While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
During the early exploration and settlement of
North America, a multitude of Indian tribes were encountered, having diverse
customs and languages. Lack of knowledge of the aborigines and of their
languages led to many curious errors on the part of the early explorers and
settlers: names were applied to the Indians that had no relation what ever to
their aboriginal names; sometimes nicknames were bestowed, owing perhaps to
personal characteristics, fancied or real; sometimes tribes came to be known by
names given by other tribes, which were often opprobrious; frequently the
designation by which a tribal group was known to itself was employed, and as
such names are oftentimes unpronounceable by alien tongues and unrepresentable
by civilized alphabets, the result was a sorry corruption, varying according as
the sounds were impressed on Spanish, English, French, Dutch, German, Russian,
or Swedish ears. Sometimes, again, bands of a single tribe were given
distinctive tribal names, while clans and gentes were often regarded as
independent autonomous groups to which separate tribal designations likewise
were applied. Consequently, in the literature relating to the American Indians,
which is practically coextensive with the literature of the first three
centuries of the New World, thousands of such names are recorded, the
significance and application of which are to be understood only after much
study. Read more...
Some Abbreviations used in this book r = river, L = Lake, c = Creek, co
= County, Ind.T. = Indian Territory,
S = South, n = North, e = East, w = West
This site
includes some historical materials that may imply negative stereotypes
reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. These
items are presented as part of the historical record and should not be
interpreted to mean that the WebMasters in any way endorse the stereotypes
implied .
Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Frederick Webb Hodge, 1906
