Native American Archives – Page 163 of 341

Houses of the Omaha Tribe

Page of Kurz's sketchbook showing interior of an Omaha lodge, May 16, 1851

When Lewis and Clark ascended the Missouri in 1804 they found the Omaha village not far from the Missouri, in the present Dakota County, Nebraska. On the 13th of August the expedition reached the mouth of a creek entering the right bank of the Missouri. Just beyond they encamped on a sandbar, “opposite the lower point of a large island.” From here Sergeant Ordway and four men were sent to the Omaha village and returned the following day. “After crossing a prairie covered with high grass, they reached the Maha creek, along which they proceeded to its three forks, which … Read more

Houses of the Assiniboin Tribe

A skin lodge of an Assiniboin chief - Karl Bodmer

The Assiniboin were, until comparatively recent times, a part of the Yanktonai, from whom they may have separated while living in the forest region of the northern section of the present State of Minnesota. Leaving the parent stock, they joined the Cree, then living to the northward, with whom they remained in close alliance. Gradually they moved to the valleys of the Saskatchewan and Assiniboin Rivers and here were encountered by Alexander Henry in 1775. Interesting though brief notes on the structures of the Assiniboin as they appeared in 1775 and 1776 are contained in the narrative of Henry’s travels … Read more

Houses of the Oglala Tribe

Drying Buffalo Meat - A Typical Camp Scene (Ernst Henry Griset)

Of the early history of this, the principal division of the Teton, nothing is known. During the first years of the last century they were discovered by Lewis and Clark on the banks of the upper Missouri, south of the Cheyenne River, in the present Stanley County, South Dakota. They hunted and roamed over a wide region. and by the middle of the century occupied the country between the Forks of the Platte and beyond to the Black Hills. While living on the banks of the Missouri their villages undoubtedly resembled the skin-covered tipi settlements of the other kindred tribes, … Read more

Houses of the Teton Tribe

Page of Kurz's Sketchbook, showing Fort Pierre and Indian encampment, July 4, 1851.

The Teton, moving westward from their early habitat to the east and north of the Minnesota, were encountered on the banks of the Missouri by Captains Lewis and Clark when they ascended the river, during the early autumn of 1804. On September 26 of that year the expedition reached the mouth of Teton River (the present Bad River), which enters the Missouri from the west at Pierre, Stanley County, South Dakota. Here stood the great village of the Teton, concerning which Sergeant Gass gave a very interesting account in his journal: “We remained here all day. Capt. Lewis, myself and … Read more

Houses of the Yankton Tribe

When the expedition under the leadership of General Atkinson ascended the Missouri, during the summer of 1825, he wrote regarding the Yankton: “The Yankton are a band of the Sioux, and rove in the plains north of the Missouri, from near the Great Bend, down as far as the Sioux river. They do not cultivate, but live by the chase alone, subsisting principally upon buffalo. They cover themselves with leather tents, or lodges, which they move about from place to place, as the buffalo may chance to range. They are pretty well supplied with fusees, and with horses, and a … Read more

Houses of the Yanktonai Tribe

Like other divisions of the Dakota, the Yanktonai formerly lived in the thickly timbered region surrounding the headwaters of the Mississippi, in the central portion of the present State of Minnesota, and, like them, moved southward and westward until they reached the plains and the habitat of the buffalo. Although in their earlier home they undoubtedly reared the mat-covered structures, nevertheless when they reached the open country they constructed the conical skin lodge. During the latter part of July, 1823, the Long expedition reached a village of this tribe then standing in the vicinity of Lake Traverse, in the present … Read more

Houses of the Mdewakanton Tribe

When preparing a sketch of the villages and village sites of the Mdewakanton, it is quite natural to begin with a brief description of the site of the village to which Father Hennepin was led captive, during the early spring of the year 1680. On the afternoon of April 11 of that year, while ascending the Mississippi with two companions, he was taken by a war party of the Sioux, and after much anxiety and suffering reached the Falls of St. Anthony, which he so named. Thence, going overland through the endless forests, they arrived at the village of their … Read more

Houses of the Illinois Confederacy

Although the tribes of the loosely constituted Illinois confederacy claimed and occupied a wide region east of the Mississippi, in later years centering in the valley of the Illinois River, nevertheless certain villages are known to have crossed and re-crossed the great river. Thus, in the early summer of 1673, Père Marquette arrived at a village of the Peoria then standing on the right Mississippi, at or near the or west bank of the later it had removed to the upper Illinois. Two months passing the Peoria, Marquette discovered another of the Illinois tribes, the Michigamea, living near the northeastern … Read more

