Native American Archives – Page 31 of 341

President James M. Taylor, Vassar College

President James M. Taylor, of Vassar College, was invited to speak. President Taylor. There is only one subject on which I can say a word tonight. I was struck by a remark made last night by Mr. Sherman in his interesting address regarding the difficulty in the way of proper reform in many directions, which we are pursuing in the Indian work on account of the treaties that have been made by us, or were made by our fathers with the various Indian tribes. Reference has been made to that subject by one of the speakers this afternoon. I am … Read more

Mrs. A. S. Quinton and the Women’s National Indian Association

Mrs. A. S. Quinton was invited to speak for the women of the country and their work for Indians. Mrs. A. S. Quinton, president of the Women’s National Indian Association. I can not speak for the women of the whole country, of course, but I have a message to this conference from the women of the Women’s National Indian Association, and I believe I speak for the women of the missionary societies of the churches. We all believe in what has been said in regard to land. We long for the destruction of the reservation system. We should be grateful … Read more

Rev. Egerton R. Young Speaks

Rev. Egerton R. Young was asked to speak five minutes Rev. E. R. Young, Toronto, Canada. We had a glorious camp meeting this summer among the Indians. I invited you to come, and I invite you again. There were about thirty white people there with us. When we heard of the news about your beloved President I was with the Indians, and more than a thousand of them fell on their knees while we prayed for his restoration. We were all filled with sorrow over the terrible news. We people of Canada have felt his death as a personal loss. … Read more

Mr. John Lolorias, a Papagos Indian Speaks

Fourth session, Thursday night, October 17. Mr. John Lolorias, an Indian student from Hampton, was invited to speak Mr. Lolorias. My being called on to speak before these great men and public speakers reminds me of a story. An old Indian was once invited to a prayer meeting, and the white men made him understand that they wanted him to pray. So the old Indian got up and said, “O, Lord, January, February; January, February,” and he kept on repeating those two names of the months till finally someone motioned to him to sit down. Then a white man said, … Read more

Natchez, Mobilians, Chatots, Thomez and Tensas

History of Alabama and incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi, from the earliest period

In 1718, the French West India Company sent, from Rochelle, eight hundred colonists to Louisiana. Among them was a Frenchman of intelligence and high standing, named Le Page Du Pratz, who was appointed superintendent of the public plantations. After a residence of sixteen years in this country, he returned to France, and published an interesting work upon Louisiana. 1721: Du Pratz was often at Mobile, and about the period found living, in that vicinity, a few small tribes of Indians, whom we will now describe. The Chatots were a very small tribe, who composed a town of forty huts, adjoining … Read more

Burial Customs of Southern Ohio

The origin and age of the earthworks of southern Ohio and the adjoining sections of Kentucky and West Virginia have remained unsolved questions. The works are remarkable for three reasons, namely, their size, number and forms. By their size and number it is quite evident they were erected by a sedentary people, a numerous people who occupied the country for a long period, and by their forms it is shown these same people possessed certain recognized customs and beliefs which caused them to erect the great circles and squares, octagons and other figures, so accurately and skillfully constructed. And so … Read more

Biloxi and Pascagoula Burial Customs

The “Siouan Tribes of the East,” whose burial customs so far as known are detailed on the preceding pages, were carefully studied some years ago, at which time all available notes were gathered and presented in a single volume. A few years before the preparation of this most interesting bulletin a discovery of the greatest importance was made by another member of the bureau staff, Mr. Gatschet, who, while engaged in Louisiana in 1886, discovered a small band of Biloxi, some of whom spoke their old language, which Gatschet soon found was Siouan. The Biloxi therefore belonged to the great … Read more

Santee Burial Customs

Siouan tribes extended southward into the central portions of the present State of South Carolina, and the Santee were undoubtedly members of this linguistic family. One of their villages probably stood on the shore of Scott Lake, in the valley of the Santee about 10 miles southwest of Summerton, Clarendon County. Here, near the shore of the lake, is a conical mound of earth, and scattered over the surrounding area are many fragments of pottery and other traces of an Indian settlement, but the surface has been modified by the waters of the Santee during periods of flood, and consequently … Read more

Monacan Burial Customs

During the autumn of the year 1608 a party of the colonists from Jamestown, led by Capt. Newport, ascended the James to the halls, the site of the present city of Richmond, and leaving their boats, continued westward “into the Land called the Monscane.” This was the territory of the Monacan, a Siouan people who were ever enemies of the Powhatan tribes of the tidewater region, which extends eastward front the line of the Falls to the Atlantic. Moving westward from the Falls the party discovered the Monacan villages of Massinacak and Mowhemenchouch. Although the eastern boundary of this tribal … Read more

Timucuan Burial Customs

Long before the Seminole reached central Florida the peninsula had been the home of other native tribes who have. left many mounds and other works to indicate the positions of their villages. The northern half of the peninsula, from the Ocilla River on the north to the vicinity of Tampa Bay on the south, and thence across to about Cape Canaveral on the Atlantic coast, was, when first visited by the Spaniards, the home of tribes belonging to the Timucuan family, of whom very little is known. They were encountered near the site of the present city of St. Augustine … Read more

