The Element Encyclopedia of Native Americans: An A to Z of Tribes, Culture, and History

The Northern Arapaho became embroiled in Red Cloud’s War between 1866 and 1867. Sparked by the white man encroaching on Native American buffalo-hunting territory in Montana after gold was discovered there, the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Sioux were victorious. The conflict continued, however, climaxing in the Battle of Little Big Horn and the defeat of General Custer in 1877. Today, the Arapaho are among the peoples who operate casinos, one of which is located at the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming.

ARAWAK

Also called the Taino, the Arawak people did not live on the mainland of North America, but on the Caribbean islands to the south—specifically, the chain of islands which came to be known as the West Indies/Antilles. As most people know, the islands are called the West Indies because Christopher Columbus stumbled across them while seeking a passage to India, thought that the Antilles were the East Indies, and called the Native Americans that he encountered there “Indians.” This name stuck (although for many it is a continual source of annoyance).

Although Viking explorers reached America long before Columbus, it was Columbus’ “discovery” that really brought the continent to the attention of Europe and, consequently, to the rest of the world. And it was the Arawak with whom Columbus had the most contact.

A farming people, the Arawak had traveled to the Caribbean from South America, and called themselves the Taino, meaning “good people.” Able to grow a varied number of plants because of the tropical climate, the tribe supplemented these crops of corn, potatoes, cassava, peanuts, peppers, and tobacco with hunting (mainly small game, specifically an animal called the Hutia) and fishing (from dugouts; they speared fish and also caught sea turtles). The tribe built seaworthy dugout canoes which could take 100 people; these were used to carry goods to and fro between the Arawak and the Native peoples in South America.

The position of chief, or cacique, of each village, was a hereditary title; this could be a man or woman. Female chiefs were called cacicas. The chief lived in a square or rectangular house with a pitched roof; the villagers lived in circular huts and slept in hammocks, a Native American invention which has proved popular all over the world. These Arawak hammocks were the first that any European would have seen.

Because of the climate, little was needed in the way of clothing, and when Columbus encountered the Arawak he would have seen many naked natives. Both men and women wore beautiful jewelry made from natural materials that were ready to hand, such as shells or bone. The Arawak provided the first contact for many things as well as the hammock, which was rapidly copied as a way of sleeping on board ship. The amiable Arawak showed their visitors potatoes, corn, and, of course, tobacco; in fact, the Arawak word for “cigar” was tabaco.

The Arawak showed Columbus and his men nothing but kindness; this was not repaid. Columbus forced several members of the tribe to accompany him as slaves, and other potential colonists followed suit by treating the Arawak like slaves. The Arawak killed the Europeans, but when Columbus returned he tried to make the Arawak work for him in finding gold. This proved unsuccessful, but taking Natives to sell as slaves proved profitable.

The Arawak were among the first to suffer from the diseases brought by the Europeans, as well as dying of starvation when they were forced into slavery. Others killed themselves, unable to bear such subjugation.

ASSIMILATION

A policy that was actively encouraged by the white settlers in order to encourage Native Americans to be absorbed into the “mainstream” culture. Assimilation of Natives into the ways of the white man generally resulted in the exchange of one culture for the other; for example, when they were sent to European schools, Native American children were not allowed to use their native tongue, and were encouraged to reject their traditional religious practices in favor of Christian ones. The movement toward assimilation was at its height in the late 1800s and the early 1900s.

ASSINIBOIN

Also known as the Rocky Mountain Sioux, despite the fact that the Assiniboin and the Dakota Sioux share virtually the same language, the two were enemies for as long as anyone could remember. The early Jesuits in America found the two peoples distinctly different from one another, except for their language.

The name Assiniboin means “one who cooks with hot stones,” and the tribe were given this name by the Ojibwe; the Assiniboin united with the Ojibwe, and also with the Creek, to fight the Dakota Sioux for overall control of the buffalo plains.

The Assiniboin originally lived in Canada, subsequently traveling south to what are now North Dakota and Montana. Sadly, many of the Assiniboin tribe fell prey to the white man’s disease of smallpox in the 1840s and were wiped out.

ATLATL

A device used to make spear throwing more effective, the atlatl was a prehistoric invention. It was constructed from a stick approximately 2 feet long. Using a rock as a balance, there was a groove in the stick to hold the shaft of the spear in place, and loops made of animal hide with which the atlatl was grasped firmly.

BABICHE

This is the name given to a string, or thong, made from the hide of a caribou, a deer, or even an eel. A useful material, it was used in the same way that string or twine is used today, except it was likely to be much longer-lasting. Babiche would be made into skeins and carried around with a person just in case it was needed for repairs.

BALSA

The Californian Native Americans made small boats from reeds or rushes that were tied together into bundles and bound into a cylindrical shape. After a period of use this small craft, or balsa, would become waterlogged and had to be dried out before it could be used again. The name “balsa” also refers to the lightweight wood that comes from the tree, whose Latin name is Ochroma pyramidale.

BAND

Smaller than a tribe, the term “band” is used to describe a small group of Native Americans, often a sub-division of a tribe or clan. A band might also be used to describe a group who had elected to follow a leader other than the accepted tribal chief.

