Native American

The list of items below have been tagged as part of the Native American historical collection here at AccessGenealogy.

Sewee Indians

Sewee Tribe: Significance: perhaps, as Gatschet suggested, from sawe’, “island.” Sewee Connections. No words of their language have survived, but the Sewee are regarded as Siouan on strong circumstantial grounds, in spite of the fact that they are sometimes classed with the Cusabo. Sewee Location. On the lower course of Santee River and the coast westward to the divide of the of Ashley River about the present Monks Corner, Berkeley County, SC. Sewee Villages. Lawson, writing about 1700, mentions a deserted village in Sewee Bay called Avendaughbough which may have belonged to them (Lawson, 1860). The name seems to be … Read more

Saluda Indians

Saluda Tribe: Meaning unknown. Saluda Connections. These are uncertain but circumstantial evidence indicates strongly that the Saluda were a band of Shawnee, and therefore of the Algonquian stock. Saluda Location. On Saluda River. Saluda History. Almost all that we know regarding the Saluda is contained in a note on George Hunter’s map of the Cherokee country drawn in 1730 indicating “Saluda town where a nation settled 35 years ago, removed 18 years to Conestogo, in Pensilvania.” As bands of Shawnee were moving into just that region from time to time during the period indicated, there is reason to think that … Read more

Pedee Indians

Pedee Tribe: Meaning unknown, but Speck (1935) suggests from Catawba pi’ri, “something good,” or pi’here, “smart,” “expert,” “capable.” Pedee Connections. No words of the language have survived but there is every reason to suppose that it was a dialect of the Siouan linguistic family. Pedee Location. On Great Pee Dee River, particularly its middle course. Pedee Village. No village names are known apart from the tribal name, which was sometimes applied to specific settlements. Pedee History. The Pedee are first mentioned by the colonists of South Carolina. In 1716 a place in or near their country called Sankey (perhaps Socatee) … Read more

Cusabo Indians

Cusabo Tribe: Meaning perhaps “Coosawhatchie River (people).” Cusabo Connections. There is little doubt that the Cusabo belonged to the Muskhogean linguistic family. Their closest connections appear to have been with the Indians of the Georgia coast, the Guale. Cusabo Location.—In the southernmost part of South Carolina between Charleston Harbor and Savannah River and including most of the valleys of the Ashley, Edisto, Ashepoo, Combahee, Salkehatchie, and  Coosawhatchie Rivers. Cusabo Subdivisions. These people should be divided first into the Cusabo proper, who occupied all the coast, and the Coosa, who were inland upon the rivers above mentioned. The Cusabo proper seem … Read more

Congaree Indians

Congaree Tribe: Meaning unknown. Congaree Connection. No words of this language have been preserved but the form of the name and general associations of the tribe leave little doubt that it was a Siouan dialect, related most closely to Catawba. Congaree Location. On Congaree River, centering in the neighborhood of the present State Capital, Columbia. Congaree Villages. The only village mentioned bore the same name as the tribe and was sometimes placed on the Congaree opposite Columbia, sometimes on the north side of the river. Congaree History. The Congaree are mentioned in documents of the seventeenth century as one of … Read more

Catawba Indians

Catawba Tribe: Significance unknown though the name was probably native to the tribe. Also called: Ani’ta’guă, Cherokee name. Iswa or Issa, signifying “river,” and specifically the Catawba River; originally probably an independent band which united early with the Catawba proper. Oyadagahrcenes, Tadirighrones, Iroquois names. Usherys, from iswahere, “river down here”; see Issa. Catawba Connections. The Catawba belonged to the Siouan linguistic family, but Catawba was the most aberrant of all known Siouan languages, though closer to Woccon than any other of which a vocabulary has been recorded. Catawba Location. In York and Lancaster Counties mainly but extending into the neighboring … Read more

Kaskinampo Indians

Kaskinampo Tribe: Meaning unknown, though -nampo may be the Koasati word for “many.” Kaskinampo Connections. The Kaskinampo were probably closely related to the Koasati, and through them to the Alabama, Choctaw, and other Muskhogean people. Kaskinampo Location. Their best-known historic location was on the lower end of an island in the Tennessee River, probably the one now called Pine Island. (See also Arkansas.) Kaskinampo History. There is every reason to believe that this tribe constituted the Casqui, Icasqui, or Casquin “province” which De Soto entered immediately after crossing the Mississippi River, and it was probably in what is now Phillips … Read more

