INTRODUCTION

The Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes is designed to tell part of the story of Native North Americans—a subject matter that, although central to the story of North America, receives all-too-little emphasis in public education. The book tries to give in an accessible format an overview of historical events while imparting some of the rich culture of American Indians. It also attempts to show that the story is ongoing, with Indians a vital part of the contemporary scene.

Any single volume covering such a vast topic has to limit itself somewhat arbitrarily as well as impose a somewhat arbitrary system of organization and classification. As such, this book focuses its attention only on some of the hundreds of North American Indian tribes, while including a number of cultural groupings to give a broader picture.

As for the concept of tribe, the term is used in many different ways to indicate varying kinds of social organization. In some cases, it refers to a group of local bands or villages with common ancestry, culture, and language. It also sometimes refers to groups of peoples spread over a wider area but united politically in what is called a confederacy. In still other cases, tribe refers to just one village. Furthermore, scholars do not always agree on how to classify a particular people. Some may define a group of people as a distinct tribe while others consider the same people a band or subtribe.

In addition to the word band, there are other terms that scholars sometimes use interchangeably or as a subgrouping of tribe. The term chiefdom sometimes is used in reference to Southeast Indians, and tribelet in reference to California Indians. In Mexico and Central America, some Native peoples are said to have been organized into city-states or civilizations. Many contemporary Native Americans prefer the term nation rather than tribe because it implies the concept of political sovereignty, indicating that their people have goals and rights like other nations, leading to the phrase now applied to Canadian tribes, First Nations. In the study of prehistoric Indians, the term culture rather than tribe is generally used for groups of people.

This book lists different Indian tribes or peoples alphabetically. Most of the names that head the various sections are considered names of tribes. But other headings are more general cultural names: MISSION INDIANS, MOUND BUILDERS, PREHISTORIC INDIANS, PUEBLO INDIANS, and SOUTHWEST CULTURES. Other headings apply to Mesoamerican civilizations: AZTEC, MAYA, OLMEC, and TOLTEC. Still others apply to language families: ALGONQUIANS and ATHAPASCANS, since it is helpful to discuss these groupings as specific categories. The IROQUOIS (haudenosaunee) heading applies to a confederacy of tribes.

There is another category of headings in this book: “culture areas.” A culture area is a geographic region where the various Indian peoples shared a way of life. The system of culture areas has been devised by scholars to make Native American studies easier; from them one can get a sense of cultural patterns. One can see, for example, that the tribes of the Great Plains lived differently than those of the Great Basin did. The culture area entries in this book include the following: ARCTIC PEOPLES, CALIFORNIA INDIANS, GREAT BASIN INDIANS, NORTHEAST INDIANS, NORTHWEST COAST INDIANS, PLAINS INDIANS, PLATEAU INDIANS, SOUTHEAST INDIANS, SOUTHWEST INDIANS, and SUBARCTIC INDIANS. A map showing all the culture areas is included in the front matter. Each culture area entry is accompanied by a map showing general locations of those tribes in that culture area. An additional culture area is included for clarification—PRAIRIE INDIANS— although this author uses the system of 10 culture areas for what now is territory in the United States and Canada. In addition to offering cross-references to those tribes having their own entries, the culture area entries mention other tribes placed by scholars in that particular region.

Three lists follow the introduction to give the reader a frame of reference: The first is an alphabetical listing of all the entries in the book, with some alternate spellings and names included parenthetically. The second is a list of entries organized by culture areas (as well as by miscellaneous categories). The third is a listing of entries organized by culture areas and languages, including other tribes mentioned in the text.

The system of language phyla, language families, and language isolates as presented in this third list is based for the most part on a classification by C. F. Voegelin and F. M. Voegelin as found in Harold Driver’s Indians of North America, with some variation. It should be kept in mind that linguistic studies involve a certain amount of guesswork, so readers may encounter other language groupings in other readings.

Throughout the text, cross-references lead the reader to different levels of organization (the cross-references are set in small capital letters the first time they appear in an entry). For example, as stated, within each culture area entry there are cross-references to all the tribes of that culture area having entries in this book. And for each tribe with an entry, a culture area is cited, so that by turning to the culture area entry, the reader can get an overview of the entire geographic region and all its peoples. Moreover, other tribes are cited within the entries that have a special relationship historically or culturally with the given tribe. Serious students should follow the cross-references to where they lead for a better understanding of the complex information.

This book has space enough to cover only a selection of Native American tribes. South American peoples are not covered. Those tribes selected are especially relevant historically in relations with non-Indians or are representative of a way of life. The author has chosen at least one tribe to represent every language family or language isolate for each of the culture areas. Those tribes not having entries, even extinct tribes, are no less important in Native American studies. As stated, tribes without their own entries are mentioned in the culture area entries. Others are mentioned in tribal entries. In some instances, bands, or subtribes, also are discussed in tribal entries.

Certain tribes have alternate names or alternate spellings for their names. Some of these are given in the text (or, as stated, they are given parenthetically in the alphabetical list of entries). The pronunciations of the primary names are given in the entries. (These are the pronunciations in use today and not necessarily the historical pronunciations.) In some instances, deciding which primary name to use as the heading is problematic because, although a name might be the most familiar one to a reader, it possibly has fallen out of favor. (Eskimo, for example, is no longer used by Native peoples although it still appears in popular culture.) To help the reader find his or her way, some of the more common alternate names, as well as branch tribes or cultural subgroupings, are cross-referenced between entries.

The illustrations in the book convey a great deal about Native American life. Most are drawings of ancient objects; those drawn from objects made by 20th-century Indians are identified as such. Some of the objects shown are reconstructions if no original has been found or photographed. The scenes of course give hypothetical views of Native American life. Some are based on early or contemporary photographs.

There are many unfamiliar terms used in Native American studies—for cultural and political concepts, for natural phenomena, and for various objects. A glossary at the end of the book defines some of them.

Keep in mind that each tribe has a detailed history and culture to be further explored. Each has individuals who have made or who are making a contribution to their own people or to the general society through leadership and in art and literature. Also keep in mind that each tribe has its own worldview and ceremonials. Although the entries begin from the historical point of view, some of the information presented in the past tense still applies to extant Indian nations. The historical approach thus serves to give context to an ongoing story, which is typically discussed at the end of entries.

A selected bibliography will help the reader further pursue Native American studies. Those books listed are

INTRODUCTION ix

For the most part general titles, especially helpful in giv -  first citizens. In addition, the Internet has become an

Ing an overview of the subject. It is hoped that the reader  important research tool for information on Native

Will pursue these titles and other more specialized ones Americans. Many of the Indian nations themselves have to achieve a greater understanding of North America’s Web sites.