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Wabanaki - The
Wabanaki
Confederacy was a powerful alliance of east-coast
Indian tribes.
Waccamaw -
One of the small tribes formerly dwelling on the Lower Pedee and
its branches in South Carolina and the adjacent border of North
Carolina. Nothing is known of their language, and very little else
concerning them, as they were never prominent in history. Their
associations indicate that they were Siouan. Their habitat was along
Waccamaw river, which enters the Pedee from the north almost at its
mouth. They were mentioned first in 1715 as living near the Winyaw,
both tribes receiving ammunition from the Cheraw, who attempted to
gain them as allies of the Yamasee and other tribes against the
English. At this time they were living in 6 villages with a population
of 610. In 1755 the
Cherokee and Notchee were reported to have
killed some Pedee and Waccamaw in the white settlements. Like the
Pedee, Cheraw, and other tribes of that region, they probably finally
incorporated with the Catawba.
Waco - A
division of the Tawakoni people, the Waco originally lived on the
Southern Plains of northeastern Texas. In 1830, their main
village stood on the site of the present
city of Waco, Texas. According to Stephen F. Austin, In about 1824,
the main Waco village consisted of 33 grass houses, occupying about 40
acres, and inhabited by about 100 men. Half a mile below was another
village of 15 houses, built close together. The Waco were then
cultivating about 200 acres of corn, enclosed with brush fences.
Speaking a Caddoan language, they
lived in beehive-shaped houses, with pole supports, typically covered
with rushes, but sometimes buffalo hides. The houses stood 20 to 25
feet tall. Besides corn, they also grew beans, melons, peach trees,
and pumpkins. The Waco were included in the
treaties made between the United States and the Wichita in 1835 and
1846, and also in 1872, when their reservation in the present Oklahoma
was established. In 1902 they received allotments of land and became
citizens. Today, many of their descendants are
members of the federally recognized
Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, headquartered in Anadarko, Oklahoma
Wailaki - An Athapascan tribe or group of
many villages formerly located on the main Eel River and its north
fork from Kekawaka Creek to within a few miles of Round Valley,
California. After some fighting with the whites they were placed on
the Round Valley Reservation, where some of them still reside. Their
houses were circular. They had no canoes, but crossed streams by
weighting themselves down with stones while they waded. They lived by
the river during the wet months of the year, when their chief
occupation was fishing, done at especially favorable places by means
of nets and spears. The summer and fall months were spent on the sides
and tops of the ridges, where the women were able to gather the bulbs,
seeds, and nuts, and the men could unite in deer drives and other
methods of hunting. They usually buried their dead, but burned those
who fell in battle. They took the whole heads of their enemies as
trophies, with which they were accustomed to dance. Like the Yuki, the
women tattooed their noses, cheeks, and chins. An adolescent ceremony
was held for the girls, and most of the boys were trained with the
candidates for medicine-men, who were restricted as to their food,
drink, and sleep for many days. Public exhibitions, consisting in part
of dancing, were given by the candidates. Large conical dance houses
were erected occasionally, and dedicated with ceremonies of dancing
and singing; such were important occasions of mingled social and
religious character. Many descendants live on the Grindstone Indian
Rancheria of Wintun-Wailaki Indians in Elk Creek, California, as well
as the Round Valley Reservation in Covelo, California.
Walapai - See
Hualupai
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Walla
Walla
- A Shahaptian tribe formerly, they formerly lived on lower
the Walla Walla
River and along the east bank of the Columbia River from the Snake River nearly
to the Umatilla in
Washington and
Oregon. There name translates to
"Little River." While a distinct dialect, their language is closely
related to the Nez Perce. Their number was estimated by
Lewis and Clark as 1,600 in 1805, but, it is certain this figure included other
bands now recognized as independent. By treaty of 1855 they were
removed to the Umatilla Reservation in
Oregon, where many of them
still live today. In the Wasco treaty of 1855, by which the Warm
Springs Reservation was established, a number of Shahaptian tribes or
bands were mentioned as divisions of the Walla Walla which had no real
connection with that tribe. The Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla
Indian Reservation, located near of Pendleton,
Oregon is today
home to not only the Walla Walla, but also the Cayuse and the
Umatilla
tribes.
Wampanoag
-
The Wampanoag people were original natives of Massachusetts and Rhode
Island, and it was Wampanoag people who befriended the pilgrims at
Plymouth Rock and brought them corn and turkey for the famous first
Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, the relationship went downhill from
there, and disease and British attacks killed most of the Wampanoag
people. Today about 300 Wampanoag people live on a small reservation
on Martha's Vineyard, which belongs to them and is under their
control. However, the US government still considers them citizens and
controls some of their decisions. Other people of Wampanoag descent
live in communities within Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Wanapan
Wappinger -
Originally the tribe was located on the east side of the Hudson River between the Bronx and
Rhinebeck extending east to the crest of the Taconic Mountains on the
border between New York and Connecticut. Except for a few small
groups, most Wappinger had left the lower Hudson Valley by 1760 and
settled in western Massachusetts with the Mahican at Stockbridge, the
Iroquois in New York, or the
Delaware
in Pennsylvania. Once numbering around 8.000 in 30 villagtes,
disease and warfare evenutually wiped out most of the tribe. One
possible group of Wappinger remain in northern New Jersey today -- the
Ramapough Mountain
Indians (Ramapo Mountain People). With 2,500 members, they have
state recognition but were denied federal status in 1993.