Washa Indians

Washa Tribe: Appearing oftenest in literature in the French form Ouacha, meaning unknown. Washa Connections. The nearest relations of the Washa were the Chawasha and both belonged to the Chitimachan branch of the Tunican linguistic family. Washa Location. Their earliest known location was on Bayou La Fourche, perhaps in the neighborhood of the present Labadieville, Assumption Parish. Washa Villages. None are known under any but the tribal name. Washa History. As stated in treating the Chawasha, this tribe and the one just mentioned may have been those which attacked Moscoso’s flotilla at the mouth of the Mississippi. Shortly after Iberville … Read more

Tangipahoa Indians

Tangipahoa Tribe: Meaning probably “corncob gatherers,” or “corncob people.” Tangipahoa Connections. The name of this tribe and its affiliations with the Acolapissa indicate that it belonged to the southern division of the Muskhogean stock. Tangipahoa Location. Probably on the present Tangipahoa River, Tangipahoa Parish. Tangipahoa History. The original home of the Tangipahoa seems must have been as given above, and their relations with the Acolapissa must been very close, for Iberville was informed by some Indians that they constituted a seventh Acolapissa town. In 1682 La Salle’s party discovered a town on the eastern side of the Mississippi, 2 leagues  below … Read more

Taensa Indians

Taensa Tribe: Meaning unknown, but the name is evidently derived from that of one of the tribe’s constituent towns. Taensa Connections. They were one of the three known tribes of the Natchez division of the Muskhogean stock. Taensa Location. At the western end of Lake St. Joseph, in Tensas Parish. (See also Alabama.) Taensa Villages The only list of Taensa villages preserved was obtained by Iberville through the medium of the Mobilian trade language and it is uncertain how much of each name is a Mobilian translation. In four of them we recognize the Mobilian word for people, okla. These … Read more

Quinipissa Indians

Quinipissa Tribe: Signifying “those who see,” perhaps meaning “scouts,” or “outpost.” Quinipissa Connections.  The Quinipissa belonged to the southern division of the Muskhogean stock and probably were very closely related to the Choctaw. Quinipissa Location. On the west bank of the Mississippi River and some distance above New Orleans. Quinipissa History. There may have been a connection between this tribe, the Acolapissa, and the Napissa or Napochi. (See Mississippi) They were met first by La Salle and his companions when the latter were on their way to the Gulf of Mexico in 1682. They treated the explorers in a hostile … Read more

Opelousa Indians

Opelousa Tribe: Probably from Mobilian and Choctaw Aba lusa, “black above,” and meaning “black headed” or “black haired.” Opelousa Connections. No words of the Opelousa language have survived, but the greater number of the earlier references to them speak as if they were allied with the Atakapa, and it is probable that they belonged to the Atakapan group of tribes. Opelousa Location. In the neighborhood of the present Opelousas. Opelousa History. The Opelousa seem to have been mentioned first by Bienville in an unpublished report on the Indians of the Mississippi and Gulf regions. They were few in numbers and … Read more

Okelousa Indians

Okelousa Tribe: Meaning “black water.” Okelousa Connections. The associations of this tribe were mainly with Muskhogean peoples and this fact, coupled with the Muskhogean name, indicates their linguistic affiliations with a fair degree of certainty. Okelousa Location. The Okelousa moved about considerably. The best determined location is the one mentioned by Le Page du Pratz (1758), on the west side of the Mississippi back of and above Pointe Coupee. (See Mississippi.) Okelousa History. After De Soto reached the principal Chickasaw town, the head chief came to him, January 3, 1541, “and promptly gave the Christians guides and interpreters to go … Read more

Chitimacha Indians

Chitimacha Tribe: Perhaps derived from the name of Grand River in the native tongue, which was Sheti, though Gatschet (1883) interprets it through the Choctaw language as meaning “those who have pots.” Chitimacha Connections. The Chitimacha have given their name to a group of languages under the Tunican linguistic stock, including also the Chawasha and Washa. Chitimacha Location. On Grand River, Grand Lake, and the lower course of Bayou La Teche. Chitimacha Villages The earliest French writers couple with this tribe the name of a tribe or supposed tribe called Yakna-Chitto, “Big Earth,” but it is not known whether they … Read more

