Part 29

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Chinantecs.

See below: ZAPOTECS, ETC.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Chinookan Family.

"The banks of the Columbia, from the Grand Dalles to its mouth, belong to the two branches of the Tsinuk [or Chinook] nation, which meet in the neighborhood of the Kowlitz River, and of which an almost nominal remnant is left. … The position of the Tsinuk previous to their depopulation was, as at once appears, most important, occupying both sides of the great artery of Oregon for a distance of 200 miles, they possessed the principal thoroughfare between the interior and the ocean, boundless resources of provisions of various kinds, and facilities for trade almost unequalled on the Pacific."

_G. Gibbs, Tribes of West Washington and N. W. Oregon (Contributions to North American Ethnology, volume 1), page 164._

See, also, below: FLATHEADS.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Chippewas.

See below: OJIBWAS; and above: ALGONQUIAN FAMILY.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Chippewyans.

See below: ATHAPASCAN FAMILY.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Choctaws.

See below: MUSKHOGEAN FAMILY.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Chontals and Popolocas.

"According to the census of 1880 there were 31,000 Indians in Mexico belonging to the Familia Chontal. No such family exists. The word 'chontalli' in the Nahuatl language means simply 'stranger,' and was applied by the Nahuas to any people other than their own. According to the Mexican statistics, the Chontals are found in the states of Mexico, Puebla, Oaxaca, Guerrero, Tabasco, Guatemala and Nicaragua. A similar term is 'popoloca,' which in Nahuatl means a coarse fellow, one speaking badly, that is, broken Nahuatl. The Popolocas have also been erected into an ethnic entity by some ethnographers, with as little justice as the Chontallis. They are stated to have lived in the provinces of Puebla, Oaxaca, Vera Cruz, Mechoacan and Guatemala."

_D. G. Brinton, The American Race, pages 146-153._

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Chontaquiros.

See above: ANDESIANS.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Chumashan Family.

"Derivation: From Chumash, the name of the Santa Rosa Islanders. The several dialects of this family have long been known under the group or family name, 'Santa Barbara,' which seems first to have been used in a comprehensive sense by Latham in 1856, who included under it three languages, viz.: Santa Barbara, Santa Inez, and San Luis Obispo. The term has no special pertinence as a family designation, except from the fact that the Santa Barbara Mission, around which one of the dialects of the family was spoken, is perhaps more widely known than any of the others."

_J. W. Powell, Seventh Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, page 67._

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Cliff-dwellers.

See AMERICA: PREHISTORIC.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Coahuiltecan Family.

"Derivation: From the name of the Mexican State Coahuila. This family appears to have included numerous tribes in southwestern Texas and in Mexico. … A few Indians still survive who speak one of the dialects of this family, and in 1886 Mr. Gatschet collected vocabularies of two tribes, the Comecrudo and Cotoname, who live on the Rio Grande, at Las Prietas, State of Tamaulipas."

_J. W. Powell, Seventh Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, page 68._

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Coajiro, or Guajira.

"An exceptional position is taken, in many respects, by the Coajiro, or Guajira, who live on the peninsula of the same name on the northwestern boundary of Venezuela. Bounded on all sides by so-called civilized peoples, this Indian tribe is known to have maintained its independence, and acquired the well-deserved reputation for cruelty, a tribe which, in many respects, can be classed with the Apaches and Comanches of New Mexico, the Araucanians of Chili, and the Guaycara and Guarani on the Parana. The Coajiro are mostly large, with chestnut-brown complexion and black, sleek hair. While all the other coast tribes have adopted the Spanish language, the Coajiro have preserved their own speech. They are the especial foes of the other peoples. No one is given entrance into their land, and they live with their neighbors, the Venezuelans, in constant hostilities. They have fine horses, which they know how to ride excellently. … They have numerous herds of cattle. … They follow agriculture a little."

_The Standard Natural History (J. S. Kingsley, editor), volume 6, page 243._

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Cochibo.

See above: ANDESIANS.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Cochiquima.

See above: ANDESIANS.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Coco Group.

See below: GUCK OR COCO GROUP.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Coconoons.

See below: MARIPOSAN FAMILY.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Cofan.

See above: ANDESIANS.

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AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Collas.

See PERU.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Comanches.

See below: SHOSHONEAN FAMILY, and KIOWAN FAMILY; and above: APACHE GROUP.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Conestogas.

