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

"Riccaree Village" - George Catlin

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.

Houses of the Mandan Tribe

"The interior of the hut of a Mandan chief" - Karl Bodmer, 1833

As mentioned in the sketch of the houses of the Assiniboin, a small party of French accompanied by members of that tribe during the autumn of 1738 went southward from the Assiniboin country to the Mandan towns, where the French remained several weeks. The leader of the expedition, La Verendrye, prepared an account of the journey, this being the earliest record of a visit by Europeans to the Mandans known to exist, although it is easily conceived that French trappers may have been among the tribe earlier in the century. The expedition arrived among the Mandan November 28, 1738, after … Read more

Houses of the Winnebago Tribe

Winnebago Structures

When first known to Europeans the Winnebago occupied the region west of Green Bay, west of Lake Michigan, where, according to the Jesuit missionaries, they had resided for many generations. There they were living in the year 1634 when visited by Nicollet, and just 35 years later, during the winter of 1669-70, a mission on the shore of the same bay was conducted by Père Allouez, which proved a gathering place for various tribes, including the Winnebago, Sauk and Foxes, Menominee, and Potawatomi. These, with the exception of the Winnebago, were Algonquian tribes. As already mentioned, the Oto, Iowa, and … Read more

Houses of the Missouri Tribe

In the narrative of the Lewis and Clark expedition appears this record: “June 13, 1804. We passed a bend of the river. Missouri and two creeks on the north, called the Round Bend creeks. Between these two creeks is the prairie, in which once stood the ancient village of the Missouri. Of this village there remains no vestige, nor is there any thing to recall this great and numerous nation, except a feeble remnant of about thirty families. They were driven from their original seats by the invasions of the Sauks and other Indians from the Mississippi, who destroyed at … Read more

Houses of the Oto Tribe

Oto dugout canoe, from Kurz's Sketchbook, May 15, 1851

When Lewis and Clark ascended the Missouri during the summer of 1804 they reached the mouth of the Platte July 21. At that time, so they entered in their journal, the Oto were living on the south side of the Platte, 10 leagues above its junction with the Missouri, and 5 leagues beyond, on the same bank, were the Pawnee. Living with the Oto were the remnants of the Missouri who had, a few years before, joined them. On August 3, 1804, the expedition having ascended the Missouri to about the location of the present city of Council Bluffs, Iowa, … Read more

Houses of the Iowa Tribe

An Iowa structure

On September 15, 1819, the expedition under command of Maj. Stephen H. Long arrived at the mouth of Papillion Creek, on the right bank of the Missouri a few miles above the Platte, a site now covered by the city of Omaha, Nebraska. In the narrative of the expedition it is said that at the mouth of the Papillion ” we found two boats belonging to the Indian traders at St Louis. They had passed us some days before, and were to remain for the winter at the mouth of the Papillion, to trade with the Otoe, Missouri, and other … Read more

Villages of the Quapaw Tribe

This article explores the history and settlements of the Quapaw Tribe, a Siouan group residing near the mouth of the Arkansas River. It traces their journey from the Ohio Valley, citing early French accounts of their villages and customs. The text details their gradual westward migration and eventual decline, referencing explorers’ observations and archaeological evidence of their presence in the Mississippi Valley.

Houses of the Osage Tribe

Frame of an Osage habitation, near Hominy, Okla., 1911

From the earliest historical times the habitat of the Osage was among the hills and valleys of the Ozarks, south of the Missouri, in the present State of Missouri, and here they continued to dwell until their removal during the early part-of the 19th century. When Père Marquette passed down the Mississippi, late in the month of June 1673, he learned of the Osage, and on his map, prepared soon afterwards, indicated the villages of that tribe near a stream which was evidently the river bearing their tribal name. They continued to occupy rather permanent villages until the beginning of … Read more

Sacred Dance of the Omaha Tribe

On June 12 Friedrich Kurz attended a sacred dance performed for the benefit of a wounded man. He referred to it in his journal as being given by the Buffalo Society, where all wore buffalo masks. It was held in a large earth lodge, and he was accompanied by the chief, Joseph La Flesche. The site of the small village mentioned by Kurz was identified a few years ago by R. F. Gilder, and some of the ruins were examined. It stood in the forks of the Papillion about 4 miles in a direct line west of the Missouri. To … Read more

Houses of the Kansa Tribe

Kansa Habitation

To quote from the Handbook: “Their linguistic relations are closest with the Osage, and are close with the Quapaw. In the traditional migration of the group, after the Quapaw had first separated there from, the main body divided at the mouth of Osage River, the Osage moving up that stream and the Omaha and Ponca crossing Missouri River and proceeding northward, while the Kansa ascended the Missouri on the south side to the mouth of Kansa River. Here a brief halt was made, after which they ascended the Missouri on the, south side until they reached the present north boundary … Read more

Houses of the Ponca Tribe

Punka Indians encamped on the banks of the Missouri - Karl Bodmer 1833

That the Ponca and Omaha were formerly a single tribe is accepted without question, and that the separation took place long after they crossed the Mississippi from their ancient habitat is established by the traditions of the two tribes. Probably the two tribes in later years, after the separation, continued to resemble one another to such a degree that the, villages of one could not have been distinguished from those of the other. A deserted village of the Ponca was discovered by members of the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804, and according to the narrative of the expedition on September … Read more