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

ABENAKI

This group, who were concentrated in what has become New Hampshire and Maine, are a part of the Algonquian people and were among the first of the Native peoples of North America that European settlers would have encountered. The coming of the white man’s diseases, along with the risk of annihilation by warring French and English factions, forced the tribe into Quebec in the later part of the 17th century.

The Abenaki people refer to themselves as Alnobak, which means “The Real People” or “men.” It was not uncommon among Native American nations to refer to themselves in this way. The origin of the word Abenaki is from Wabanaki, which translates as “People of the Dawn Lands,” a reference to their home in the east.

One Abenaki myth states that the god Kechi Niwaskw created the first man and the first woman from stone; however, Kechi Niwaskw wasn’t happy, destroyed his first attempt at sculpture, and instead carved his creation again from wood. The Abenaki believed that they were descended directly from these wooden figures.

There was an Abenaki Confederacy, a unified group that encompassed the Penobscot, the Passamaquoddy, and Malecite peoples.

The traditional home of the Abenaki is the wigwam, a semipermanent structure usually covered in bark or fabric. The word “wigwam” mistakenly became the generic term used by European settlers for any semipermanent Native American dwelling, because they assumed that this was what the word meant.

The Abenaki survived by hunting, fishing, and agriculture. Their crops would have included corn, potatoes, and, of course, tobacco. At the time that explorers and settlers first encountered them, the Abenaki lived in small groups or villages, each enclosed by wooden fences. They knew that the flesh and bones of fish made an efficient fertilizer, and so had the habit of burying a couple of dead fish at the base of each stem of maize. Using fish as fertilizer was an area of expertise which would be adopted by the settlers in later years—and, indeed, is still in common practice today.

The Abenaki also knew how to make a delicious sweet syrup from the sap of the maple tree—maple syrup—something that wild food-lovers even today celebrate as a great delicacy. The Abenaki were, and are, skilled at basketware.

The area belonging to the Abenaki was situated between Massachusetts and Quebec, areas that came to be colonized by the English and the French respectively, who subsequently went to war with one another.

The Abenaki gravitated toward the French side during the Anglo-French Wars, and one of their warriors—Nescambuit—was made a knight after he slayed over 140 enemies of the French king, Louis XIV. The allegiance of the Abenaki toward the French could have come about because of their relationship with an early French missionary, a Jesuit priest named Father Sebastian Rasles, whose mission was at Norridgewock on the Kennebec River. In 1722 the British destroyed the mission and killed Father Rasles; among his papers was discovered an Abenaki-French dictionary that he had been working on. Also, in 1614, 24 young Abenaki had been kidnapped by the British and shipped back to England, an outrage that would also have been a key factor in helping the Abenaki to decide which side they should support.

Contemporary accounts from the Jesuits who had dealings with the Abenaki described them as “not cannibals,” and also as “not profane.”

In contrast to other peoples such as the Iroquois, the Abenaki followed the patrilineal line (in which the nation of the father was considered to be the nation of the child) as opposed to the matrilineal. This arrangement was common to the New England peoples but unusual among Native Americans on the whole.

Single Abenaki men could be identified by their long, untied hair; when a prospective wife came along, the man would tie back his hair. Once married, the Abenaki husband showed his status by sporting only a high ponytail and shaving the rest of his head. Before the need to alter his hairstyle arrived, however, there was the matter of arranging the marriage. This wasn’t always simple. A proposal of marriage was not simply for the prospective partners, but a matter for the whole village. And the bride and groom would make a gift to one another of a fine box, engraved with the loved one’s attributes.

Other decisions besides betrothals were decided by the entire group. Everyone was given the right to an equal say, and to simplify matters various members would elect a single spokesperson. The Abenaki also had a system in which an impartial person would arbitrate in the case of disagreements. Until all parties agreed, there was no resolution.

At the time of writing, the Abenaki are still not recognized federally, although the state of Vermont recognized their status as a People in 2006. At the time, the authorities noted that many of the Abenaki had been “assimilated.”

ABIAKA

1760(?)—1860(?)

Born in Georgia, Abiaka, a.k.a. Sam Jones, was a medicine man, spiritual leader, and also chief of the Muskogee Seminole tribe, who lived in the southeastern United States. He played a major part in the Seminole resistance to relocation, a resistance which would ultimately result in the establishment of a Seminole reservation in Florida. Perhaps not so famous as the other most influential of Seminole chiefs, Osceola, who died in his thirties, Abiaka was able to use powerful “medicine” to stir his men up into a frenzy, managing to keep the uncompromising resistance strong during many years of war, starvation, and hardship; no doubt the fact that Osceola had been attacked, imprisoned, and kidnapped after he was invited to peace talks fueled Abiaka’s determination not to fall for the same ploy.