See below: SUSQUEHANNAS.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Conibo.

See above: ANDESIANS.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Conoys.

See above: ALGONQUIAN FAMILY.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Copehan Family.

"The territory of the Copehan family is bounded on the north by Mount Shasta and the territory of the Sastean and Lutuamian families, on the east by the territory of the Palaihnihan, Yanan, and Punjunan families, and on the south by the bays of San Pablo and Suisun and the lower waters of the Sacramento."

_J. W. Powell, Seventh Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, page 69._

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Costanoan Family.

"Derivation: From the Spanish costano, 'coast-men.' Under this group name Latham included five tribes … which were under the supervision of the Mission Dolores. … The territory of the Costanoan family extends from the Golden Gate to a point near the southern end of Monterey Bay. … The surviving Indians of the once populous tribes of this family are now scattered over several counties and probably do not number, all told, over 30 individuals, as was ascertained by Mr. Henshaw in 1888. Most of these are to be found near the towns of Santa Cruz and Monterey."

_J. W. Powell, Seventh Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, page 71._

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Creek Confederacy, Creek Wars.

See below: MUSKHOGEAN FAMILY; also UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1813-1814 (AUGUST-APRIL); and FLORIDA: A. D. 1816-1818.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Crees.

See above: ALGONQUIAN FAMILY.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Croatans.

See AMERICA: A. D. 1587-1590.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Crows (Upsarokas, or Absarokas).

See below: SIOUAN FAMILY.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Cuatos.

See below: PAMPAS TRIBES.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Cunimaré.

See below: GUCK OR COCO GROUP.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Cuyriri or Kiriri.

See below: GUCK on Coco GROUP.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Dakotas, or Dacotahs, or Dahcotas.

See below: SIOUAN FAMILY and PAWNEE (CADDOAN) FAMILY.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Delawares, or Lenape.

"The proper name of the Delaware Indians was and is Lenapé (a as in father, é as a in mate). … The Lenape were divided into three sub-tribes: 1. The Minsi, Monseys, Montheys, Munsees, or Minisinks. 2. The Unami or Wonameys. 3. The Unalachtigo. No explanation of these designations will be found in Heckewelder or the older writers. From investigations among living Delawares, carried out at my request by Mr. Horatio Hale, it is evident that they are wholly geographical, and refer to the location of these sub-tribes on the Delaware river. … The Minsi lived in the mountainous region at the head waters of the Delaware, above the Forks or junction of the Lehigh river. … The Unamis' territory on the right bank of the Delaware river extended from the Lehigh Valley southward. It was with them and their southern neighbors, the Unalachtigos, that Penn dealt for the land ceded to him in the Indian deed of 1682. The Minsis did not take part in the transaction, and it was not until 1737 that the Colonial authorities treated directly with the latter for the cession of their territory. The Unalachtigo or Turkey totem had its principal seat on the affluents of the Delawares near where Wilmington now stands."

_D. G. Brinton, The Lenape and Their Legends, chapter 3._

"At the … time when William Penn landed in Pennsylvania, the Delawares had been subjugated and made women by the Five Nations. It is well known that, according to that Indian mode of expression, the Delawares were henceforth prohibited from making war, and placed under the sovereignty of the conquerors, who did not even allow sales of land, in the actual possession of the Delawares, to be valid without their approbation. William Penn, his descendants, and the State of Pennsylvania, accordingly, always purchased the right of possession from the Delawares, and that of Sovereignty from the Five Nations. … The use of arms, though from very different causes, was equally prohibited to the Delawares and to the Quakers. Thus the colonization of Pennsylvania and of West New Jersey by the British, commenced under the most favorable auspices. Peace and the utmost harmony prevailed for more than sixty years between the whites and the Indians; for these were for the first time treated, not only justly, but kindly, by the colonists. But, however gradually and peaceably their lands might have been purchased, the Delawares found themselves at last in the same situation as all the other Indians, without lands of their own, and therefore without means of subsistence. They were compelled to seek refuge on the waters of the Susquehanna, as tenants at will, on lands belonging to their hated conquerors, the Five Nations. Even there and on the Juniata they were encroached upon. … Under those circumstances, many of the Delawares determined to remove west of the Alleghany Mountains, and, about the year 1740-50, obtained from their ancient allies and uncles, the Wyandots, the grant of a derelict tract of land lying principally on the Muskingum. The great body of the nation was still attached to Pennsylvania. But the grounds of complaint increased. The Delawares were encouraged by the western tribes, and by the French, to shake off the yoke of the Six Nations, and to join in the war against their allies, the British. The frontier settlements of Pennsylvania were accordingly attacked both by the Delawares and the Shawnoes. And, although peace was made with them at Easton in in 1758, and the conquest of Canada put an end to the general war, both the Shawnoes and Delawares removed altogether in 1768 beyond the Alleghany Mountains. … The years 1765-1795 are the true period of the power and importance of the Delawares. United with the Shawnoes, who were settled on the Scioto, they sustained during the Seven Years' War the declining power of France, and arrested for some years the progress of the British and American arms. Although a portion of the nation adhered to the Americans during the War of Independence, the main body, together with all the western nations made common cause with the British. And, after the short truce which followed the treaty of 1783, they were again at the head of the western confederacy in their last struggle for independence. Placed by their geographical situation in the front of battle, they were, during those three wars, the aggressors, and, to the last moment, the most active and formidable enemies of America. The decisive victory of General Wayne (1794), dissolved the confederacy; and the Delawares were the greatest sufferers by the treaty of Greenville of 1795." {86} After this, the greater part of the Delawares were settled on White River, Indiana, "till the year 1819, when they finally ceded their claim to the United States. Those residing there were then reduced to about 800 souls. A number … had previously removed to Canada; and it is difficult to ascertain the situation or numbers of the residue at this time [1836]. Those who have lately removed west of the Mississippi are, in an estimate of the War Department, computed at 400 souls. Former emigrations to that quarter had however taken place, and several small dispersed bands are, it is believed, united with the Senecas and some other tribes."

_A. Gallatin, Synopsis of the Indian Tribes (Archæologia Americana, volume 2), introduction, section 2._

See, above: ALGONQUIAN FAMILY: below: SHAWANESE, and PAWNEE (CADDOAN) FAMILY. Also, PONTIAC'S WAR; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1765-1768; and MORAVIAN BRETHREN; and, for an account of "Lord Dunmore's War," see Ohio (VALLEY): A. D. 1774.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Eries.

See below: HURONS, &c., and IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY: THEIR CONQUESTS, &c.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Eskimauan Family.

"Save a slight inter-mixture of European settlers, the Eskimo are the only inhabitants of the shores of Arctic America, and of both sides of Davis Strait and Baffin Bay, including Greenland, as well as a tract of about 400 miles on the Behring Strait coast of Asia. Southward they extend as far as about 50° North latitude on the eastern side, 60° on the western side of America, and from 55° to 60° on the shores of Hudson Bay. Only on the west the Eskimo near their frontier are interrupted on two small spots of the coast by the Indians, named Kennayans and Ugalenzes, who have there advanced to the sea-shore for the sake of fishing. These coasts of Arctic America, of course, also comprise all the surrounding islands. Of these, the Aleutian Islands form an exceptional group; the inhabitants of these on the one hand distinctly differing from the coast people here mentioned, while on the other they show a closer relationship to the Eskimo than any other nation. The Aleutians, therefore, may be considered as only an abnormal branch of the Eskimo nation. … As regards their northern limits, the Eskimo people, or at least remains of their habitations, have been found nearly as far north as any Arctic explorers have hitherto advanced: and very possibly bands of them may live still farther to the north, as yet quite unknown to us. … On comparing the Eskimo with the neighbouring nations, their physical complexion certainly seems to point at an Asiatic origin; but, as far as we know, the latest investigations have also shown a transitional link to exist between the Eskimo and the other American nations, which would sufficiently indicate the possibility of a common origin from the same continent. As to their mode of life, the Eskimo decidedly resemble their American neighbours. … With regard to their language, the Eskimo also appear akin to the American nations in regard to its decidedly polysynthetic structure. Here, however, on the other hand, we meet with some very remarkable similarities between the Eskimo idiom and the language of Siberia, belonging to the Altaic or Finnish group. … According to the Sagas of the Icelanders, they were already met with on the east coast of Greenland about the year 1000, and almost at the same time on the east coast of the American continent. … Between the years 1000 and 1300 they do not seem to have occupied the land south of 65° North L. on the west coast of Greenland, where the Scandinavian colonies were then situated. But the colonists seem to have been aware of their existence in higher latitudes, and to have lived in fear of an attack by them, since, in the year 1266, an expedition was sent out for the purpose of exploring the abodes of the Skrælings, as they were called by the colonists. … About the year 1450, the last accounts were received from the colonies, and the way to Greenland was entirely forgotten in the mother country. … The features of the natives in the Southern part of Greenland indicate a mixed descent from the Scandinavians and Eskimo, the former, however, not having left the slightest sign of any influence on the nationality or culture of the present natives. In the year 1585, Greenland was discovered anew by John Davis, and found inhabited exclusively by Eskimo."

