Native American

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

Peoria Tribe

Peoria Indians (through French Peouarea, from Peoria Piwarea, ‘he comes carrying a pack on his back’: a personal name. Gerard). One of the principal tribes of the Illinois confederacy. Franquelin in his map of 1688 locates them and the Tapouaro on a river west of the Mississippi above the mouth of Wisconsin River, probably the upper Iowa River. Early references to the Illinois which place them on the Mississippi, although some of the tribes were on Rock and Illinois rivers, must relate to the Peoria and locate them near the mouth of the Wisconsin. When Marquette and Joliet descended the … Read more

Huron Tribe

Encampment among the Islands of Lake Huron

Commonly known as the Huron Tribe, Huron Indians, Huron People, Huron First Nation, Wyandot Tribe, and Wyandot Indians (Huron – lexically from French huré, bristly,’ ‘bristled,’ from hure, rough hair’ (of the head), head of man or beast, wild boar’s head; old French, ‘muzzle of the wolf, lion,’ etc., ‘the scalp,’ ‘a wig’; Norman French, huré, ‘rugged’; Roumanian, hurée, ‘rough earth,’ and the suffix –on, expressive of depreciation and employed to form nouns referring to persons). The name Huron, frequently with an added epithet, like vilain, ‘base,’ was in use in France as early as 1358 as a name expressive … Read more

Erie Tribe

A populous sedentary Iroquoian tribe, inhabiting in the 17th century the territory extending south from Lake Erie probably to Ohio river, east to the lands of the Conestoga along the east watershed of Allegheny river and to those of the Seneca along the line of the west watershed of Genesee river, and north to those of the Neutral Nation, probably on a line running eastward from the head of Niagara river (for the Jesuit Relation for 1640-41 says that the territory of the Erie and their allies joined that of the Neutral Nation at the end of Lake Erie), and west to the west watershed of Lake Erie and Miami river to Ohio river.

Huron Indian Chiefs and Leaders

Donacona Donacona. A Huron chief found by Jacques Cartier, in 1535, residing with his people at the junction of St Croix and St Lawrence rivers, Canada. Although Cartier was well received and kindly treated by this chief, he managed, partly by stratagem and partly by force, to convey the latter aboard his vessel and carry him to France where he soon died. Half King Half King (Petawontakas, Dunquad, Dunquat, Daunghquat; Delaware name, Pomoacan). A Huron chief of Sandusky, Ohio, who flourished during the latter part of the Revolutionary war. Under employment by the British he aided the Delawares in their … Read more

Hopi Indian Research

Hopi (contraction of Hópitu, ‘peaceful ones,’ or Hópitu-shínumu, ‘peaceful all people’: their own name). A body of Indians, speaking a Shoshonean dialect, occupying 6 pueblos on a reservation of 2,472,320 acres in north east Arizona. The name “Moqui,” or “Moki,” by which they have been popularly known, means ‘dead’ in their own language, but as a tribal name it is seemingly of alien origin and of undetermined signification—perhaps from the Keresan language (Mósi(cha in Laguna, Mo-ts in Acoma, Mótsi( in Sia, Cochiti, and San Felipe), whence Espejo’s “Mohace” and “Mohoce” (1583) and Oñate’s “Mohoqui (1598). Bandelier and Cushing believed the … Read more

Hopi Tribe

Hopi Indians (contraction of Hópitu, ‘peaceful ones,’ or Hópitu-shínumu, ‘peaceful all people’: their own name). A body of Indians, speaking a Shoshonean dialect, occupying 6 pueblos on a reservation of 2,472,320 acres in northeast Arizona. The name “Moqui,” or “Moki,” by which they have been popularly known, means ‘dead’ in their own language, but as a tribal name it is seemingly of alien origin and of undetermined signification – perhaps from the Keresan language (Mósǐcha in Laguna, Mo-ts in Acoma, Mótsǐ in Sia, Cochiti, and San Felipe), whence Espejo’s “Mohace” and “Mohoce” (1583) and Oñate’s “Mohoqui (1598). Bandelier and Cushing believed the Hopi country, the later province of Tusayan, to be identical with the Totonteac of Fray Marcos de Niza.

Hopi Archeology

Hopi archeology reveals a complex history of village construction and abandonment as different clans migrated across the Southwest, leaving behind numerous ruins, primarily in present-day Arizona and New Mexico. These sites extend from the Rio Colorado to the Rio Grande and include remains from diverse linguistic and cultural groups. Significant ruins like Awatobi, Sikyatki, and Walpi highlight the varied origins and artistic achievements of the Hopi people, who trace their heritage through these ancient settlements. Archaeological investigations by institutions like the Bureau of American Ethnology have explored many of these sites, offering insights into the intricate blending of cultures that shaped present-day Hopi society.