Seminole Burial Customs

The Seminole, the immigrants from the Creek towns who settled in Florida during the eighteenth century, were little influenced by the whites until very recent years. Living as they did in the midst of the great swamps of the southern part of the peninsula, with no roads penetrating the tangle of semitropical vegetation, and with even the location of their settlements unknown to the occupants of other parts of Florida, they were never visited, and seldom seen except when they chose to make journeys to the traders near the coast. Consequently the burial customs of the people, as witnessed 40 … Read more

Creek Burial Customs

The Creeks had burial customs resembling those of the Chickasaw, and, in some instances, deposited the remains of their dead beneath the floors of their habitations. To quote from Bartram: ” The Muscogulges bury their deceased in the earth. They dig a four-square deep pit under the cabin or couch which the deceased lay on, in his house, lining the grave with Cypress bark, where they place the corpse in a sitting posture, as if it were alive; depositing with him his gun, tomahawk, pipe, and such other matters as he had the greatest value for in his life time.” … Read more

Chickasaw Burial Customs

The Chickasaw lived in the hilly country north of the Choctaw, and although of the same stock they were ever enemies. Many of their customs differed and instead of the elaborate burial ceremonies of the Choctaw, “They bury their dead almost the moment the breath is out of the body, in the very spot under the couch on which the deceased died, and the nearest relations woeful lamentations; the women are very vociferous in it, but the men do it in silence, taking great care not to be seen any more than heard at this business; the mourning continues about … Read more

Seneca Indian Village Site of Kanadesaga

From Canoga the warriors headed north to the Great Trail and then west to the City of Geneva. At Geneva, Mr. Robert Breed, a member of the Geneva Historical society and a friend of the Indian People, personally took the warriors to several ancient Seneca village sites and memorials among which were the following: At the White Springs Farm they visited the site of the main village of the Senecas known as Ganechtage. Here they saw the ancient Indian Springs known as The White Springs. This water supply was the reason for the location of this old village. As the … Read more

Iroquois Trails in Pennsylvania

Leaving To-ri-wa-wa-kon and the grave of Shikellamy, the Mohawks traveled up the great river Susquehanna until they arrived at Lewisburg. Here they visited an ancient Indian village site which was an earlier residence of the noted Oneida chief Shikellamy. Continuing still north up the river the warriors arrived at still another of Shikellamy’s towns. Here the great chief also resided, just south of the Village of Milton, Pennsylvania. From this village site the Mohawks traveled over a road that was once called, The Sheshequin Path. This ancient Iroquois trail was used by Conrad Weiser and Shikellamy on trips through this … Read more

An Account of the McGillivray Family, The Revolutionary War

War had now raged between the mother country and her colonies of North America for more than three years. It had become fierce and sanguinary along the Atlantic. But the people of West Florida, whose government was composed chiefly of military dependencies, had hitherto enjoyed peace. They were mostly loyal subjects of the King. But now, even in this remote region, the contest began to be felt. The Creek Indians were relied upon, mainly, by the British authorities, to harass the Whig inhabitants of Georgia and Carolina. They had stationed at Hickory Ground, the site of the lower suburbs of … Read more

The Cherokee Nation

It has been seen that De Soto passed over a portion of the country of these Indians in the territory which embraces Northern Georgia. The name Cherokee is derived from Chera, fire; and the Prophets of this nation were called Cherataghe, men of divine fire. The first that we hear of the Cherokees, after the Spanish invasion, is their connection with the early British settlers of Virginia. A powerful and extensive nation, they even had settlements upon the Appomattox River, and were allied by blood with the Powhattan tribe. The Virginians drove them from that place, and they retreated to … Read more

The Chickasaw Nation

The Chickasaws, although at the period of a small nation, were once numerous, and their language was spoken by many tribes in the Western States. They were the fiercest, most insolent, haughty and cruel people among the Southern Indians. They had proved their bravery and intrepidity in constant wars. In 1541, they attacked the camp of De Soto in a most furious midnight assault, threw his army into dismay, killed some of his soldiers, destroyed all his baggage, and burnt up the town in which he was quartered. In 1736, they whipped the French under Bienville, who had invaded their … Read more

The Choctaw Nation

It is scarcely necessary to remind the reader that the Chickasaws were living in the upper part of Mississippi when De Soto invaded it, and that they fought him with great courage. Now, as to the Choctaws, according to tradition, came with them into this country, and were a portion of the same family; it is reasonable to suppose that the Pafallayas, the brave allies of Tuscaloosa, were the Choctaws— especially when taken in connection with the collateral evidence in our possession. Period unknown: The tradition of the migration of the Chickasaws and Choctaws from the Mexican empire has been preserved … Read more

The Creek Nation

The Creek woman was short in stature, but well formed. Her cheeks were rather high, but her features were generally regular and pretty. Her brow was high and arched, her eyes large, black and languishing, expressive of modesty and diffidence. Her feet and hands were small, and the latter exquisitely shaped. 1780: The warrior was larger than the ordinary race of Europeans, often above six feet in height, but was invariably well formed, erect in his carriage, and graceful in every movement. They were proud, haughty and arrogant; brave and valiant in war; ambitious of conquest; restless, and perpetually exercising … Read more