Native American

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

Paiute Tribe

Paiute Indians. A term involved in great confusion. In common usage it has been applied at one time or another to most of the Shoshonean tribes of west Utah, northern Arizona, southern Idaho, eastern Oregon, Nevada, and eastern and southern California. The generally accepted idea is that the term originated from the word pah, ‘water,’ and Ute, hence ‘water Ute’ ; or from pai, ‘true,’ and Ute – ‘true Ute’; but neither of these interpretations is satisfactory. Powell states that the name properly belongs exclusively to the Corn Creek tribe of south west Utah, but has been extended to include … Read more

Ottawa Indian Chiefs and Leaders

The following were chiefs or leaders of the Ottawa Indians. Pontiac An Ottawa chief, born about 1720, probably on Maumee river, Ohio, about the mouth of the Auglaize. Though his paternity is not positively established, it is most likely that his father was an Ottawa chief and his mother a Chippewa woman. J. Wimer says that as early as 1746 he commanded the Indians, mostly Ottawa, who defended Detroit against the attack of the northern tribes. It is supposed he led the Ottawa and Chippewa warriors at Braddock’s defeat. He first appears prominently in history at his meeting with Maj. Robert Rogers, in … Read more

Ottawa Indian Divisions

In the latter part of the 17th century the Ottawa tribe consisted of 4, possibly 5, divisions. It is repeatedly stated that there were 4 bands, and no greater number is ever mentioned, yet 5 names are given, as follows: Kishkakon Sinago Keinouche Nassauaketon Sable La Mothe Cadillac says there were 4 bands : Kiskakon Sinago Sable Nassauaketon Outaoutiboy, chief of the Ottawa, speaking at the conference with Gov. de Callidres, Sept. 3, 1700, said: “I speak in the name of the four Outaouais nations, to wit: The Outaouaes of the Sable, the Outaouaes Sinago, the Kiskakons, and the people … Read more

Ottawa Tribe

Ottawa Indians, Ottawa First Nation, Ottawa Nation, Ottawa People (from ǎdāwe, ‘to trade’, `to buy and sell,’ a term common to the Cree, Algonkin, Nipissing, Montagnais, Ottawa, and Chippewa, and applied to the Ottawa because in early traditional times and also during the historic period they were noted among their neighbors as intertribal traders and barterers, dealing chiefly in cornmeal, sunflower oil, furs and skins, rugs or mats, tobacco, and medicinal roots and herbs). Ottawa Tribe History On French river, near its mouth, on Georgian bay, Champlain in 1615 met 300 men of a tribe which, he said, “we call … Read more

Otoe Tribe

Mission School for Omaha and Otoe

Otoe Tribe: An extensive resource for researching the facts, history, culture, genealogy, names, towns, treaties or ethnology of the Otoe Nation.

Osage Tribe

Osage Indians, Osage Nation (corruption by French traders of Wazhazhe, their own name). The most important southern Siouan tribe of the western division. Dorsey classed them, under the name Dhegiha, in one group with the Omaha, Ponca, Kansa, and Quapaw, with whom they are supposed to have originally constituted a single body living along the lower course of the Ohio river. Geographically speaking, the tribe consists of three bands: the Pahatsi or Great Osage, Utsehta or Little Osage, and Santsukhdhi or Arkansas band. These appear to be comparatively modern, however, and the Osage recognize three more closely amalgamated divisions which … Read more

Oneida Indian Chiefs and Leaders

Peter Otsiquette An Oneida chief who signed the treaty of 1788. He was a well educated man and had visited Lafayette in France, but returned to savage life. He was a member of the delegation of chiefs to Philadelphia in 1792, where he died and was buried with military honors. He is also called Peter Otzagert and Peter Jaquette. Elkanah Watson described him at the treaty of 1788. Peter Otsiequette, perhaps the same Indian, witnessed the Onondaga treaty of 1790. (w. 51. B.) Oneyana Alias Beech Tree. An Oneida Chief at the treaty of 1788, and called Peter Oneyana at the … Read more

Onondaga Tribe

Onondaga Indians, Onondaga Nation, Onondaga First Nation, Onondaga People (Onoñtǎ’´ge‘,’on, or on top of, the hill or mountain’). An important tribe of the Iroquois confederation, formerly living on the mountain, lake, and creek bearing their name, in the present Onondaga County, New York, and extending northward to Lake Ontario and southward perhaps to the waters of the Susquehanna. In the Iroquois councils they are known as Hodiseñnageta, ‘they (are) the name bearers.’ Their principal village, also the capital of the confederation, was called Onondaga, later Onondaga Castle; it was situated from before 1654 to 1681 on Indian hill, in the … Read more

Oneida Tribe

A tribe of the Iroquois confederation, formerly occupying the country south of Oneida Lake, Oneida county, N. Y., and latterly including the upper waters of the Susquehanna.

Omaha Tribe

The Village of the Omahas - Photograph by W. H. Jackson, 1871.

Omaha Tribe – Omaha Indians (‘those going against the wind or current’ ). One of the 5 tribes of the so called Dhegiha group of the Siouan family, the other 4 being the Kansa, Quapaw, Osage, and Ponca. Hale and Dorsey concluded from a study of the languages and traditions that, in the westward migration of the Dhegiha from their seat on Ohio and Wabash rivers after the separation, at least as early as 1500, of the Quapaw, who went down the Mississippi from the mouth of the Ohio, the Omaha branch moved up the great river, remaining awhile near … Read more

Nez Percé Indian War

Chief Joseph, took active measures of resistance of the treaty of 1855, and the Nez Percé war of 1877 resulted. This article is a brief history of that war.

Nez Perce Indian Research

Nez Percé Indians (‘pierced noses’) A term applied by the French to a number of tribes which practiced or were supposed to practice the custom of piercing the nose for the insertion of a piece of dentalium.  The term is now used exclusively to designate the main tribe of the Shahaptian family, who have not, however, so far as is known ever been given to the practice. Read more about the Nez Percé History. Nez Percé Indian Biography Nez Percé Indian Chiefs and Leaders Jackson Sundown Chief Joseph (hosted at Indigenous Peoples History) Chief Joseph – Leader of the Nez … Read more

Nez Percé Indian Chiefs and Leaders

Nez Perce Tribal Territory Map

The chiefs and leaders of the Nez Percé tribe that come down to us in history are the tales of two coins. They’re either known for their friendliness to the white race, who came to their land and conquered it away, or their known for their fierce battle skills as they viciously fought for their rights to hold their land. In the end, the names that follow and the biographies they reflect provide an illustrative look into the lives of the Nez Percé Indians.