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Atchatchakangouen - From their word meaning "crane," these
Indians
were a principal division of the Miami.
After hostilities with the Illinois
Indians, they moved west of the
Mississippi River, where they found more
conflict when they were attacked by the
Sioux. Moving
once again, they briefly settled near the Jesuit mission at Green Bay, before
making their way into
Illinois and Indiana with the rest of the
tribe.
Atfaiati -
Also known as the Tualatin, they were a band of the Kalapuya
tribe that
formerly inhabited the Tualatin Valley in northwest
Oregon. Though
they had a hunter-gather lifestyle, they also had permanent villages they
inhabited during the winter months. Little is known of their native
customs. White settlers began to invade their territory in the early 19th
century, and by 1842, their population had been much decreased by disease
to only about 600. By 1848, it had shrunk to only about 60 people. In
1855, the government negotiated a treaty with the larger Kalapuya group
that included the Atfalati
tribe, which
removed the Atfalati to the Grand Ronde
Indian Reservation at the foothills of the
Oregon Coast Range where they
lived with a variety of other tribes. By
the early 1900's they had further dwindled to only about 20 people.
 Athapascan
Family - The most widely distributed of all the
Indian linguistic families of North America, they formerly
extending over parts of the continent from the Arctic coast far into
north Mexico, from the Pacific Ocean to Hudson Bay at the north, and
from the Colorado River to the mouth of the Rio Grande at the south.
The languages which compose the Athapascan family are plainly related
to each other and, because of certain peculiarities, stand out from
the other American languages with considerable distinctness.
Phonetically they were rendered harsh and difficult for European ears
because of series of guttural sounds, use of tone, many continuants,
and frequent checks and aspirations. The name Athabaskan was assigned
by Albert Gallatin in his 1836 classification of the languages of
North America.
The wide differences in physical type and
culture and the differences in language point to a long separation of
the family, certainly covering many centuries. The Athabaskan family
is conventionally divided into three groups based largely on
geographic distribution: Northern Athabaskan, Pacific Coast Athabaskan,
and Southern Athabaskan. Northern Athabaskan was spoken in the
northern part of North America, particularly in Alaska and the Yukon
and included 31 languages. The Pacific Coast Athabaskan languages were
spoken in southern
Oregon and northern
California
and included seven different languages. The Southern Athabaskan
languages were spoken primarily in the Southwest, including including
Arizona,
New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Sonora, Mexico. These languages
were spoken by various groups of Apache and Navajo peoples.
Atikamek - The Atikamek are a small, traditional
tribe
that still
speaks their native language and lives off their ancestral land in Quebec,
Canada. Closely related to the
Cree and often discussed together,
the Atikamekw consider
themselves a distinct people and have their own First Nation with a
separate government from the Cree.
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Atquanachuke
- A
tribe or band that resided in New Jersey in the early in the
17th century. They were said to have lived on the seacoast beyond the
mountains northward from Chesapeake Bay, and spoke a language
different from that of the
Powhatan, Conestoga,
Tocwogh, and Cuscarawaoc.
Atsugewi - Of the Palainihan
language family, the Atsugewi were a small semi-sedentary
hunter-gatherer
tribe who lived in northern
California
near Mount Shasta. They are closely related to the
Achomawi and
consisted of two groups. Along with the
Achomawi, they were
estimated to number some 3,000 people in 1770. However, they were
devastated by the settlers flocking to their territory during the
California Gold Rush. By 1910, the combined
tribes were estimated to number only
about 1,100 people. Today, some of their descendants are members of
the Susanville Indian Rancheria in Lassen County,
California.
Aucocisco - The name of the territory
about Casco Bay and Presumpscot River, in the area now included in
Cumberland County, Maine. It was also sometimes applied to those
Abnaki Indians
by whom it was occupied. Since the section was settled at an early
date by the whites, the name soon dropped out of use as applied to the
Indians,
or rather it was changed to "Casco," but this was a mere local
designation, not a tribal distinction, as the
Indians
referred to were Abnaki. The proper form of the word is said to have
been Uh-kos-is-co, meaning crane or heron. These birds still frequent
the bay.