Hopi Characteristics and Customs

The Hopi people, known for their peaceful disposition, possess distinctive physical characteristics such as reddish-brown skin, high cheekbones, and straight or wavy hair, often styled according to age and gender. Their cultural practices reflect a strong sense of community, artistry, and industriousness. The Hopi are known for their craftsmanship in pottery, basketry, and weaving, and they are quick-witted, hospitable, and generally peaceable. Their social structure values monogamy, with strong marital fidelity and a rarity of crime. Children are raised with respect for their elders and a focus on industriousness and moral behavior. Traditional clothing varies by gender, with men typically wearing breechcloths, moccasins, and jewelry, while women don woven blankets, mantas, and intricate hair ornaments.

Indian Tribal Structure

Among the North American Indians a tribe is a body of persons who are bound together by ties of consanguinity and affinity and by certain esoteric ideas or concepts derived from their philosophy concerning the genesis and preservation of the environing cosmos, and who by means of these kinship ties are thus socially, politically, and religiously organized through a variety of ritualistic, governmental, and other institutions, and who dwell together occupying a definite territorial area, and who speak a common language or dialect. From a great variety of circumstances-climatic, topographic, and alimental-the social, political, and religious institutions of the tribes … Read more

Nanabozho

Nanabozho. The demiurge of the cosmologic traditions of the Algonquian tribes, known among the various peoples by several unrelated names, based on some marked characteristic or dominant function of this personage. Among these names are Jamurn, Kloskap (Gloskap), Manabozho, Messou, Michabo, Minahuzho, Misahos, Napiwa, Nenabozho, Wieska, Wisakedjak, and their dialectic variants.The etymologies proposed for these several names are must probably incorrect, wholly or in material parts. Nanabozho is apparently the impersonation of life, the active quickening power of life – of life manifested and embodied in the myriad forms of sentient and physical nature. He is therefore reputed to possess … Read more

Black-Indian History

The first black slaves were introduced into the New World (1501-03) ostensibly to labor in the place of the Indians, who showed themselves ill-suited to enforced tasks and moreover were being exterminated in the Spanish colonies. The Indian-black inter-mixture has proceeded on a larger scale in South America, but not a little has also taken place in various parts of the northern continent. Wood (New England’s Prospect, 77, 1634) tells how some Indians of Massachusetts in 1633, coming across a black in the top of a tree were frightened, surmising that; ‘he was Abamacho, or the devil.” Nevertheless, inter-mixture of … Read more

Indian Secret Societies

Societies or brotherhoods of a secret and usually sacred character existed among very many American tribes, among many more, doubtless, than those from which there is definite information. On the Plains the larger number of these were war societies, and they were graded in accordance with the age and attainments of the members. The Buffalo society was a very important body devoted to healing disease. The Omaha and Pawnee seem to have had a great number of societies, organized for all sorts of purposes. There were societies concerned with the religious mysteries, with the keeping of records, and with the … Read more

Indian Social Organization

North American tribes contained Subdivisions of a geographic or consanguineal character. Social and governmental classes or bodies, especially chiefs and councils, with particular powers and privileges. Fraternities of a religious or semi-religious character, the last of which are especially treated under ”secret societies. Tribes may be divided broadly into those in which the organization was loose, the subdivisions being families or bands and descent being counted prevailingly in the male line, and those which were divided into clearly defined groups called gentes or clans, which were strictly exogamic. Among the former may be placed the Eskimo; the eastern branch of … Read more

Indian Kinship

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The foundation of social organization, and hence of government, the tangible form of social organization, was originally the bond of real and, legal blood kinship. The recognition and perpetuation of the ties of blood kinship were the first important steps in the permanent social organization of society. Among the North American Indians kinship is primarily the relation subsisting between two or more persons whose blood is derived from common ancestors through lawful marriage. Persons between who in kinship subsists are called kin or kindred. Kinship may be lineal or collateral. By birth through the natural order of descent kindred are … Read more

Indian Land Tenure

The Indian conceived of the earth as mother, and as mother she provided food for her children. The words in the various languages which refer to the land as ” mother ” were used only in a sacred or religious sense. In this primitive and religious sense land was not regarded as property; it was like the air, it was something necessary tot he life of the race, and therefore not to be appropriated by any individual or group of individuals to the permanent exclusion of all others. Other words referring to the earth as “soil” to be used and … Read more