Indian Tribal History

Most of the tribes listed on this page do not have a connection to a larger tribe.  We list them here so you can find some information on their history. For a complete listing of our 700 plus tribes visit Indian History page

Huma (red).  A Choctaw tribe living during the earlier period of the French colonization of Louisiana, 7 leagues above Red river on the east bank of the Mississippi, their settlement in 1699 containing 140 cabins and 350 families.  A red pole marked the boundary between them ad the Bayogoula on the south.  In 1706 the Tonika fled to them from the Chickasaw, but later rose against them and killed more than half, after which the remainder established themselves near the site of New Orleans.  later they lived along Bayou La Fourche and in the neighborhood of the present Houma, Louisiana, which bears their name.  They are now supposed to be extinct.

Tangipahoa (from taⁿdshi,'maize'; apa, 'stalk,' 'cob'; ava, 'to gather': 'those who gather maize stalks or cobs.' Wright. Pénicat explains the river name Tandgepao erroneously as 'white wheat or corn' ). An extinct tribe, supposed to be Muskhogean, formerly living on the lower Mississippi and on Tangipahoa river, which flows south into Lake Pontchartrain, south east Louisiana. Tonti mentions this people as residing, in 1682, on the Mississippi, 12 leagues from the. Quinipissa village; but, according to Iberville (Margry, Dec., iv, 168, 1880), the Bayogoula informed him that the Tangipahoa had never lived on the Mississippi; nevertheless both statements agree in making their town one of the 7 villages of the Acolapissa. When La Salle reached their village he found that it had recently been burned, and saw dead bodies lying on one another. According to the information given Iberville by the Bayogoula,, the village had been destroyed by the Huma. Nothing definite is known of the language and affinities of the tribe, but their apparent relations with the Acolapissa indicate Muskhogean affinity. Their village was one of those said to belong to the Acolapissa.

Tawasa (Alibamu: Tawáha). A Muskhogean tribe first referred to by the De Soto chroniclers in the middle of the 16th century as Toasi and located in the neighborhood of Tallapoosa river. Subsequently they moved south east and constituted one of the tribes to which the name "Apalachicola" was given by the Spaniards. About 1705 attacks by the Alibamu and Creeks compelled them to leave this region also and to seek protection near the French fort at Mobile. In 1707 the Pascagoula declared war against them, but peace was made through the intervention of Bienville. From this time the tribe ceased to be noted by French chroniclers, and at the close of the century it reappears as one of the four Alibamu towns, from which it seems likely that the Tawasa had allied or re-allied themselves with the Alibamu after the disturbance just alluded to. Their subsequent history is probably the same as that of the Alibamu

Arkokisa. A people formerly living in villages chiefly along lower Trinity river, Texas. The Spanish presidio of San Agustin de Ahumada was founded among them in 1756, and 50 Tiascaltec families from south Mexico were settled there, but the post was abandoned in 1772. They were allied with the Aranama and the Attacapa, and were on friendly terms also with the Bidai, but their linguistic affinity is not known. According to Sibley they numbered about 80 men in 1760-70 and subsisted principally on shellfish and fruits, and in 1805 their principal town was on the west side of Colorado river of Texas, about 200 miles south west of Nacogdoches. They had another village north of this, between the Neches and the Sabine, nearer the coast than the villages of the Adai. Sibley speaks of the Arkokisa as migratory, but they could not always have been entitled to that characterization. It is probable that, owing to the conditions incident to the intrusion of the white race, the people became demoralized; their tribal relations were broken up, their numbers decimated by disease, and the remnant of them was finally scattered and disorganized. Of their habits very little is known; their language seems to have been distinct from that of their neighbors, with whom they conversed by signs.

Yazoo (meaning unknown). An extinct tribe and village formerly on lower Yazoo river, Mississippi, Like all the other tribes on this stream, the Yazoo were small in number. The people were always closely associated with the Koroa, whom they resembled in employing all r in speaking, unlike most of the neighboring tribes. The French in 1718 erected a fort 4 leagues from the mouth of Yazoo river to guard that stream, which formed the waterway to the Chickasaw country, In 1729, in imitation of the Natchez, the Yazoo and Koroa rose against the French and destroyed the fort, but both tribes were finally expelled (Shea, Cath. Miss., 430, 449, 1855) and probably united with the Chickasaw and Choctaw. Whether this tribe had any connection with the West Yazoo and East Yazoo towns among the Choctaw is not known.