BANNERSTONE

A decoratively carved and polished stone or rock, often sculpted into the form of a bird. This might be mounted onto the top of a staff to show the authority of the bearer. Such decorative stones were also used as weights on the atlatl.

BANNOCK

Related to the northern Paiutes, the Bannock belong to the northern Shoshone people.

Their original stamping ground included southeastern Oregon, southeastern Idaho, western Wyoming, and the southwestern part of Montana. They belong to the Paiute language group.

The Bannock had less trouble in general with the white settlers than other tribes. The tribe traded with other Indian nations, using their pottery, horn utensils, and salmon-skin bags as currency with which to barter. After they adopted the horse in the middle of the 18th century, they traded the animals with the Nez Perce.

The Bannock, as well as other tribes, place a huge amount of importance on the buffalo, not only for food but for all manner of essential items: clothes, implements, tipi coverings, etc. There was another natural resource that was an essential for the Bannock lifestyle: a plant named camas, a purple/blue flower whose bulb was an important form of nutrition, especially in the winter months when little else was available.

In 1868 the Bannock had been removed to the Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho. The rations allotted to them by the U.S. Government were not sufficient to keep the Indians from starvation. In the spring of 1871, the tribe left the reservation to harvest camas roots, but discovered that the settlers had allowed their livestock to roam free in the Great Camas Prairie; there were not enough of the precious tubers left. In addition, it became clear that the numbers of buffalo were rapidly diminishing due to dramatic overhunting by the white men. These two factors forced the Bannock to rebel against the white settlers and the U.S. Government, in an uprising known as the Bannock War, in 1878. The Bannock Chief, Buffalo Horn, made an allegiance with the northern Paiutes; the massed tribes made a series of raids on the white settlers in order to try to find some food. The tribes were defeated by the U.S. Army, and many members of the tribe were captured. After this defeat, they returned to the reservation at Fort Hall in southeastern Idaho.

BARABARA

The Inuit and Aleut peoples built large lodges in which many people could live; this was the barabara. Partially dug into the ground to a depth of approximately 2 feet, the barabara was lined with timber and the roof—except for a chimney or smokehole—made from arched branches covered over with earth and bark.

BASKETWARE

An ancient craft, the making of baskets was an essential skill carried out by every Native American people. Materials used for making baskets included grasses and reeds, whippy branches, bark, and roots. The Natives of the Great Lakes favored birch bark containers over baskets, whereas cane and willow were the preferred materials in the south. There were two specific styles of basket which are still made all over the world—woven baskets, and coiled ones. The former took as its basis a framework of a stouter material which would be woven through and in between that framework. Coiled baskets were made from braided material that would be coiled and then stitched into the shape of the basket.

Patterns can be woven into baskets with fibers of contrasting color and texture. Different tribes developed their own unique designs.

As well as being used to carry equipment, food, and other objects, baskets also made handy cooking receptacles. To use a basket in this way the receptacle was first lined with pitch or clay to make it watertight. During the cooking process the clay hardened; afterwards it was discovered that the clay vessel could be used on its own, without needing the basket itself. It’s not unlikely that pottery was developed because of using baskets in this way. However, it was also possible to weave baskets which were in themselves watertight, with no need to use any coating material. To boil something in a basket—which of course could not be used over direct heat—the water inside it was heated by dropping hot stones inside.

Basket-weaving skills were also used to make cradles, shields, fences, boats, and fishing nets, among other objects.

BATTLE OF LITTLE BIG HORN

SeeCuster’s Last Stand (#litres_trial_promo)

BAYETA

Blankets were an important resource for the Native Americans, and were made from hair, down, fur, wool, cotton, feathers, and even bark. They were used as clothing, shelter, for making partitions, and even to wrap up goods and carry them while traveling.

The bayeta—Spanish for “baize”—was the best known of all the various types of blankets made by the Navajo. They were generally a subdued reddish color, made from the baize which had been introduced as a trading item in the 19th century. The Navajo unraveled the fabric and reconstituted it into beautiful blankets.

BEADS

Just about all Native American peoples used beads as decoration. These beads were made from nuts and seeds, wood, bone, horn, shells, teeth, claws, the beaks of birds, and also minerals including turquoise, soapstone, quartz, and other stones. Beads made from the shells of shellfish such as the periwinkle were called wampum and were used as currency.

Beads were used to ornament the hair, were sewn onto clothing, and strung onto sinew to make jewelry. When the white settlers arrived, they introduced glass and ceramic beads to the Indians. Historians are able to determine the age of an item by examining any beads that were a part of it.

BEAVER

The territorial spread of the beaver ranged from west of the Mississippi to south of the Great Lakes.

The beaver was a much loved “brother” to the Native American, honored for its industry and ingenuity. Beavers, like men, were observed to live in “families,” and appeared to have their own language, laws, and a chief, and so they were considered to be the equal of human beings. The beaver was also a useful animal: some tribes ate its meat, and after killing it every single part of the animal was used; nothing was wasted. The teeth—notoriously sharp and able to chisel easily through trees to fell them—were prized as weapons, mounted onto the end of a stick which could be used either as a tool or as a weapon. The beaver skin was used to make bags, pouches, and clothing.

Beavers build ingenious homes for themselves: oval-shaped lodges of which about a third is actually in the water. The rest is coated densely with clay so that it is both airtight and watertight.