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Hualupai,
aka: Walapai - The
Hualapai, meaning
"People of the Tall Pine," have lived along the Colorado and the Grand
Canyon for centuries. The Hualapai are descendants of the "Pai," whose
earliest physical remains have been found along the Willow Beach bank near
the Hoover Dam, dating back as early as A.D. 600.
Traditional hunters and gatherers, they were
first discovered by Spanish explorers in the 1500's.
From 1865-1868, the
Hualapai were involved in the
Hualapai War, as a
result of encroaching settlers upon their lands.
The Hualapai Reservation was established by an
executive order in 1883, when the tribe numbered around 700.
Today, the Hualapai live on
a reservation encompassing a million acres along 108 miles of the Colorado
River and the Grand Canyon.
Their tribal capital is located at
Peach Springs, Arizona,
with a total population of some 1,600 members. Their economy is based on
tourism, river-rafting, cattle-ranching, hunting expeditions, and
timber-cutting, as well as crafting of traditional and modern folk arts.
Huron - Many people today do not realize that Huron and Wyandot are the
same people. Originally, more than a dozen Iroquoian-speaking tribes of
southern Ontario, they referred to themselves as Wendat meaning "island
people" or "dwellers on a peninsula." Rendered variously as: Guyandot,
Guyandotte, Ouendat, Wyandot, and Wyandotte. The French, however, called
members of a four-tribe confederacy Huron, a derogatory name derived from
their word "hure" meaning rough or ruffian. This has persisted as their
usual name in Canada.
lllinois - The destruction of the Illini after contact with white
settlers is one of the great tragedies in North American history. By the
time American settlements reached them during the early 1800s, the Illini
were nearly extinct and replaced by other tribes. For the most part, the
blame for this could not be placed on a war with the Europeans or the
Illini refusal to adapt themselves to a changing situation. Actually, few
tribes had adapted as much or attached themselves more closely to the
French. This made it easy to place responsibility for the fate of the
Illini on their native enemies, or perhaps even nature itself. The story
of the Illini's decline is a chilling indication of how the European
presence, regardless of purpose or intention, unleashed destructive forces
upon North America's native peoples which reached far beyond the immediate
areas of their colonization.
Inuit/Eskimo - The Inuit are the
indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Alaska, Greenland, and
Canada, with close relatives in Russia. They are united by a common
cultural heritage and a common language. They have over the years been
called "Eskimo,” but prefer to becalled by their own name "Inuit," meaning
simply "people." Traditionally, they have relied on fish, sea mammals, and
land animals for food, heat, light, clothing, tools, and
shelter. According to archaeological research, the origins of the Inuit
lie in northwestern Alaska where they lived in houses made of driftwood
and sod. Beginning about a thousand years ago, the Inuit began to move
eastward into Arctic Canada. Within a few hundred years, they had replaced
the earlier inhabitants of the region, a now-extinct people known as Tunit.
By about 1250 AD, the first Inuit had entered Greenland through the Smith
Sound area in the far northwest of the island. Here, they may have first
encountered Viking hunters coming from the Norse colonies in southwest
Greenland. In many areas, the old sod and whalebone winter houses were
abandoned in favor of houses made of blocks of snow. They were easier to
build as they could be put up anywhere, even on the sea ice, and required
only an hour or two to construct.
Today, the Inuit continue to live in the arctic regions, working in all
sectors of the economy, though many still supplement their income through
hunting. Tourism is a growing industry as guides take tourists on dogsled
and hunting expeditions, and work with outfitting organizations.
Iowa or Ioway -
Iowa, or Ayuwha, was a term borrowed by
the French from the
Dakotas
that signifies "Sleepy-ones." The Iowa people are of
Sioux stock
and closely related to the Otoe and Missouri. They moved about a great
deal, mostly in the states of Iowa and Minnesota. Through various treaties with the U.S. Government they lost their lands in Minnesotaq, Iowa and
Missouri.
