Hodge, Frederick Webb, Compiler. The Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. Bureau of American Ethnology, Government Printing Office. 1906.
Wasco Indians. A Chinookan tribe formerly living on the south side of Columbia river, in the neighborhood of The Dalles, in Wasco County, Oregon. This tribe, with the Wishram (also known as Tlakluit and Echeloot), on the north side of the river, were the easternmost branches of the Chinookan family.
Wappo Indians (from Spanish guapo, ‘brave’). A small detached portion of the Yukian family of north California, separated from the Huchnom, the nearest Yuki division by 30 or 40 miles of Pomo territory. They lived chiefly in the mountains separating Sonoma from Lake and Napa Counties, between Geyers and Calistoga. A portion of them, called Rincons by Powers, occupied Russian River valley in the vicinity of Healdsburg.
Wappinger Indians (‘easterners,’ from the same root as Abnaki). A confederacy of Algonquian tribes, formerly occupying the east bank of Hudson River from Poughkeepsie to Manhattan Island. and the country extending east beyond Connecticut River, Conn. They were closely related to the Mahican on the north and the Delaware on the south. According to Ruttenber their totem was the wolf. They were divided into 9 tribes: Wappinger proper Manhattan Wecquaesgeek Sintsink Kitchawank Tankiteke Nochpeem Siwanoy Mattabesec Some of these were again divided into subtribes. The eastern bands never came into collision with the Connecticut settlers. Gradually selling their lands as … Read more
Wappinger Towns and Villages
Sub-tribes, bands and divisions of the Wappinger Tribe of Indians. Kitchawak Kitchawak (perhaps akin to Chippewa Kichŭchǐwǐnk ‘at the great niybtaub.’ (W. Jones). Apparently a band or small tribe, or, as Ruttenber designates it, a “chieftaincy” of the Wappinger confederacy, formerly residing on the east bank of the Hudson in what is now Westchester County, New York. Their territory is believed to have extended from Croton river to Anthony’s Nose. Their principal village, Kitchawank, in 1650, appears to have been about the mouth of the Croton, though one authority locates it at Sleepy Hollow. They also had a village at … Read more
Wampanoag Indians (‘eastern people’). One of the principal tribes of New England. Their proper territory appears to have been the peninsula on the east shore of Narragansett Bay now included in Bristol County, R. I., and the adjacent parts in Bristol County, Mass. The Wampanoag chiefs ruled all the country extending east from Narragansett Bay and Pawtucket river to the Atlantic coast, including the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. Rhode Island in the bay was also at one time the property of this tribe, but was conquered from them by the Narraganset, who occupied the west shore of the … Read more
The following are Wampanoag Chiefs and leaders. Annawan A Wampanoag sachem, the chief captain and counselor of Philip, who under that chief’s father had won a reputation for prowess in wars with many different tribes. When King Philip fell Annawan rallied the warriors and safely extricated them from the swamp where they were surrounded. Afterward he ranged through the woods, harrying the settlers of Swansea and Plymouth, until Capt. Benjamin Church raised a new expedition to hunt the Indians as long as there was one of them in the woods. Some were captured by Capt. Church’s Indian scouts, but Anna … Read more
Wallawalla Indians (‘little river’). A Shahaptian tribe formerly living on lower Walla Walla river and along the east bank of the Columbia from Snake river nearly to the Umatilla in Washington and Oregon. While a distinct dialect, their language is closely related to the Nez Percé. Their number was estimated by Lewis and Clark as 1,600 in 1805, but it is certain this figure included other bands now recognized as independent. By treaty of 1855 they were removed to the Umatilla Reservation in Oregon, where they are now (1910) said to number 461, but are much mixed with Nez Percé, … Read more
Walapai Indians (Xawálapáya, ‘pine tree folk.’ – Harrington). A Yuman tribe originally living on middle Colorado River, above the Mohave tribe, from the great bend eastward, well into the interior chiefly by the chase and on roots and seeds. They are said to have been brave and enterprising, but physically inferior to the Mohave. The Havasupai, who are an offshoot, speak a closely-related language. The Walapai numbered 728 in 1889, 631 in 1897, and 498 in 1910. They are under the administration of a school superintendent on the Walapai Reservation of 730,880 acres in north west Arizona, and are making … Read more
Walam Olum. The sacred tribal chronicle of the Lenape or Delawares. The name signifies ‘painted tally’ or ‘red score,’ from walam, ‘painted,’ particularly ‘red painted,’ and olum,’ a score or tally.’ The Walam Olum was first published in 1836 in a work entitled “The American Nations,” by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque, an erratic French scholar, who spent a number of years in this country, dying in Philadelphia in 1840. He asserted that it was a translation of a manuscript in the Delaware language, which was an interpretation of an ancient sacred metrical legend of the tribe, recorded in pictographs cut upon … Read more