Above all, it seems that Abiaka provided a consistent reminder to his people of their spiritual strength. After the third of the Seminole wars, Abiaka moved to the Big Cypress Swamp with a small band of men and a larger number of women and children. By this time he was in his nineties, still retaliating against removal despite his great age.

ACORN

The seed of the oak tree, the acorn was a very useful foodstuff for the Native Americans in and around California. An entire community would gather to harvest the crop, which was processed by being shelled and then mashed in a mortar and pestle. Eaten alone, an acorn is bitter because of the tannins that it contains; however, the Native Americans had an ingenious method of leaching out this bitterness. First they would dig a shallow pit in clean sand, then line it with a dough made from ground acorns. Then hot water would be poured onto the dough. As the water seeped through the acorn paste and into the sand, it would carry away the bitter tannic acid. After this process, the dough would be baked into bread or used in soups.

ADIRONDACK

One of the Algonquian tribes, the Adirondack were so-named by the Mohawk; the word means “They Eat Trees” or “Bark Eaters,” and is likely to have been used as a derogatory name. The name refers to the Adirondack habit of chewing the bark of certain trees, and although most authorities suggest that the Adirondack only ate bark at times when there was nothing else available—that is, during times of famine when sustenance was scarce—it is likely that bark would have been an important staple. The inner part of the Eastern White Pine, which grows prolifically in the area, is not only tasty but nutritious and easy to carry, and Native American peoples have a tradition of being extremely resourceful when it comes to identifying edible plants.

The Adirondack lived north of the St. Lawrence River, and, like the Abenaki, allied themselves with the French during the Anglo-French wars.

Incidentally, the Adirondack Mountains and National Park are named after the Adirondack peoples who once roamed the area.

ADOBE

Common to the Pueblo peoples, “adobe” is a particular kind of brick made from dried grasses and mud, and baked in the sun. Alternatively, the term is used to refer to the mortar that holds such bricks in place.

ADOBE WALLS

The name of a trading post in the Texas Panhandle area on the Canadian River. Adobe Walls is infamous as the site of a terrible battle between 28 white men and one woman, and the massed forces of some 700 Kiowa, Comanche, and Cheyenne, in June 1874. The Native Americans wanted to destroy the contingent at Adobe Walls to protest at the white men’s wholesale slaughter of the buffalo, which accorded no respect to the animal which was so vital to the survival of the tribes.

Despite their numbers, the white settlers had the advantage of guns, and managed to fight off the Natives, who were massacred. Some 100 died at Adobe Walls; only three of the white men perished.

AGRICULTURE

When the huge animals that formed the primary part of the diet of the early Native Americans eventually died out, they were forced to turn their attention to hunting smaller prey, including birds. Around the same time, Native Americans also began to forage for wild plants, not only as a source of food but also as a source of medicine.

It may come as a surprise that 60 percent of the food we eat today comes from plants that were discovered, and then developed, by early Native Americans. These foods include the potato, the tomato, and, most important of all, maize, or corn.

The first corn came from a wild grass called teosinte that grew in Mexico. The early men and women that lived there managed to modify this grass by selecting those with the fattest heads and cross-fertilizing them with other hardy grasses. By a time a thousand years prior to the birth of Christ, corn was the most important vegetable foodstuff in Mexico. The cultivation of corn then spread into the American southwest and was adopted by three civilizations that became famed for their farming methods. These were the Anasazi, the Mogollan, and the Hohokam.

The earliest of these three peoples were the Mogollan, who dwelled on the borders of what is now New Mexico and Arizona between A.D. 150 and 1450. Their homes—subterranean pits covered by a “roof” of brush and plaster made from mud—would develop into stone dwellings.

Next came the Hohokam, who lived in the scorchingly hot Sonoran desert west of the mountains that bordered the Mogollan areas. They lived between A.D. 200 and 1450. The harshness of their environment forced them to become ingenious, and they discovered that they could make the dusty desert soils and sands blossom by means of irrigation. They built hundreds of miles of canals, up to 25 feet wide, sourcing their water from the Gila and Salt rivers. Their crops included corn, beans, squash, and cotton. Examination of Hohokam remains has revealed rubber balls; this is a mystery, since at the time of the Hohokam, rubber was unavailable in Arizona.

Around A.D. 1450 the Hohokam seem to have simply disappeared. It is possible that a drought or a crop failure caused them to disband and seek other places to live.

In the meantime, the Anasazi people—otherwise known as “The Ancient Ones”—arose to the north of Hohokam territory. They further developed effective systems of irrigation, and farmed maize and cotton, learning along the way to weave the cotton crop into a useful fabric.

THE THREE SISTERS

There were three crops that were fundamental to the Native American, and their cultivation was developed and refined by the invention of a method that was a superb example of what we call “sustainable farming” these days. The “Three Sisters” in question were corn, beans, and squash.