The Ioway practiced farming and lived in
villages; however, bands that lived farther west adopted more of the
customs of the plains
Indians.In 1836, another treaty assigned
part of them a reservation along the Great Nemaha River in present Brown
County,
Kansas
and Richardson County,
Nebraska.
Innu - The Montagnais and Naskapi have different tribal names but
consider themselves part of the same culture, Innu.
The Innu are indigenous people of eastern
Quebec and Labrador, Canada. Most Innu people still live in their
traditional territory today, which they call Nitassinan.
 Iroquois
- The
Iroquois
Indians
lived in the Northeastern of the United States, in what is now New York. The Iroquois
Indians
were actually a "nation" of
Indians
made up of five tribes, including the Seneca,
Onondaga, Oneida, and
Mohawk. These tribes were hostile and war-like among each other until
they joined together to become the "League of the Five Nations." When they were not at war with each other, their primary occupation was
clearing fields and building villages. The men carefully removed all
facial hair and wore their hair in a Mohawk style. Tattoos were
common for both sexes. The Iroquois often practiced torture and
ritual cannibalism. There are some 80,000 people in the United States
today that claim an Iroquis heritage.
Kanza (Kaw) - A Siouian tribe closely related to the
Omaha,
Osage,
Quapaw, and
Ponca, the name "Kaw" or "Kanza" means, "People of the South
Wind," and the state of
Kansas
takes its name from them. Their homeland was along the
Kansas
River, a tributary of the Missouri River that extends from
Kansas
into
Nebraska. The
Kanza were farmers and therefore more sedentary than most of the other
plains tribes. They were notable for their hairstyle, a completely
shaven head except for a single lock of hair at the back of their heads.
Today, they hold a small land trust near the
Osage in
Oklahoma.
More ...
Karok
- Indigenous people of
California,
their name means "Upstream," defining them in relation to the Yurok, who
lived "downstream" on the Klamath River from them. The Karok's name for
themselves is simply "'Araar," meaning "human being." Traditionally, the
Karok lived along the Klamath River in Humboldt and Siskiyou Counties in
northwestern
California,
and on the tributary Salmon River.
The Karok had little contact with white settlers until gold
miners arrived in 1850 and 1851, resulting in widespread disease,
violence, social dislocation, and cultural breakdown. Today, some 4,000
people identify themselves as having a Karok heritage. Though the Karok
have no reservation, their tribal headquarters are in Happy Camp,
California.
Kaskaskia - One
of several tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation, the name in
their language translates to "he scrapes it off by means of a tool." Their
first contact with Europeans reportedly occurred near present-day Green
Bay, Wisconsin in 1667 at a French Jesuit mission station. For years the
French Jesuits built missions and ministered to Kaskaskia until the French
and Indian War ended. By that time, the Kaskaskia and other Illiniwek
tribes were quickly declining. The original population was estimated by
early French explorers from 6,000 to more than 20,000. But, by 1764, their
numbers had been rduced to some 600, and by 1778 to just a little more
than 200.
The causes of decline included making war with
their French allies against other Indian tribes and the inevitable
European diseases. In 1769, a Peoria warrior killed Ottowa Chief Pontiac,
which brought down upon the Kaskaskia and other Illinois tribes, the wrath
of the Great Lakes tribes, and soon the Ottawa, Sac and Fox, Miami,
Kickapoo and Potawatomi tribes began to occupy their old tribal range
along the Illinois River.
What was left of the tribe joined with the
Wea,
Peoria,
and
Piankashaw
tribes in 1854. They were then moved to
Kansas
before again being forced to move to
Oklahoma,
becoming the
PeoriaTribe
of
Oklahoma.
Kickapoo -
Before contact with Europeans, the Kickapoo lived in northwest Ohio and
southern Michigan in the area between Lake Erie and Lake Michigan. By common tradition, the Kickapoo and Shawnee believe they were once a
single tribe but separated after an argument over a bear's paw.
When the white man pushed
west, the Kickapoo migrated, first to Wisconsin, then
Illinois.