Wailaki Indians (Wintun: ‘northern language’). An Athapascan tribe or group of many villages formerly on the main Eel River and its north fork from Kekawaka Creek to within a few miles of Round Valley, California. After some fighting with the whites they were placed on Round Valley Reservation, where a few of them still reside. Their houses were circular. They had no canoes, but crossed streams by weighting themselves down with stones while they waded. They lived by the river during the wet months of the year, when their chief occupation was fishing, done at especially favorable places by means … Read more
Wahpeton Indians (wakhpe, ‘leaf’; tonwan (French nasal n), ‘a village’; hence probably ‘dwellers among leaves’). One of the 7 primary divisions of the Dakota. Historic and linguistic evidence proves the affinity of this tribe with the Sisseton, Wahpekute, and Mdewakanton. Hennepin (1680) mentions them as living in the vicinity of Mille Lac, Minnesota, near the Mdewakanton, Sisseton, and Teton. On his map they are placed a little to the northeast of the lake. Le Sueur (1700) places the Oudebatons, or “river village,” among the eastern Sioux, and the Ocapetons, “village of the leaf,” among the Sioux of the west. As … Read more
Wahpekute Indians (wakhpe, leaf; kute, to shoot: shooters in the leaves’). One of the 7 primary divisions of the Dakota. Although the name Santee was originally applied only to the Mdewakanton, it was early extended to the Wahpekute, so closely were the two tribes connected, and eventually by the Teton also to the two other tribes of the eastern Dakota. Historic and linguistic evidence proves the close affinity of the tribes of this group. The Wahpekute were doubtless living in the vicinity of the Mdewakanton of Mille Lac, Minn., when first visited by the French (1678-1680), and were still so … Read more
Waco Indians. One of the divisions of the Tawakoni, whose village stood until after 1830 on the site of the present city of Waco, Texas. The name does not seem unmistakably to appear until after 1820, occurring first in Anglo-American accounts. As the Tawakoni evidently are the Touacara, whom La Harpe visited in 1719 on Canadian river, it is not impossible (and it has been assumed) that the Honecha, or Houecha, given by La Harpe and Beaurain as one of the Touacara group, are identical with the Waco. Yet, if the later Waco had kept this name throughout the 18th … Read more
Waccamaw Indians. One of the small tribes formerly dwelling on the Lower Pedee and its branches in South Carolina and the adjacent border of North Carolina. Nothing is known of their language, and very little else concerning them, as they were never prominent in history. Their associations indicate that they were Siouan. Their habitat was along Waccamaw River, which enters the Pedee from the north almost at its mouth. They were mentioned first in 1715 as living near the Winyaw, both tribes receiving ammunition from the Cheraw, who attempted to gain them as allies of the Yamasee and other tribes … Read more
Many tribes have sub-tribes, bands, gens, clans and phratry. Often very little information is known or they no longer exist. We have included them here to provide more information about the tribes. Acquera. An Utina tribe or band in N. Florida. Laudonnière (1564) in French, Hist. Coll. La., N. S., I, 243, 1869.
Ute Indians. An important Shoshonean division, related linguistically to the Paiute, Chemehuevi, Kawaiisu, and Bannock. They formerly occupied the entire central and west portions of Colorado and the east portion of Utah, including the east part of Salt Lake valley and Utah valley. On the south they extended into New Mexico, occupying much of the upper drainage area of the San Juan. They appear to have always been a warlike people, and early came into possession of horses, which intensified their aggressive character. None of the tribes practiced agriculture. Very little is known of their social and political organization, although … Read more
Ute Indian Chiefs and Leaders
Many tribes have sub-tribes, bands, gens, clans and phratry. Often very little information is known or they no longer exist. We have included them here to provide more information about the tribes. Akanaquint (green river). A Ute division formerly living on Green r., Utah, belonging probably to the Yampa. Capote (mountain people. Hrdlicka). A division of the Ute, formerly living in the Tierra Amarilla and Rio Chama country, N. w. N. Mex. They are now under the jurisdiction of the Southern Ute school in s. w. Colo., and numbered 180 in 1904. Cobardes. Given by Dominguez and Escalante (Doc. Hist. … Read more
A complete listing of all the Utah Indian villages, towns and settlements as listed in Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico.