes were used to build elaborate houses in the trees with ladders and various levels. Feathers were collected and added to netted mattresses to provide comfort for their masters.
            During the day the slaves could roam freely to enable them to get their work done. At night they were forced to stay put in their rudimentary huts and guards were assigned to watch over them at night.
            The days were filled with hunting by some of the Viking warriors. The slaves continued to build fortresses to protect the settlement from outside invaders in the little quiet village in Africa. They feared other Viking groups or outsiders may try to take over their little community. The Vikings were suspicious and untrusting by nature.
            After a few years went by, many of the trustworthy male slaves were taken under some of the Vikings’ wings and trained in combat. Some of the Vikings intermarried with the women of the village and started procreating to build up the village. The Vikings raided nearby villages and took those villagers to their village to build up the population.
            The village became a citadel and was becoming a prominent settlement. The Vikings set up a government and appointed a king who ruled over the village and the surrounding areas. Many of the women were taken and made their wives to warm their beds at night. The Vikings, who landed on the little plot of land ten years ago, never left to return to their homeland in Norway. They enjoyed the weather, the availability of game and slaves to do their bidding.

            The Vikings established a prominent trading system with many countries. They traded slaves for gold and they purchased treasures such as jewels. The Muslims could not make slaves out of free men and women so they purchased slaves from the Vikings. One of the most prominent trade centers for the Vikings was Constantinople.
            Fear and terror existed in many countries as a result of the Viking era which lasted for approximately 250 years. The mayhem ended about the year 1066. The Scandinavian kingdoms became Christian so in essence the previous Viking culture was absorbed into the culture of Christian Europe. The Viking legacy has been discovered in many places such as Ireland with remnants of Viking forts. The Vikings made their way across much of the coastline from the Baltic Sea to England, Ireland, and Sicily and as far away as North Africa and North America. They descended on unsuspecting villages and towns with their longboats and entered the rivers of Europe to raid settlements such as Kiev, Cologne, York, London, Rouen, Bordeaux, Florence, Tripoli and smaller communities. Some of the place names in the areas they settled including northern England, France, Scotland and Russia were derived from the Viking period. The beaches of Normandy in France were named after the Norsemen (La Fay, 1972).
           
            Throughout history, people of many lands traveled to find a suitable place to reside permanently. Warfare, loss of suitable resources such as wild game, a change in climate, curiosity, a desire for a better life and other reasons such as cruel or unyielding governance of their homelands caused them to travel to other lands. Suitable locations were determined by the amount of available wild game, climate, and clean water sources and land suitable for agriculture. Eventually, they adopted some of the cultural and religious practices of other countries. Some of the locations in Europe they invaded were named after this unruly group of people. Greed, hatred, and lack of respect for human life was the driving force behind the actions of the Vikings.












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