Avavares - A former
tribe of
Texas,
possibly Caddoan,
which lived "behind" the Quintole toward the interior, and to which
Cabeza de Vaca, in 1527-34, fled from the Mariames. Their language was
different from that of the Mariames, although they understood them.
They bartered bones, which the Mariames ground and used for food, and
also traded in bows. While staying with the Avavare,s Cabeza de Vaca
and his companion became noted for their successful treatment of the
sick. The people seem to have been kindly disposed and different in
habits from the coast tribes.
Avoyel - A small
tribe Natchez-speaking
band who called themselves Tamoucougoula. The word Avoyel is of French
derivation and means either "Flint People" or "the people of the
rocks." Said by French
explorers
to have numbered about 280 people in 1698, they began to decline. In
the 18th century they were said to have been one of the nations of the
Red River, having their villages near the mouth of that stream, within
what is now Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. They probably belonged to the Caddoan
family, the
tribe representing a group that had remained near the
ancient habitat of its kindred. The country occupied by the Avoyelles
was fertile and intersected by lakes and bayous. Living in villages,
they cultivated maize and vegetables, and practiced the arts common to
the tribes of the Gulf region. Nothing
definite is known of their beliefs and ceremonies. Like their
neighbors, they had come into possession of horses, which they bred,
and later they obtained cattle and horses. During the general
displacement of the tribes throughout
the Gulf states, which began in the 18th century, the Avoyel country
proved to be attractive. The Biloxi settled there and other
tribes entered and took possession.
The Avoyel mingled with the newcomers, but through the ravages of wars
and new diseases the
tribe was soon reduced in numbers. Before the
close of the century their villages and their tribal organization had
melted away. According to John Sibley, an
Indian agent, the
tribe had become reduced to two or three women
by 1805. Today, a non-profit organization called the Avoyel-Taensa
Tribe/Nation of Louisiana, Inc. exists in Marksville, Louisiana. There
is an Archeological period named after the Marksville site which dates
back between 1 and 400 A.D.. This period was when the mound building
was at it's peak.
Awani/Awanichi - A
division of the
Miwok
that were living in the Yosemite Valley in Mariposa County,
California.
The name applied by the natives of the Valley, was the principal village,
which by extension was given to the whole valley and its inhabitants, who
occupied it when snow permitted. The Awani had nine villages, containing
450 people, when the white settlers first came upon them.
Awatobi - A
former pueblo of the Hopi on a mesa about nine miles southeast of
Walpi,
Arizona.
It was one of the original villages of the province of Tusayan of the
early Spaniards and visited by several Spanish
explorers
in the 1500's. It became the seat of the Franciscan mission of San
Bernardino in 1629, under Father Porras, who was poisoned by the Hopi
in 1633; but the endeavor to Christianize the Hopi at this and other
pueblos was continued until 1680, when, in the Pueblo rebellion which
began in August, the Awatobi missionary, Father Figueroa, was
murdered. At this time the Awatobi people numbered 800. Henceforward
no Spanish priests were established among the Hopi, although in 1700,
Father Garaycoechea visited Awatobi, where he baptized 73 natives, but
was unsuccessful it his attempt to reestablish missions among them. In
November of the same year owing to the friendly feeling which the
Awatobi are said to have had for the Spanish friars, their kindred,
especially of Walpi and Mashongnovi, joined in an attack on Awatobi at
night, setting fire to the pueblo, killing many of its inhabitants,
including all the men, and carrying off women and children to the
other pueblos, chiefly to Mashongnovi, Walpi and Oraibi. Awatobi was
never again inhabited.
Compiled and
edited by
Kathy Weiser/Legends
of America, January, 2011.
Continued
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