According to an Iroquois myth, these three plants were three sisters, also known as Deohako, who had been gifted to mankind by the Great Spirit. The Three Sisters thrive best in each other’s company, and another of their names reflects this: collectively they were referred to as “Our Sustainers.” The planting of the Three Sisters was accompanied by songs and ceremonies, the three seeds being planted together in the same mound of soil. Each of these plants not only supplies a healthy diet but, as the unused parts are plowed back in, adds nutrients to the soil. The first crop of green corn is still celebrated with festivals and dancing.

The symbiosis between the three plants has a wonderful logic. The corn—growing straight and strong—provides a “pole” of support for the bean plants to scramble up toward the sun. These beans have the additional benefit of helping to fix nitrogen into the soil, which further fertilizes the ground. The vines of the bean also strengthen the corn stalks, making them less liable to wind damage. Thirdly, the squash—which have shallow roots—not only act as a mulch, covering the ground and suppressing weeds, but also help keep the soil moist. Squash plants with spiny skins also help to deter any predators. At the end of the harvest, the debris of leaves and stalks left by all three plants would be dug back into the soil, enriching it even further.

As well as growing beautifully together, the nutritional value of the Three Sisters complement one another perfectly, too. The beans, when dried, not only provide protein but can be stored against the winter. The corn is starchy and full of carbohydrates, providing energy. The squash not only contains vitamins but its seeds yield a useful oil.

Native Americans invented this system with no knowledge of vitamins, nitrogen-fixing capabilities, or any of the technical information that we know of today. Further, the natural world, it was believed, offered up signs that the time had come either to plant the seeds or to harvest the crop. For example, the return of the Canada Geese signaled the time for planting the corn.

ALEUT

Originally from the Aleutian Islands, which extend in a westerly direction from Alaska for a distance of about 1,200 miles to the Pacific Ocean, the name Aleut is believed to mean either “Island” or, alternatively, “Bald Rock,” from a Russian word. “Alaska” is from an Aleutian phrase meaning “mainland.”

Aleut culture was very similar to that of the Inuit. Both peoples belong to what is termed the Arctic Culture Area. Their livelihood was based almost entirely on the ocean: they hunted sea mammals, such as otters and whales, and fished, using the traditional baidarkas—a kayak-like vessel made from waterproofed oiled sealskins stretched over a wooden frame. Much of the hunting for larger sea mammals was carried out using a harpoon. The Aleut seafood diet was supplemented with seasonal berries, fruits, and roots. Aleuts lived in partially buried homes called barabaras—large buildings shared by a number of families. Beautiful, intricately decorated baskets were made from the rye grass growing along the edges of the beaches. Shells and amber were used as currency.

In such a harsh climate, the Aleuts had to be particularly ingenious about keeping warm. Their clothing was generally double-layered to preserve heat, made from animal hides and also animal guts. It is the Aleuts that we have to thank for the parka—the long, hooded coat that is worn all over the world.

The coming of the Europeans and their involvement in the fur trade had a significant impact on the traditional Aleut way of life. The first explorer, Vitus Bering of Denmark, working under the auspices of the Russian Czar Peter the Great, arrived on the Aleutian Islands in 1741. His reports of the rich sealife and opportunities for fur trading soon saw a large contingent of prospectors from Siberia arriving in the area. Their methods of working were harsh for the Aleuts. Arriving in a village, hostages were captured, primarily women and children. The men were then forced to trade furs in return for the safe return of their families. The women and children were used as slaves, forced to skin the animals and clean the furs. The Aleuts rebelled in 1761 and succeeded in killing a group of traders; however, the Russians responded by sending in a veritable armada of warships, and blasted many Aleut villages to smithereens with their cannons.

Thereafter, the Russians made some attempts to regulate the fur trade and to treat the Aleuts and the Inuit more fairly, including actually paying them for their efforts. This just meant that the traders found new ways to cheat the Aleut, inventing charges such as fees for food and transportation. The end of the 18th century saw the founding of the Russian American Company, a massive fur-trading company which would become the main competitor with the British Hudson Bay Company.

ALGONQUIAN

The collective grouped under the Algonquian banner lived primarily in and around the woodlands of northeastern America. The different Native peoples belonging to this family included the Abenaki, Wampanoag, Mohegan and Narragansett, the Mahican, Lenni Lenape, the Powhatan and Roanoke, the Ojibwe and Ottawa, the Shawnee and Illinois, the Sauk and Fox, Kickapoo, the Mi’kmaq, Cree, Montagnais, and Naskapi, as well as many others.

There are of course differences in the lifestyles and histories of all the Algonquian peoples, which were banded together far more loosely than the Iroquois Confederacy, but still tended to come together to support one another during times of war or hardship. The tribes also tended to live grouped into small villages, typically living in wigwams. As well as tending their crops of corn, beans, and squash, the tribes hunted small game, fished, and foraged for various wild plants and roots. The peoples who lived close to the prairies where the buffalo roamed, for example in the Mississippi River Valley, would also have hunted the buffalo.