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!
Preface, Handbook of American Indians North of
Mexico
The need of a comprehensive work on the
subject has been felt ever since scientific
interest in the Indians was first aroused.
Man} r lists of tribes have been published,
but the scientific student, as well as the
general reader, until the present time has
been practically without the means of
knowing any more about a given confederacy,
tribe, clan, or settlement of Indians than
was to be gleaned from casual references to
it.
The work of which this Handbook is an
outgrowth had its inception as early as
1873, when Prof. Otis T. Mason, now of the
United States National Museum, began the
preparation of a list of the tribal names
mentioned in the vast literature pertaining
to the Indians, and in due time several
thousand names were recorded, with
references to the works in which they
appear. The work was continued by him until
after the establishment of the Bureau, when
other duties compelled its suspension. Later
the task was assigned to Col. Garrick
Mallery, who, however, soon abandoned it for
investigations in a field which proved to be
his life work, namely, the pictography and
sign language of the American Indians.
Meanwhile Mr. James Mooney was engaged in
compiling a similar list of tribes, with
their synonymy, classified chiefly on a
geographic basis and covering the entire
Western Hemi sphere a work begun in 1873 and
continued for twelve years before either he
or the members of the Bureau of American
Ethnology knew of the labors of each other
in this field.
Soon after the organization of the Bureau
inl8Y9, the work of recording a tribal
synonymy was formally assigned to Mr. Henry
W. Henshaw. Up to this time a complete
linguistic classification of the tribes
north of Mexico, particularly in the West
and Northwest, was not possible, since
sufficient data had not been gathered for
determining their linguistic affinities. Mr.
Henshaw soon perceived that a linguistic
classification of the Indian tribes, a work
long contemplated by Major Powell, must
precede and form the basis for a tribal
synonymy, and to him, therefore, as a
necessary preliminary, was entrusted the
supervision of such a linguistic
classification. By 1885 the Bureau s
researches in this direction had reached a
stage that warranted the grouping of
practically all the known tribes by
linguistic stocks. This classification is
published in the Seventh Annual Report of
the Bureau, and on it is based, with few
exceptions, the present Handbook.
Immediately on the completion of the
linguistic classification, the entire force
of the Bureau, under Mr. Henshaw s immediate
direction, was assigned to the work that had
now grown into a Dictionary arid Synonymy of
the Indian Tribes North of Mexico. As his
special field Mr. Henshaw devoted attention
to several of the Californian stocks, and to
those of the North Pacific coast, north of
Oregon, including the Eskimo. To Mr. Mooney
were given the great and historically
important Algonquian and Iroquoian families,
and through his wide general knowledge of
Indian history and customs he rendered aid
in many other directions. A list of
Linguistic Families of the Indian Tribes
North of Mexico, with Provisional List of
the Principal Tribal Names and Synonyms (55
pp., octavo), was at once printed for use by
the collaborators of the Bureau in
connection with the complete compilation,
and although the list does not include the
Californian tribes, it proved of great
service in the earlier stages of the work.
The 2,500 tribal names and synonyms
appearing in this list were taken chiefly
from Mr. Mooney s manuscript; the linguistic
classification was the result of the work
that the Bureau had been conducting under
Mr. Henshaw's supervision.
Rev. J. Owen Dorsey assumed charge of the
work on the Siouan, Caddoan, and Athapascan
stocks; Dr W. J. Hoffman, under the personal
direction of Major Powell, devoted his
energies to the Shoshonean family, and Mr.
Jeremiah Curtin, by reason of his
familiarity with a number of the Californian
tribes, rendered direct aid to Mr. Henshaw
in that field. Dr Albert S. Gatschet
employed his time arid long experience in
the preparation of the material pertaining
to the Muskhogean tribes of southeastern
United States, the Yuman tribes of the lower
Colorado drainage and of Lower California,
and various smaller linguistic groups. To
Col. Garrick Mallery were assigned the
French authors bearing on the general
subject. With such aid the work, received a
pronounced impetus, and before the close of
1885 a large body of additional material had
been recorded. Four years later the
elaboration of the material pertaining to
the Yuman, Piman, Keresan, Tanoan, and Zuñian
stocks of the extreme Southwest was placed
in charge of Mr. F. W. Hodge, who brought it
to completion.
The work was continued under Mr. Henshaw s
supervision until, in 1893, ill health
compelled his abandonment of the task. This
is the more to be regretted as Mr. Henshaw
had in course of preparation a
classification and nomenclature of the minor
divisions of the linguistic stocks, which is
essential to a proper presentation and a
clear under standing of the subject. After
Mr. Henshaw s relinquishment of the work, Mr
Hodge was given entire charge of it. But
other official duties of members of the
staff prevented the Handbook as a whole from
making marked progress until 1899, when Dr
Cyrus Thomas was entrusted with the task of
revising the recorded material bearing on
the Algonquian, Siouan, and Muskhogean
families.
In 1902 the work on the Handbook was again
systematically taken up, at the instance of
Secretary Langley, who detailed Mr Hodge, at
that time connected immediately with the
Smithsonian Institution, to undertake its
general editorial supervision. The scope of
the subject-matter was enlarged to include
the relations between the aborigines and the
Government; their archeology, manners,
customs, arts, and industries; brief
biographies of Indians of note; and words of
aboriginal origin that have found their wa}
r into the English language. It was proposed
also to include Indian names that are purely
geographic, but by reason of the vast number
of these it was subsequently deemed
advisable to embody them eventually in an
independent work. Moreover, it was provided
that the work should be illustrated as
adequately as time and the illustrative
material available would admit, a feature
not originally contemplated. To fully cover
this vast field at the present time is
impossible, by reason of the fact that
research among the native tribes,
notwithstanding the extensive and important
work that has been accomplished in recent
years, has not advanced far beyond the first
stage, even when is taken into account the
sum of knowledge derived from the researches
of the Bureau and of other institutions, as
well as of individuals.
