Some Americans have Native Indian ancestry and for those who do they usually associate themselves to only one tribe. In the east coast, they'll likely say, "I have Cherokee ancestry" while in the west coast, they'll usually say, "I have Navajo ancestry." There are some who have ancestry from different tribes such as Seminole, Chumash, Mohican and plus more. Native Indians themselves acknowledge their contribution, however in recent times several Americans of different ethnicities are becoming to be more aware of their Native Indian ancestors' contribution to the country as well as to the world.
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/native-american-contributions/
As the first inhabitants of North America, Native Americans discovered how to live off the land. Many tribes domesticated edible plants, raised animals, and discovered natural medicines. Native American innovations in areas such as mathematics and government greatly influenced other cultures in Europe and Latin America.
Foods
Edible plants domesticated by Native Americans have become major staples in the diets of peoples all around the world. Such foods include corn (maize), manioc, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts, squashes and pumpkins, tomatoes, papayas, avocados, pineapples, guavas, chili peppers, chocolate (cacao), and many species of beans.
Animals
Native Americans were the first to raise turkeys, llamas, guinea pigs, and honeybees for food.
Non-edible plants
Other plants of great importance developed by Native Americans include cotton, rubber, and tobacco.
Medicines
The Quechua peoples of Peru discovered the medicinal use for quinine. Also, Canadian Indians knew how to prevent scurvy by eating plants rich in vitamin C, and they passed this information along to the Europeans.
Mathematics
The Mayans of Mexico appear to have been the first to use the zero in mathematics. Scholars believe that Asians traveled across the Pacific Ocean and learned about the zero from the Maya.
Government
Native American governments in eastern North America, particularly the League of the Iroquois, served as models of federated representative democracy to the Europeans and the American colonists. The United States government is based on such a system, whereby power is distributed between a central authority (the federal government) and smaller political units (the states).
www.angelfire.com/ar3/cabone/
Native Americans contributed a great deal to the founding of America. Specifically, the Cherokee and Iroquois tribes contributed in ways we cannot measure. The Cherokee had developed a formal education system and created a written language, while the Iroquois had an intricate government. Both of these tribes gave ideas to our founding fathers in creating the United States. The Cherokee Indians system of education helped the United States develop a system a formal education, and the Iroquois Indians had a system of government which the founding fathers modeled our own government after. My hypothesis is that our nation is modeled after the success of these two tribes. Cherokee Education: After Sequoyah created the Cherokee Syllabary, almost all tribal members were literate. Their educational system was fully established by late 19th century. The Cherokee had longhouses in which children would go to learn the syllabary, as well as important things for Indians to know such as hunting and building. They developed a printed newspaper in early 19th century (no longer in print). Early childhood and adult education was also focused upon(McLoughlin). Cherokee Government: The Cherokee had a formal government comprised of 34 members. There was a Chief, a Vice Chief, and 32 elected council members. Their system was based on the Iroquois democracy (www.cherokee.org). Iroquois Government: The Iroquois had divided their government into four sections, similar to our system of branches. The four, in order of importance were League, Nation, Clan, and Village. Each had to approve and agree on issues in order for policies to take effect. The five nations were: Mohawk, Onondaga, Seneca, Oneida, and Cayuga. Each had a policy of examining the impacts of their decisions for the 7 future generations. Their representative democracy was praised by Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson (Asimov). In my research, I concluded that our America had a lot of input from the Cherokee and Iroquois Indians. There are many, many similarities within our Constitution, governmental structure, and educational system. Therefore, I have concluded the Indians did contribute to the founding our our society. Enjoy! Page by Elizabeth Carbone
Sports: lacrosse, kayak, bola, hockey, toboggan, running sports, atlatl, ball court games
http://go.si.edu/site/PageServer?pagename=Telling_The_Story_Form6.html
others: cable suspension bridge, popcorn, sunscreen, doughnuts, gold panning, monopoly board game, snow goggles, camouflage, snow shoes, fish hooks, duck decoys, fishing nets, hammock, baby bottles, maple syrup, quinine medicine, roads, igloos, house structures, burritos, tacos, several cuisines and plus more.
https://www.history.com/news/native-american-inventions#section_12
