Flathead Indian Tribe History

Search Fold3 For Your Native American Ancestors:

Given: Surname:

Flathead. A name applied to several different tribes usually owing to the fact that they were accustomed to flatten the heads of their children artificially. In s. E. United States the Catawba and Choctaw were sometimes designated by the term Flatheads, and the custom extended to nearly all Muskhogean tribes as well as to the Natchez and the Tonika. In the N. W. the Chinook of Columbia r., many of the Vancouver id. Indians, and most of the Salish of Puget sd. and British Columbia were addicted to the practice, and the term has been applied to all as a body and to some of the separate divisions. Curiously enough, the people now known in official reports as Flat-heads the Salish proper (q. v. ) never flattened the head. Dawson implies (Trans. Roy. Soc. Can. for 1891, sec. u, 6) that they were so named (Têtes-Plates) by the first Canadian voyageurs because slaves from the coast with deformed heads were among them. For the names of the tribes to which the term has been applied, see Flatheads in the index; consult also Artificial head deformation. (J. R. S.) See Flathead Indian Allotments in Montana 1889

Indian Tribes North of Mexico |  Indian Bands, Gens, & Clans

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