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Pennsylvania
Indian Tribes
Delaware.
In early times this tribe occupied the eastern parts of Pennsylvania along
Delaware River; later they were, for a time, on the Susquehanna and the
headwaters of the Ohio. (See New Jersey.)
Erie. The Erie
extended over the extreme northwestern corner of the State. (See
Ohio.)
Honniasont. An Iroquois term meaning "Wearing something round the
neck." Also called: Black Minqua, the word "black" said to refer to "a
black badge on their breast," while "Minqua" indicated their relationship
to the White Minqua, or Susquehanna (q. v.).
Connections. The
Honniasont belonged to the Iroquoian linguistic family.
Location. On the upper
Ohio and its branches in western Pennsylvania and the neighboring parts of
Wet Virginia and Ohio. (See also Ohio.)
History. The Honniasont
appear first as a tribe which assisted the Susquehanna in war and traded
with the Dutch, but a little later fey are reported to have been destroyed
by the Susquehanna and Seneca. The remnant seems to have settled among the
Seneca, and a Minqua town, probably occupied by their descendants, is
mentioned from time to time among the latter and in the neighborhood of
their former country.
Population. This is
unknown, but as late as 1662 the Honniasont must have been fairly numerous
if the testimony of five Susquehanna chiefs taken in that year is to be
relied upon, which was to the effect that they were then expecting 800
Honniasont warriors to join them.
Iroquois. In very early times these Indians entered
Pennsylvania only as hunters and warriors, but at a later period they made
numerous settlements in the State. (See New
York.)
Saluda. A band of "Saluda" Indians from South Carolina moved to
Conestoga in the eighteenth century. They may have been Shawnee. (See
South Carolina.)
Saponi. The majority of the Saponi lived at Shamokin for a few
years some time after 1740 but then continued on to join the Iroquois.
(See Virginia.)
Shawnee. Bands of Shawnee were temporarily located at Conestoga,
Sewickley, and other points in Pennsylvania. (See
Tennessee.)
Susquehanna. A shortened form of Susquehannock, meaning unknown.
Villages
Akhrakouaehronon, given in Jesuit Relations, from a town
name. See Atra'kwae'ronnons' below.
Andaste or Conestoga, from Kanastoge, "at the place of the immersed pole."
Atra'kwae'ronnons, from the name of a town, and probably signifying "at
the place of the sun," or "at the south."
Minqua, from an Algonquian word meaning "stealthy," "treacherous."
White Minqua, to distinguish them from the Black Minqua. (See Honniasont
above.)
Connections. The
Susquehanna belonged to the Iroquoian linguistic stock.
Location. On the
Susquehanna River in New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
Subdivisions
Originally Susquehanna may have been the name of a
confederacy of tribes rather than a single tribe. Hewitt (in Hodge, 1910)
suggests that the Wyoming (in the territory about the present Wyoming) may
have been such a subtribe. The barely mentioned Wysox, on a small creek
flowing into the Susquehanna at the present Wysox, was perhaps another.
Mention is made of the Turtle, Fox, and Wolf "families," evidently clans,
and of the Ohongeeoquena, Unquehiett, Kaiquariegahaga, Usququhaga, and
Seconondihago "nations," also perhaps clans.
Villages
Smith (1884) mentions several,
but Hewitt (in Hodge, 1910) is of the opinion that the names really belong
to independent tribes. Champlain says that there were more than 20
villages, though the only one named is Carantouan, thought to have been on
the site of the present Waverly, N. Y.
History. When encountered
by the English, French, and Dutch early in the seventeenth century, the
Susquehanna were a numerous people, but even then they were at war with
the Iroquois by whom they were conquered in 1676 and forced to settle near
the Oneida in New York. Later they were allowed to return to the
Susquehanna River and reoccupy their ancient country, but they wasted away
steadily and in 1763 the remnant, consisting of 20 persons, was massacred
by Whites inflamed with accounts of Indian atrocities on the far frontier.
Population. Mooney (1928)
estimates that the Susquehanna numbered 5,000 in 1600. In 1648 they are
said to have had 550 warriors.
Connection in which they have
become noted. The name Susquehanna is perpetuated in that of the
Susquehanna River and in the names of a county and a town. Conestoga is
the designation of two places in Lancaster County, Pa., and one in Chester
County, and was given to a widely used type of wagon.
Tuscarora. These Indians on their way to join the
Iroquois bands of New York stopped from time to time in the Susquehanna
Valley. (See North Carolina.)
Tutelo. Most of these Indians lived at Shamokin with the Saponi and
accompanied them to the Iroquois Nation. (See
Virginia.)
Wenrohronon. This tribe occupied some parts of the State along the
northwestern border. (See New York.)
Additional Pennsylvania
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