Native American

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

Saconnet Tribe

Saconnet Indians. A band or small tribe living near Sakonnet Point, Newport County, Rhode Island, connected with the Wampanoag or the Narraganset. Under the woman chief Ashawonks they took the side of the English in King Philip’s War of 1675, and from her their land was purchased by the whites. In 1700 they numbered about 400; but in 1763 they were visited by an epidemic which considerably diminished their numbers, so that by 1803 they had dwindled to a dozen persons, living near Compton.  Their chief village bore the name of the tribe.

Wampanoag Indian Chiefs and Leaders

King Phillip

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

Wampanoag Tribe

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

Cayuse Tribe

Cayuse Indians. A Waiilatpuan tribe formerly occupying the territory about the heads of Walla Walla, Umatilla, and Grande Ronde Rivers and from the Blue mountains to Deschutes River in Washington and Oregon. The tribe has always been closely associated with the neighboring Nez Percé and Walla Walla, and was regarded by the early explorers and writers as belonging to the same stock. So far as the available evidence goes, however, they must be considered linguistically independent. The Cayuse have always been noted for their bravery, and owing largely to their constant struggles with the Snake and other tribes, have been … Read more

Martha’s Vineyard Tribe

Martha’s Vineyard Indians. Martha’s Vineyard island, off the south coast of Massachusetts, was called by the Indians Nope, or Capawac. These may have been the names of tribes on the island and the smaller islands adjacent. The Indians thereon were subject to the Wampanoag and were very numerous at the period of the first settlement, but their dialect differed from those on the mainland. They seem not to have suffered by the great pestilence of 1617. In 1642 they were estimated at 1,500. The Mayhews carried on active missionary work among them and succeeded in bringing nearly all of them … Read more

Nauset Tribe

Nauset Indians. An Algonquian tribe formerly living in Massachusetts, on that part of Cape Cod east of Bass river, forming a part of or being under control of the Wampanoag. A writer says: “The Indians in the county of Barnstable were a distinct people, but they were subject in some respects to the chief sachem of the Wampanoags.” They probably came in contact with the whites at an early date, as the cape was frequently visited by navigators. From this tribe Hunt in 1614 carried off 7 natives and sold them into slavery with 20 Indians of Patuxet. Champlain had … Read more

Makah Tribe

Makah Indians (‘cape people’). The southern most tribe of the Wakashan stock, the only one within the United States. They belong to the Nootka branch. According to Swan the Makah claimed the the territory between Flattery rocks, 15 miles south, and Hoko ruver, 15 miles east of Cape Flattery, Washington, also Tatoosh island., near the cape. Their winter towns were Baada, Neah, Ozette, Tzues, and Waatch; their summer villages, Ahchawat, Kiddekub and Tatooche. Gibbs mentions another, called Kehsidatsoos. They now have two reservations, Makah and Ozette, Washington, on which, in 1905, there were respectively 399 and 36, a total of … Read more

Ute Tribe

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

Molala Tribe

Molala Indians. A Waiilatpuan tribe forming the western division of that family. Little is known of their history. When first met with they resided in the Cascade range between Mts. Hood and Scott and on the west slope, in Washington and Oregon. The Cayuse have a tradition that the Molala formerly dwelt with them south of Columbia river and became separated and driven westward in their wars with hostile tribes. Their dialect, while related, is quite distinct from that of the Cayuse, and the separation probably took place in remote times. The name Molala is derived from that of a … Read more

Yuchi Tribe

Ekilané - Yuchi Chief and Dance Leader

Yuchi Indians. A tribe coextensive with the Uchean family. Recent investigations point strongly to the conclusion that the Westo referred to by early Carolina explorers and settlers, and from whom Savannah river was originally named, were the Yuchi.

Yuchi Indian Tribe Clans

The political organization of the tribe, which has become more pronounced in type since its incorporation into the Creek Nation, is based on the town. This is made up of some 18 or 20 totemic, maternal, exogamic clans, the members of which trace their descent from the totem animal and have certain restrictions in regard to it. At an annual ceremony the clans perform propitiatory and reverential dances in honor of their totems. The Yuchi clans are as follows, the names in parentheses being the simplified forms of those recorded by Gatschet: Saggē’ (Sagi), Bear; Dałá (Tala), Wolf; WeryA°’ (Weyon), … Read more

Tuscarora Tribe

Tuscarora Indians, Tuscarora Nation (Skurū’rěn’, ‘hemp gatherers,’ the Apocynum cunnabinum, or Indian hemp, being a plant of many uses among the Carolina Tuscarora; the native form of this appellative is impersonal, there being no expressed pronominal affix to indicate person, number, or gender). Formerly an important confederation of tribes, speaking languages cognate with those of the Iroquoian linguistic group, and dwelling, when first encountered, on the Roanoke, Neuse, Taw (Torhunta or Narhontes), and Pamlico Rivers., North Carolina.

Tunica Tribe

Tunica Indians (ta, an article; uni, ‘people’; ka, nominal suflix.-Gatschet). A tribe, forming a distinct linguistic family known as Tonikan, formerly dwelling on the lower Mississippi. The Tunica are prominent in the early history of the lower Mississippi region because of their attachment to the French and the faithful service rendered them as allies in contests with neighboring tribes. When first visited they lived in Mississippi on lower Yazoo River. In 1699 La Source estimated the number of their cabins at about 260, scattered over 4 leagues of country. He states that they lived entirely on Indian corn and did … Read more

Tonkawa Tribe

Portrait of John Williams a Tonkawa Indian 1898 Wellcome

Tonkawa Indians. A prominent tribe, forming the Tonkawan linguistic family, which, during most of the 18th and 19th centuries, lived in central Texas. According to Gatschet they call themselves Titskan wátitch, while the name Tonkawa is a Waco word, Tonkawéya meaning ‘they all stay together.’

Yojuane Tribe

Yojuane Indians. A Tonkawan tribe of northern and central Texas, frequently mentioned in 18th century Spanish records. Since their general history, customs, and ethnological relations are outlined under Tonkawa, only a few characteristic facts concerning them need be given here. The Yojuane and Tonkawa tribes were unmistakably mentioned in 1691 by Francisco de Jesus Maria as the “DiuJuan” and the “Tanqua ay,” among the enemies of the Hasínai. It is probable that the Ayennis, spoken of in 1698 by Talon, and the Yakwal (‘drifted ones’) remembered, according to Gatschet, in Tonkawa tradition, were the Yojuane. That the Joyvan met by … Read more

Timucuan Indians

Timucuan Family, Timucuan People, Timucuan Nation. A group of cognate tribes formerly occupying the greater part of North Florida, extending along the east coast from about lat. 28°, below Cape Canaveral, to above the mouth of St John river, and along the west coast probably from Tampa bay northward to about Ocilla river, where they met the Apalachee, of Muskhogean stock. The Hitchiti and Yamasee, also Muskhogean, appear to have occupied their north frontier nearly on the present state boundary but the Timucua held both banks of St Marys river and Cumberland island south of lat. 28° the west coast … Read more