Wappo
Wasco
Washa
Washoe - An indigenous
Native
American people, the
Washoe originally
lived around Lake Tahoe and adjacent areas of the Great Basin.
Semi-sedentary hunters and gatherers, their tribe name means "people
from here.” Today, they are the federally recognized
Washoe
Tribe of
Nevada
and
California
with an approximate population of 2,000. More
...
Wateree
Watlala - Also called the Cascade
Indians, they were a Chinookian tribe who lived at the Cascades of the
Columbia River and the Willamette River in Oregon. In 1805-06 Lewis
and Clark estimated that they numbered about 2,800 and in 1870, along
with the Wasco, they had an estimated population of about 3,200. As
there were also other tribes who lived at or near the cascades and the
people were very changeable due to the location being a popular
fishing spot, it was impossible to identify them with certainty.
Several other known bands, which may have been the Watlala or later
have been included under them, included the Cathlakaheckit,
Cathlathlala, Cathlayackty, Clahclellah, Katlagakya, Yehuh. In 1829,
the Native Americans of the region suffered an epidemic which was
called "ague fever," of unknown nature, which killed in a single
summer, some four-fifths of the population. Whole villages disappeared
and those that were left were consolidated. After the epidemic, the
Watlala seemed to have been the only remaining tribe, the remnants of
the others having probably united under that name, though they were
commonly called Cascade Indians by the whites. In 1854 they were
reported to number only 80 people, and in 1855 they joined in the
Wasco Treaty under the name of the "Ki-gal-twal-la band of the Wascoes"
and the "Dog River band of the Wasco," and were removed to the Warm
Springs Reservaton in Oregon. Afterwards, they were no longer
enumerated separately and of those that didn't join the Wasco, were
thought to have joined the Wishram tribe.
Wauyukma
Waxhaw
Wenrohronon
Wea - The name
Wea is a shortened version of the many recorded names, such Wawaagtenang, "place of the round, or
curved, channel", or Waayaahtanonki,
"place of the whirlpool," and others indicating where they were first
seen by the Europeans. A sub-tribe of the Miami
Indians, they were first mentioned in Jesuit relations in 1673 as
living in east Wisconsin. However, they were later said to have
occupied land in Indiana. They also had villages in Illinois and Ohio.
In 1757, the Wea had alligned themselves with the
Piankashaw and were
trying to come into friendly relations with the
whites. Subsequently, various agreements of peace with other tribes
and the whites were entered into,
which in 1854 lead to a treaty that confederated the Wea with the
Kaskaskia,
Peoria,
and
Piankashaw
tribes. They were then moved to
Kansas
before again being force to move to
Oklahoma, becoming the Peoria
Tribe of
Oklahoma. However, not all of the Wea people moved with the
rest, remaining in Indiana. Today, the Wea Tribe of Indiana is a
state recognized tribe located in Clinton,
Indiana.
Weanoc
Weapemeoc
Wenatchee - See Yakama
Whilkut
Wichita - A Caddoan speaking
people of
Kansas, the
Wichita lived in villages of grass huts resembling
haystacks. For most of the year their economy was based on farming, but
during the buffalo hunt they were nomadic and lived in teepees. They were
fond of tattoos, and called themselves Kitikiti'sh, "Raccoon-Eyed," after
a popular tattoo pattern. After a defeat at the hands of the Spanish in
1662, the Wichita moved south into
Oklahoma. In the mid-eighteenth
century, they also migrated to Texas under pressure from the
Osage. They
formed an alliance with the powerful Comanche nation, which held their
enemies in check. Today, the Wichita tribal lands are centered around Gracemont,
Oklahoma with their tribal headquarters in Anadarko,
Oklahoma.
More ...
Winnebago/Hotcagara - The Winnebago do not
remember a time when they did not live at Red Banks on the south shore of
Green Bay. Their clothing was fringed buckskin, which the Winnebago
frequently decorated with beautiful designs created from porcupine quills,
feathers and beads - a skill for which they are still renown. Men
originally wore their hair in two long braids, but in time this changed to
the scalplock and roach headdress favored by the Algonquin. Body tattooing
was common to both sexes.
Wintu
Wintun
Winyaw
Wippanap
Wishram
Wiyot
- The Wiyot are original
people of Northern
California, where their surviving descendents
still live today along with Wiyot descendents live together with Yurok,
Hupa, Tolowa, and Mattole
Indians
on four rancheros. These
California
Indians
have partial control over the rancherias and each tribe has its own
government, laws, police, and other services. However, the US
government still considers the Wiyots citizens and controls some of their
decisions. Today, since the rancherias comprise
Indians
from several different tribes, they are ruled by tribal councils which
represent all the ethnicities of each rancheros.
Woccon
Wyandot
Wynoochee
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