Chawasha Indians

Chawasha Tribe: Meaning unknown, though possibly “raccoon place (people).” Chawasha Connections. A reference to this tribe and the Washa by Bienville places them in the Chitimacha division of the Tunican linguistic stock. I had erroneously concluded at an earlier period, on slender circumstantial evidence, that they were Muskhogeans. Chawasha Location. On Bayou La Fourche and eastward to the Gulf of Mexico and across the Mississippi. Chawasha History. After the relics of De Soto’s army had escaped to the mouth of the Mississippi River and while their brigantines were riding at anchor there, they were attacked by Indians, some of whom … Read more

Bayogoula Indians

Bayogoula Tribe: Meaning “bayou people,” either from their location or from the fact that their tribal emblem was the alligator. Bayogoula Connections. Their language was of the southern Muskhogean division, not far removed from Houma and Choctaw. Bayogoula Location. Near the present Bayou Goula, in Iberville Parish. Bayogoula History. Unless this tribe was the Pishenoa encountered by Tonti in 1686 and not mentioned subsequently, it was first visited by Iberville in 1699. It then occupied one town with the Mugulasha. In the winter of 1699-1700 the Bayogoula suffered severely from a surprise attack of the Houma. In the spring of … Read more

Avoyel Indians

Avoyel Tribe: The name signifies probably “people of the rocks,” referring to flint and very likely applied because they were middlemen in supplying the Gulf coast tribes with flint. Also called: Little Taensa, so-called from their relationship to the Taensa. Tassenocogoula, name in the Mobilian trade language, meaning “flint people.” Avoyel Connections. The testimony of early writers and circumstantial evidence render it almost certain that the Avoyel spoke a dialect of the Natchez group of the Muskhogean linguistic family. Avoyel Location. In the neighborhood of the present Marksville, La. Avoyel History. The Avoyel are mentioned first by Iberville in the … Read more

Atakapa Indians

Atakapa Tribe: Meaning in Choctaw and Mobilian, “man eater,” because they and some of the Indians west of them at times ate the flesh of their enemies. Skunnemoke, the name of a chief, extended to the whole people. Tûk-pa’-han-yan-ya-di, Biloxi name. Yuk’hiti ishak, own name. Atakapa Connections. The Atakapa were originally placed in an independent linguistic stock, including also the Bidai, Deadose, and probably the Opelousa, but it has now been determined that they belonged to one family with the Chitimacha, their eastern neighbors, and probably the Tunican group on the Mississippi, the whole being called the Tunican stock. Atakapa … Read more

Adai Indians

Adai Tribe: Meaning unknown. Adai Connections. This tribe was at first thought to have constituted to an independent linguistic stock and the name Adaizan was given to it, but later Dr. Gatschet determined that the Adai language was a somewhat aberrant Caddo dialect, and therefore placed in the Caddoan stock. Adai Location. Near the present Robeline in Natchitoches Parish. Adai History. In 1699 Iberville mentions the Adai under the name Natao. In 1717 the mission of San Miguel de Linares was established among them by Spanish Franciscan missionaries. The buildings were destroyed in 1719 by a force of French and … Read more

Acolapissa Indians

Acolapissa Tribe: Meaning “those who listen and see,” indicating possibly “borderers” or “scouts.” Also called: Aquelou pissas, by Le Page du Pratz (1758, 2: 219). Cenepisa, by La Salle (in Margry, 1875-86,1: 564). Colapissas, in 1699 by Penicaut (in French, 1869, p. 38). Coulapissas, in 1700 by Sauvole (in Margry 1875-86, 4: 462). Equinipichas, by Sauvole (in French, 1851, 3: 225). Kinipissa, by Tonti (in Margry, 1875-86; 1: 604). Kolapissas, in 1700 by Gravier (in French, 1875, p. 88). Acolapissa Connections. The Acolapissa belonged to the Muskhogean linguistic family and evidently spoke a language closely related to Choctaw and Chickasaw. … Read more