The lack of completeness of our present
knowledge of the tribes was, perhaps, never
better shown than when an attempt was made
to carry out the enlarged plan of the
Handbook. With its limited force the Bureau
could scarcely hope to cover the entire
range of the subject within a reasonable
time; consequently various specialists not
directly connected with the Bureau were
invited to assist an invitation that was
accepted in a manner most gratifying. It is
owing to the generous aid of these students
that a work so complete as the Handbook is
intended to be was made possible, and to
them the Bureau owes its deep appreciation.
That the Handbook has many imperfections
there is no doubt, but it is hoped that in
future editions the weak points may be
strengthened and the gaps filled, until, as
researches among the tribes are continued,
the compilation will eventually represent a
complete summary of existing knowledge
respecting the aborigines of northern
America.
The scope of the Handbook is as
comprehensive as its function necessitates.
It treats of all the tribes north of Mexico,
including the Eskimo, and those tribes south
of the boundary more or less affiliated with
those in the United States. It has been the
aim to give a brief description of every
linguistic stock, confederacy, tribe,
subtribe or tribal division, and settlement
known to history or even to tradition, as
well as the origin; and derivation of ever
name treated, whenever such is known, and to
record under each every form of the name and
every other appellation that could be
learned. These synonyms, in alphabetic
order, are assembled as cross references in
Part 2.
Under the tribal descriptions a brief
account of the ethnic relations of the
tribe, its history, its location at various
periods, statistics of population, etc., are
included. Accompanying each synonym (the
earliest known date always being given) a
reference to the authority is noted, and
these references form practically a
bibliography of the! tribe for those who
desire to pursue the subject further. It is
not claimed that every spelling of every
tribal name that occurs in print is, given,
but it is believed that a sufficient number
of forms is recorded to enable the student
to identify practically every name by which
any group of Indians has been known, as well
as to trace the origin of many of the terms
that have been incorporated into our
geographic nomenclature.
In many instances the treatises are
satisfactorily illustrated; in others, much
necessarily has been left to a future
edition in order that the present
publication m&y not be further delayed. The
work of illustration was entrusted largely
to Mr. De Lancey Gill.
The contributors to Part 1, in addition to
those who have rendered valued assistance by
affording information, correcting proofs,
and in other ways, are as follows, the names
being arranged in the alphabetical order of
the initials attached to the signed
articles:
A. C. F. Alice C. Fletcher of Washington.
A. F. C. Alexander F. Chamberlain of Clark
University.
A. H. A. Hrdlicka of the United States
National Museum.
A. L. D. Anna L. Dawes of Pittsfield, Mass.
A. L. K. A. L. Kroeber of the University of,
California.
A. S. G. Albert S. Gatschet, formerly of the
Bureau of American Ethnology,
C. M. F. Cora M. Folsom of the Hampton
Normal and Agricultural Institute, Hampton,
Va.
C. T. Cyrus Thomas of the Bureau of American
Ethnology.
E. G. PI Elaine Goodale Eastman of Amherst,
Mass.
E. L. H. Edgar L. Hewett of Washington.
F. B. Franz Boas of Columbia University.
F. H. Frank Huntington, formerly of the
Bureau of American Ethnology.
F. H. C. The late Frank Hamilton Gushing of
the Bureau of American Ethnology.
F. V. C. F. V. Colville of the United States
Department of Agriculture.
F. W. H. F. W. Hodge of the Bureau of
American Ethnology.
G. A. D. George A. Dorsey of the Field
Museum of Natural History.
G. B. G. George Bird Grinnell of New
York.
G. F. Gerard Fowke of Saint Louis.
G. P. M. George P. Merrill of the United
States National Museum.
H. E. B. Herbert E. Bolton of the University
of Texas.
H. W. H. Henry W. Henshaw, formerly of the
Bureau of American Ethnology.
J. C. The late Jeremiah Curtin of the Bureau
of American Ethnology.
J. D. M. Joseph D. McGuire of Washington.
J. H. D. Josiah H. Dortch of the Office of
Indian Affairs.
J. M. James Mooney of the Bureau of American
Ethnology.
J. McL. James McLaughlin of the Office of
Indian Affairs.
J. N. B. H. J. N. B. Hewitt of the Bureau of
American Ethnology.
J. O. D. The late J. Owen Dorsey of the
Bureau of American Ethnology.
J. K. S. John R. Swanton of the Bureau of
American Ethnology.
J. W. F. J. Walter Fewkes of the Bureau of
American Ethnology.
L. F. Livingston Farrand of Columbia
University.
M. E. G. Merrill E. Gates of the Board of
Indian Commissioners.
M. K. S. M. K. Sniffen of the Indian Rights
Association.
O. T. M. Otis T. Mason of the United States
National Museum.
P. PI B. Paul Edmond Beckwith of the United
States National Museum.
P. E. G. P. E. Goddard of the University of
California.
R. B. D. Roland B. Dixon of Harvard
University.
R. H. L. Robert H. Lowie of New York.
S. A. B. S. A. Barrett of the University of
California.
S. C. Stewart Culin of the Brooklyn
Institute Museum.
S. M. B. S. M. Brosius of the Indian Rights
Association.
W. E. Wilberforce Eames of the New York
Public Library,
W. H. Walter Hough of the United States
National Museum.
W. H. H. William H. Holmes of the Bureau of
American Ethnology.
W. J. William Jones of the Field Museum of
Natural History.
W. M. The late Washington Matthews, United
States Army.
F. W. Hodge
Bureau of American Ethnology
December, 1906.
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