By treaty, they were relocated to southern
Missouri,
but less than have stayed, wondering south and west. Fiercely
independent, many Kickapoo people fled all the way to Mexico rather than
surrender to the Americans. Of those that went to Mexico, approximately
half returned to the United States and were sent to
Indian
Territory
in
Oklahoma.
Currently, there are three federally-recognized Kickapoo tribes: the
Kickapoo of
Kansas;
the Kickapoo of
Oklahoma;
and the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of
Texas.
Kiowa
- The Kiowa
are a
Native American tribe of the southern plains. Historically, they are
known to have lived in the Kootenay Region of British Columbia, Canada, to
have migrated to Western
Montana,
and then continued to move until they inhabited present day
Nebraska,
Kansas,
Oklahoma
and
Texas . Allying themselves with the
Comanche, the
Kiowa
carried out raids as far south as Mexico. Nomadic
buffalo
hunters, the Kiowa
were soon forced onto a reservation in
Oklahoma ,
where the majority remain today.
More ...
Klallam -
Also called Clallam, they were a tribe of the coastal division of the
Salishan linguistic stock and were most closely connected with the Songish.
They lived on the south side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, between Port
Discovery and the Hoko River in Washington. Later the Klallam occupied the
Chimakum territory and a small number lived on the lower end of Vancouver
Island. Three bands continue to exist today, three of which live on the
Olympic Peninsula in the far northwest corner of Washington state, and one
is based at Becher Bay on southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
Klickitat - A
Shahaptian tribe whose home was at the headwaters of the Cowlitz, Lewis,
White Salmon, and Klickitat Rivers, in Klickitat and Skamania Counties,
Washington.
In 1805 Lewis and Clark reported them as wintering on the Yakima and
Klickitat Rivers, and estimated their number at about 700. Between 1820
and 1830 the tribes of Willamette Valley were visited by an epidemic of
fever and greatly reduced in numbers. Enterprising traders, they became
widely known as intermediaries between the coast tribes and those living
east of the Cascade range. They joined in the Yakima treaty at Camp
Stevens,
Washington on
June 9, 1855, by which they ceded their lands to the United States. Today,
they reside with the Yakima Indians on the
Yakama
Reservation in
Washington.
Kootenai
- This nomadic tribe stretched from west of the Rocky Mountains to Arrow
Lake in British Columbia. The word
Kootenai originated from a Blackfoot word meaning "slim
people.” They are divided into eight separate bands including the Tunaxa,
Tobacco Plains, Jennings, Libby, Bonners, Ferry, Ft. Steele, Creston, and
Windermere. Once they acquired horses in the 18th century, they created
the famous Appaloosa breed. They are one of three tribes of the
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation in
Montana, and
they form the Ktunaxa Nation in British Columbia. There are also
populations in
Idaho and
Washington
in the United States.
Kutchin - A group of Athapascan tribes in
Alaska and Canada, that once inhabited the region on the Yukon and its
tributaries above Nuklukayet, the Peel River Basin, and the lower
Mackenzie Valley. Their name means "people" and the group included several
tribes including the
Tenakutchin, Natsitkutchin, Kutchakutchin, Hankutchin, Tortsikkutchin,
Tutchonekutchin, Vuntakkutchin, Tukuthkutchin, Tatlitkutchin,
Nakotchokuchin and Kwitchakutchin. They generally lived in large groups
and men of rank, such as chiefs and medicine men were allowed to have two
or more wives. They were very hospitable, often allowing guests to stay
for months. by the early 1900s, their numbers had been reduced primarily
due to wars between the tribes and the killing of
female children.
Kwakiutl - According to their own folk
etymology, the name signifies "smoke of the world." They were a
group of closely related tribes who lived near Fort Rupert, British
Columbia, Canada. In 1904, their population was only 163. According to a treaty, the Kwakuitl
have hunting, fishing and gathering rights in their traditional territory
on Vancouver Island. However, the Canadian government breached the and
today, the Kwakiutl First Nation continues to pursue Land Claims. They are
well-known for their masks and totem poles, which depict animals and
supernatural beings.
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The
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