Houses of the Sauk and Fox Tribes

It is not the purpose of the present sketch to trace the early migrations of the Sauk and Fox tribes, or to refer to their connection, linguistically or socially. However, it is evident their villages were similar in appearance, and both had two distinct forms of habitations which were occupied during different seasons of the year. The summer villages of both tribes consisted of bark houses, and near by were gardens in which they raised corn, squashes, beans, and some tobacco, but with the coming of autumn the families scattered and sought the more protected localities where game was to be … Read more

Houses of the Arapaho Tribe

"Camp of the Gros Ventres of the Prairies" on the Upper Missouri. Karl Bodmer 1833

The ancient habitat of the Arapaho, according to tradition, was once far northeast of the country which they later occupied. It may have been among the forests of the region about the headwaters of the Mississippi the present State of Minnesota, where their villages would have stood on the shores of lakes and streams. But later, like the related Cheyenne, with whom they have been closely allied during recent generations and probably for a long period, they reached the prairies, through what causes may never be known, and there, with different environments, their manners and ways of life changed. While … Read more

Houses of the Blackfoot Confederacy

"Encampment of the Piekann Indians" Karl Bodmer 1833

The tribes forming this group are the Siksika, or Blackfeet proper, the Piegan, and the Kainah, or Bloods. Closely allied and associated with these were the Atsina, a branch of the Arapaho, but who later became incorporated with the Assiniboin. These tribes roamed over a wide territory of mountains, plains, and valleys. Early accounts of the manners and ways of life of the Blackfeet are to be found in the journals kept by traders belonging to the Hudson’s Bay Company, who penetrated the vast, unknown wilderness southwestward from York Factory daring the eighteenth century. Although the records are all too … Read more

Houses of the Cheyenne Tribe

A description and photograph of the habitations used by the Cheyenne tribe during history.

Houses of the Cree Tribe

The Cree were referenced to the use of the bark-covered lodge, the skin-covered lodge of probably a different shape, the structure covered with earth or sod, and, lastly, the log cabin, by widely dispersed bands.

The Buffalo

With the practical extermination of the buffalo in recent years, and the rapid changes which have taken place in the general appearance of the country, it is difficult to picture it as it was two or more centuries ago. While the country continued to be the home of the native tribes, game was abundant, and the buffalo, in prodigious numbers, roamed over the wide region from the Rocky Mountains to near the Atlantic. It is quite evident, and easily conceivable, that wherever the buffalo was to be found it was hunted by the people of the neighboring villages, principally to … Read more

Digger Indians

Digger Tribe. Said by Powell to be the English translation of Nuanuints, the name of a small tribe near St George, southwest Utah. It was the only Paiute tribe practicing agriculture, hence the original signification of the name, ‘digger.” In time the name was applied to every tribe known to use roots extensively for food and hence to be “diggers.” It thus included very many of the tribes of California, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona, tribes speaking widely different languages and embracing perhaps a dozen distinct linguistic stocks. As the root-eaters were supposed to represent a low type of … Read more

Houses of the Wahpeton Tribe

The Wahpeton, “dwellers among leaves,” constitute one of the seven great divisions of the Dakota, and to quote from the Handbook: “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.” While living in the seclusion of the vast forests which surrounded the great lakes of central Minnesota, the villages of the Wahpeton were probably formed of groups of bark or … Read more

Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi

Catlin, George - 334, Chippeway Village and Dog Feast at the Falls of St. Anthony; lodges build with birch-bark: Upper Mississippi

Life on the prairies or mountains with the best built house had to be hard for our ancestors, but consider the Indians of the 1800’s. With few implements, or tools, they constructed their homes from their surroundings. David Bushnell, provides a vivid picture of the traditional homes, hunting camps, and travels of the Algonquian, Caddoan and Siouan tribes. Even without the photos and drawings, all of which are included here, Bushnell paints a picture of these tribes life and culture with his words.

Yonkalla Tribe

Yonkalla Indians. The southernmost Kalapooian tribe, formerly living on Elk and Calapooya Creeks, tributaries of Umpqua River, Oregon. According to Gatschet there were two bands, called Chayankeld and Tsantokau by the Lakmiut, but it seems likely that the former name (Tch’ Ayanke-‘ld) is merely the native tribal name. The tribe is probably extinct.

Yahuskin Tribe

Yahuskin Indians. A Shoshonean band which prior to 1864 roved and hunted with the Walpapi about the shores of Goose, Silver, Warner, and Harney Lakes, Oregon, and temporarily in Surprise Valley and Klamath Marsh, where they gathered wokas for food. They came specially into notice in 1864, on Oct. 14 of which year they became party to the treaty of Klamath Lake by which their territory was ceded to the United States and they were placed on Klamath Reservation, established at that time. With the Walpapi and a few Paiute who had joined them, the Yahuskin were assigned lands in … Read more

Walapai Tribe

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