Yamel. A Kalapooian tribe formerly living on Yamhill creek, a west tributary of the Willamette in Oregon. They are now under the Siletz school and numbered only 5 in 1910. The following were their bands as ascertained by Gatschet in 1877: Andshankualth, Andshimmampak,
Chamifuamim, Chamiwi, Champikle, Chinchal.

Yana. A tribe, constituting a distinct linguistic family, formerly occupying the territory from Round mountains near Pit river, Shasta County, to Deer creek, Tehama County, California. The west boundary was about 10 miles east of Sacramento river, both banks of that stream being held by the Wintun, with whom the Yana were frequently at war. The east boundary extended along the spurs running out to the north and south from Lassen butte. In Aug. 1864 the neighboring miners organized a massacre of the whole tribe, then numbering about 3,000, of whom all but about 50 were slaughtered in the course of a few days. In 1902 Dixon reported only about half a dozen remaining. A number of their myths have been recorded by Curtin.

Yampa. A division of Ute formerly living in east Utah on and about Green and Grand rivers. In 1849 they occupied 500 lodges. The name does not appear in recent official reports, and the original Yampa are included under the term White River Ute. The Akanaquint arid Grand River Ute to were bands of this division.

Yodok. A former Maidu village on the east bank of American river, just below the junction of South fork, Sacramento County, California.

Yonkalla. The southernmost Kalapooian tribe, formerly living on Elk and Calapooya creeks, tributaries of Umpqua river, Oregon. According to Gatschet there were two bands, called Chayankeld and Tsantokau by the Lakmiut, but it seems likely that the former name (Tch' Ayankē'ld) is merely the native tribal name. The tribe is probably extinct.

Yahuskin. A Shoshonean band which prior to 1864 roved and hunted with the Walpapi about the shores of Goose, Silver, Warner, and Harney lakes, Oregon, and temporarily in Surprise valley and Klamath marsh, where they gathered wokas for food. They came specially into notice in 1864, on Oct. 14 of which year they became party to the treaty of Klamath lake by which their territory was ceded to the United States and they were placed on Klamath Reservation, established at that time. With the Walpapi and a few Paiute who had joined them, the Yahuskin were assigned lands in the southern part of the reservation, on Sprague river about Yainax, where the have since resided, although through intermarriage with other Indians on the reservation their tribal identity became lost by 1898, since which time they have been officially designated as Paiute. Gatschet, who visited them about 1884, says they were then engaged in agriculture, lived in willow lodges and log houses, and were gradually abandoning their roaming proclivities. The Yahuskin have always been officially enumerated with the Walpapi, the aggregate population varying between 1877 and 1891 from 135 to 166 persons. In 1909 they were reported at 103.

Walapai (Xawálapáy^a, 'pine tree folk.'--Harrington). A Yuman tribe originally living on middle Colorado river, above the Mohave tribe, from the great bend eastward, well into the interior chiefly by the chase and on roots and seeds. They are said to have been brave and enterprising, but physically inferior to the Mohave. The Havasupai, who are an offshoot, speak a closely-related language. The Walapai numbered 728 in 1889, 631 in 1897, and 498 in 1910. They are under the administration of a school superintendent on the Walapaire,. of 730,880 acres in north west Arizona, and are making little progress in civilization. They cultivated only 57 acres during 1904, but owned 2,000 horses. The name Santa Margarita was applied by the Spaniards to one of their rancherias.

Quinaielt. A Salish tribe on Quinaielt river, Washington and along the cost between the Quileute and the Quaitso on the north (the latter of which probably formed a part of the tribe), and the Chehalis on the south.  Lewis and Clark described them in two divisions, the Calasthocle and the Quiniilt, with 100 and 1,000 population, respectively.  In 1909 they numbered 156, under the Puyallup school superintendency. Fro their treaty with the United States, see Quileute.

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