Are Native Americans Relevant?

In honor of my Native ancestors and Native American Heritage Month, I am writing a series of posts addressing the question Are Native Americans Relevant?  I did not do the original research in primary records, but I thought many salient points needed to be brought together in one source.  The prototype for this was the display I did for an organization this past summer:

Unfortunately this is the only photo I have of the display since both my old and new cameras died.

This information will remain permanently on one or more of my pages, along with a list of references.