Native American Archives – Page 161 of 341

Treaty of November 3, 1804

A treaty between the United States of America and the United tribes of Sac and Fox Indians. ARTICLES of a treaty made at St. Louis in the district of Louisiana between William Henry Harrison, governor of the Indiana territory and of the district of Louisiana, superintendent of Indian affairs for the said territory and district, and commissioner plenipotentiary of the United States for concluding any treaty or treaties which may be found necessary with any of the north western tribes of Indians of the one part, and the chiefs and head men of the united Sac and Fox tribes of … Read more

Treaty of September 11, 1807

Elucidation of a convention with the Cherokee Nation, September 11, 1807. Whereas, by the first article of a convention between the United States and the Cherokee nation, entered into at the city of Washington, on the seventh day of January, one thousand eight hundred and six, it was intended on the part of the Cherokee nation, and so understood by the Secretary of War, the commissioner on the part of the United States, to cede to the United States all the right, title and interest which the said Cherokee nation ever had to a tract of country contained between the … Read more

Treaty of January 7, 1806

A convention between the United States and the Cherokee nation of Indians, concluded at the city of Washington, on the seventh day of January, in the year one thousand eight hundred and six. Articles of a Convention made between Henry Dearborn, secretary of war, being specially authorized thereto by the president of the United States, and the undersigned chiefs and head men of the Cherokee nation of Indians, duly authorized and empowered by said nation. ARTICLE 1. The undersigned chiefs and head men of the Cherokee nation of Indians, for themselves and in behalf of their nation, relinquish to the … Read more

Treaty of October 25, 1805

Articles of a treaty agreed upon between the United States of America, by their commissioners Return J. Meigs and Daniel Smith, appointed to hold conferences with the Cherokee Indians for the purpose of arranging certain interesting matters with the said Cherokees, of the one part, and the undersigned chiefs and head men of the said nation, of the other part. ARTICLE 1. All former treaties, which provide for the maintenance of peace and preventing of crimes, are on this occasion recognized and continued in force. ARTICLE 2. The Cherokees quit claim and cede to the United States, all the land … Read more

Treaty of October 24, 1804

Articles of a treaty between the United States of America and the Cherokee Indians. Daniel Smith and Return J. Meigs, being commissioned by Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States, with powers of acting in behalf of the said United States in arranging certain matters with the Cherokee nation of Indians; and the underwritten principal Chiefs, representing the said nation; having met the said Commissioners in a conference at Tellico, and having taken into their consideration certain propositions made to them by the said Commissioners of the United States; the parties aforesaid, have unanimously agreed and stipulated, as is definitely … Read more

Treaty of July 23, 1805

Articles of arrangement made and concluded in the Chickasaw country, between James Robertson and Silas Dinsmoor, commissioners of the United States of the one part, and the Mingo chiefs and warriors of the Chickasaw nation of Indians on the other part. ARTICLE I. WHEREAS the Chickasaw nation of Indians have been for some time embarrassed by heavy debts due to their merchants and traders, and being destitute of funds to effect important improvements in their country, they have agreed and do hereby agree to cede to the United States, and forever quit claim to the tract of country included within … Read more

Treaty of 16 March 1854

Articles of agreement and convention made and concluded at the city of Washington this sixteenth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, by George W. Manypenny, as commissioner on the part of the United States, and the following-named chiefs of the Omaha tribe of Indians, viz: Shon-ga-ska, or Logan Fontenelle; E-sta-mah-za, or Joseph Le Flesche; Gra-tah-nah-je, or Standing Hawk; Gah-he-ga-gin-gah, or Little Chief; Ta-wah-gah-ha, or Village Maker; Wah-no-ke-ga, or Noise; So-da-nah-ze, or Yellow Smoke; they being thereto duly authorized by said tribe. Article 1. The Omaha Indians cede to the United States all their lands west of the … Read more

