A brief review of the foregoing will show that there were five native linguistic families in Kansas. The emigrant linguistic families were four in number. Two of these, however, were also native to the soil. One of them—the Siouan—occupied or claimed to own by far the greater part of Kansas … Read more
The Miamis were called Twightwees by the Early English writers. They were sometimes spoken of as the Crane people. Little Turtle, their chief, replied when asked the bounds of his country by “Mad” Anthony; “My forefather kindled the first fire at Detroit; from thence he extended his line to the … Read more
Both myth and tradition of the Wyandots say they were “created” in the region between St. James’s Bay and the coast of Labrador. All their traditions describe their ancient home as north of the mouth of the St. Lawrence. In their traditions of their migrations southward they say they came … Read more
Much concerning the early history of the Osages had already been told in the account of Pike’s expedition and the history of the Kansas. They called themselves Wa-zha-zhe. This name the French Traders corrupted to the present Osage. In historic times the tribe was divided into three bands: Pahatsi, or … Read more
The earliest map locating the Kansas Indians is that of Marquette, in 1673. Marquette did not visit the Missouri River country, but made his maps from information drawn from Indians, or perhaps adventurers who had wandered far from the feeble settlements. This map shows the Kansas tribe west of the … Read more
In 1682, the seat of the Delaware government was at Shackamaxon, now Germantown, Pennsylvania. There Penn found them and made his famous treaty with them. Although extremely warlike, they had surrendered their sovereignty to the Iroquois about 1720. They were pledged to make no war, and they were forbidden to … Read more
The Kiowas enjoy the distinction of constituting alone a linguistic family of North American Indians. The name comes from their word Ka-i-gwu, meaning “Principal People.” They lived first on the Yellowstone and the Upper Missouri. From thence they began a southern movement which brought them to notice in historic times … Read more
The Kickapoos were first mentioned in history about 1670, when they were found about the water-shed between the Wisconsin and Fox rivers. That region seems to have been their prehistoric home. They drifted to the southward in historic times, finally stopping on the Sangamon and Wabash rivers. Those dwelling on … Read more
The Kaskaskias made a treaty at Vincennes in 1803, in which it is recited that they “are the remains, and rightfully represent all the tribes of the Illinois Indians.” They ceded more than eight million acres in the heart of Illinois, reserving only three hundred and fifty acres near the … Read more
The Kansas tribe was organized along the general sociological line of North American Indians. It was separated into phratries, gentes or clans, and subgentes. There were seven phratries, sixteen gentes or clans, and probably thirty-two subgentes, though the names of twelve of these subgentes have not been preserved. The gentes … Read more