_H. Rink, Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo, introduction and chapter 6._

_H. Rink, The Eskimo tribes._

"In 1869, I proposed for the Aleuts and people of Innuit stock collectively the term Orarians, as indicative of their coastwise distribution, and as supplying the need of a general term to designate a very well-defined race. …The Orarians are divided into two well-marked groups, namely the Innuits, comprising all the so-called Eskimo and Tuskis, and the Aleuts."

_W. H. Dall, Tribes of the Extreme Northwest (Contributed to North American Ethnology, volume 1), part 1._

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Esselenian Family.

"The present family was included by Latham in the heterogeneous group called by him Salinas. … The term Salinan [is now] restricted to the San Antonio and San Miguel languages, leaving the present family … [to be] called Esselenian, from the name of the single tribe Esselen, of which it is composed. … The tribe or tribes composing this family occupied a narrow strip of the California coast from Monterey Bay south to the vicinity of the Santa Lucia Mountain, a distance of about 50 miles."

_J. W. Powell, Seventh Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, pages 75-76._

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Etchemins.

See above: ALGONQUIAN FAMILY.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Eurocs, or Yuroks.

See below: MODOCS, &c.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Five Nations.

See below: IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Flatheads (Salishan Family).

See Note, Appendix E.

"The name Flathead was commonly given to the Choctaws, though, says Du Pratz, he saw no reason why they should be so distinguished, when the practice of flattening the head was so general. And in the enumeration just cited [Documentary Hist. of New York, volume 1, page 24] the next paragraph. … is: 'The Flatheads, Cherakis, Chicachas, and Totiris are included under the name of Flatheads by the Iroquois."

_M. F. Force, Some Early Notices of the Indians of Ohio, page 32._

"The Salish … are distinctively known as Flatheads, though the custom of deforming the cranium is not confined to them."

_D. G. Brinton, The American Race, page 107._

"In … early times the hunters and trappers could not discover why the Blackfeet and Flatheads [of Montana] received their respective designations, for the feet of the former are no more inclined to sable than any other part of the body, while the heads of the latter possess their fair proportion of rotundity. Indeed it is only below the falls and rapids that real Flatheads appear, and at the mouth of the Columbia that they flourish most supernaturally. The tribes who practice the custom of flattening the head, and who lived at the mouth of the Columbia, differed little from each other in laws, manners or customs, and were composed of the Cathlamahs, Killmucks, Clatsops, Chinooks and Chilts. The abominable custom of flattening their heads prevails among them all."

_P. Ronan, Historical Sketch of the Flathead Indian Nation, page 17._

In Major Powell's linguistic classification, the "Salishan Family" (Flathead) is given a distinct place.

_J. W. Powell, Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, page 102._

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AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Fox Indians.

See above: ALGONQUIAN FAMILY, and below, SACS, &c.

For an account of the massacre of Fox Indians at Detroit in 1712,

See CANADA (NEW FRANCE): A. D. 1711-1713.

For an account of the Black Hawk War,

See Illinois: A. D. 1832.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Fuegians.

See below: PATAGONIANS.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Gausarapos or Guuchies.

See below: PAMPAS TRIBES.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Ges Tribes.

See below: TUPI. GUARANI. TUPUYAS.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Gros Ventres (Minnetaree; Hidatsa).

See Note, Appendix E. See below: HIDATSA; also, above: ALGONQUIAN FAMILY.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Guaicarus.

See below: PAMPAS TRIBES.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Guajira.

See above: COAJIRO.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Guanas.

See below: PAMPAS TRIBES.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Guarani.

See below: TUPI.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Guayanas.

See below: PAMPAS TRIBES.

AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Guck or Coco Group.