Treaty of September 26, 1833

Articles of a treaty made at Chicago, in the State of Illinois, on the twenty-sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, between George B. Porter, Thomas J. V. Owen and William Weatherford, Commissioners on the part of the United States of the one part, and the United Nation of Chippewa, Ottowa and Potawatamie Indians of the other part, being fully represented by the Chiefs and Head-men whose names are hereunto subscribed—which Treaty is in the following words, to wit: ARTICLE 1. The said United Nation of Chippewa, Ottowa, and Potawatamie Indians, … Read more

Biography of Friedrich Kurz

Friedrich Kurz, born in Bern, Switzerland, 1818; died 1871. At the suggestion of his friend Karl Bodmer, he came to America in 1846, for the purpose of studying the native tribes, intending to prepare a well-illustrated account of his travels. He landed at New Orleans and reached St. Louis by way of the Mississippi. The trouble with Mexico had developed, and for that reason instead of going to the Southwest, to endeavor to accomplish among the tribes of that region what Bodmer had already done among the people of the Upper Missouri Valley, he decided to follow the route of … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Karl Bodmer

Karl Bodmer, born in Zurich, Switzerland, 1805; died 1894. Studied under Cornu. He accompanied Maximilian, Prince of Wied, on several journeys, including that up the Valley of the Missouri. Many of his original sketches made during that memorable trip are now in the Edward E. Ayer collection, Newberry Library, Chicago. His later works are chiefly of wooded landscapes, some being scenes in the valleys of the Missouri and Mississippi. Bodmer was a very close friend of the great artist Jean Francois Millet. De Cost Smith, in Century Magazine, May, 1910, discussing the close association of the two artists, and referring … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Paul Kane

Paul Kane, born at York, the present city of Toronto, 1810; died 1871. After spending several years in the United States he went to Europe, where he studied in various art centers. Returned to Canada, and from early in 1845 until the autumn of 1848 traveled among the native tribes of the far west, making a large number of paintings of Indians and scenes in the Indian country. One hundred or more of his paintings are in the Museum at Toronto; others are in the Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa. Some of the sketches and paintings were reproduced in his … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Ernest Henry Griset

Ernest Henry Griset, born in France, 1844; died March 22, 1907. Lived in England, where he did much of his work. In 1871 he exhibited at Suffolk Street. Some of his paintings are hung in the Victoria and Albert Museum. More than 30 examples of his work belong to the Smithsonian Institution, Washington. His reputation rests on his water-color studies of animals, for which he was awarded prizes in London. Two of his best-known works are Cachecache, and Travellers de la foret.” Drying Buffalo Meat is shown here.

Synonymy of Tribal Names

The following is a synonymy of tribal names used by the reference material quoted within this manuscript. When searching the original sources, if the “common” name of the tribe does not readily appear, try the variant given below. Accancea=Quapaw Ahnahaways=Amahami. Arkansa=Quapaw. Archithinue=Blackfeet. Aricaree, Arickarees. Arikkaras=Arikara. Arkansa=Quapaw. Arwacahwas=Amahami. Asinepoet. Assinneboins=Assiniboin. Assonis=Caddo. Awachawi=Amahami. Big-bellied Indians=Atsina. Big Bellys=Hidatsa. Canzee=Kansa. Cenis=Caddo. Chayennes=Cheyenne. Chepewyans=Chipewyan. Chippeway=Chippewa. Cristinaux=Cree. Dacotahs=Dakota. Fall Indians=Atsina. Grosventre Indians, Grosventres, Gros Ventres of the Missouri=Hidatsa. Gros Ventres of the Prairie=Atsina. Huecos=Waco. Kansas, Kanzas, Kaws=Kansa. Knistenaux, Knisteneaux=Cree. Konsee, Konza, Konzas=Kansa. Machigamea=Michigamea. Maha=Omaha. Manitaries, Minatarres, Minnetarees=Hidatsa. Minnetarees of Fort de Prairie=Atsina. Naudowessies=Dakota. Nehetheway=Cree Ogallallahs=Oglala. Ojibway=Chippewa. … Read more

Houses of the Caddo Tribe

The “Caddo proper,” or Cenis as they were called by Joutel, early occupied the southwestern part of the present State of Arkansas, the Red River Valley, and adjacent region to the south and west. La Salle was murdered near the banks of the Trinity, in eastern Texas, March 20, 1687. Joutel and several others of the party pushed on, and nine days later, when traversing the valley of the Red River, arrived at a village of the Cenis. Fortunately a very good account of the people and their homes is preserved in Joutel’s narrative, and from it the following quotations … Read more

Houses of the Waco Tribe

On August 23, 1853, the expedition under command of Lieut. A. W. Whipple camped at, some point in the southwestern portion of the present McClain County, Oklahoma, and that evening were visited by two Indians, ” the one tall and straight, the other ill looking. Their dress consisted of a blue cotton blanket wrapped around the waist, a head-dress of eagles’ feathers, brass wire bracelets, and moccasins. The outer cartilages of their ears were cut through in various places, and short sticks inserted in place of rings. They were painted with vermilion, and carried bows of bois d’art three feet … Read more

Houses of the Wichita Tribe

Wichita Indians grass-covered lodge, about 1880

Like the other members of this linguistic family, whose villages have already been described, the Wichita had two forms of dwellings, which they occupied under different conditions. One served as the structure in their permanent villages, the other being of a more temporary nature. But, instead of the earth-covered lodges used farther north, their fixed villages were composed of groups of high circular structures, entirely thatched from bottom to top. Their movable camps, when away from home on war or hunting expeditions, consisted of the skin-covered tents of the plains. The peculiar thatched structures were first seen and described by … Read more

Houses of the Arikara Tribe

When or where the Arikara separated from their kindred tribe, the Pawnee, may never be determined, but during the years which followed the separation they continued moving northward, leaving ruined villages to mark the line of their migration. Sixty years ago it was said: “That they migrated upward, along the Missouri, from their friends below is established by the remains of their dirt villages, which are yet seen along that river, though at this time mostly overgrown with grass. At what time they separated from the parent stock is not now correctly known, though some of their locations appear to … Read more

Houses of the Pawnee Tribe

Pawnee village which stood in the Loupe Fork of the Platte River. Photograph by W. H. Jackson, 1871

Soon after the transfer of Louisiana to the United States Government several expeditions were sent out to explore the newly acquired domains and to discover the native tribes who claimed and occupied parts of the vast territory. Of these parties, that led by Capts. Lewis and Clark was the most important, but of great interest was the second expedition under command of Lieut. Z. M. Pike, which traversed the country extending from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains, and reached the Pawnee villages near the North Platte during the month of September, 1806. How long the Pawnee had occupied that … Read more

Houses of the Crow Tribe

Parfleche box "Crows, Montana Ter. J. I. Allen." Length 28 inches, width 13 1/2 inches. (U.S.N.M. 130574)

Before the separation of the Crow from the Hidatsa they may have occupied permanent villages of earth-covered lodges, such as the latter continued to erect and use until very recent years. But after the separation the Crows moved into the mountains, the region drained by the upper tributaries of the Missouri, and there no longer built permanent structures but adopted the skin tipi, so easily erected and transported from place to place. Many of their tipis were very large, beautifully made and decorated, and were evidently not surpassed in any manner by the similar structures constructed by other tribes of … Read more

Houses of the Hidatsa Tribe

Bull-boat and paddle, obtained from the Hidatsa. Marked "Fort Buford, Dak. Ter. Grosventres Tribe. Drs. Gray and Matthews." (U.S.N.M. 9785)

The Hidatsa villages as seen by Catlin and Maximilian during the years 1832, 1833, and 1834 had probably changed little since the winter of 1804-05, when Lewis and Clark occupied Fort Mandan, their winter quarters, some 8 miles below the mouth of Knife River.