Native American Encyclopedia Massasoit To Pamunkey
On The Cover Project Consultants Mark J Johnston received his B A and M A in history from the University of Minnesota His fields of interest include European expansion and the interaction of Europeans and native cultures Scott Lyons Ph D an Ojibwe from Leech Lake teaches at Syracuse University He is also a columnist for Indian Country Today a Native American on-line and print publication 2009 Rourke Publishing LLC Detail from a painting by Karl Bodmer 1809-1893 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical including photocopying recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher Tepee in Alberta Canada Zuni girl photographed by Edward S Curtis 1903 www rourkepublishing com Photo credits Cover Photos Library of Congress V J Matthew John S Sfondilias hieroglyph illustrations on cover and headers Revva Tatsiana Pg 4 courtesy of the Library of Congress Page 5 urosr 5b franck camhi Page 7 Kevin Meyers 7b courtesy of the Library of Congress Page 9 courtesy of the Library of Congress Page 10 courtesy of the Library of Congress 10b Yellowj Page 11 courtesy of the Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture Page 12 courtesy of the Library of Congress 12b Alex Neauville Page 13 Raul654 13b Alex Covarrubias Page 14 Eric Guinther 14b courtesy of the Library of Congress Page 16 Mindaugas Dulinskas Page 18 Thomas Barrat Page 19 courtesy of the Library of Congress Page 22 James M Phelps Jr Page 23 Michael J Thompson Page 24 courtesy of the Library of Congress Page 25 AndonicO Page 26 Bill Perry Page 27 courtesy of the Library of Congress Page 28 Holly Kuchera Page 28b Nikater and ish ishwar Page 29 Bryan Eastham Page 30 Biggins Page 31 Steven Allan Page 33 Xiaphias Page 34 courtesy of the Library of Congress Page 36 Walden69 Page 38 Jason Cheever Page 40 Jim Parkin Page 42 Elena Fernandez Zabelguelskaya Page 43 Edward S Curtis collection courtesy of the Library of Congress 43b kml Page 45 Courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries The University of Texas at Austin 45b Jill Lang Pages 46 thru 48 courtesy of the Library of Congress Page 49 Nikater 49b courtesy of the Library of Congress Page 54 Nikater Pages 56 thru 62 art by Charles Reasoner Also the author thanks historian Mark J Johnston Editor Meg Greve Cover and page design by Nicola Stratford Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sepehri Sandy Rourke's Native American history culture encyclopedia Sandy Sepehri p cm Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-1-60472-421-9 alk paper 1 Indians of North America Encyclopedias Juvenile I Title II Title Rourke's Native American history and culture encyclopedia III Title Native American history culture encyclopedia E76 2 S46 2009 970 004'97 dc22 2008034816 Volume 6 of 10 ISBN 978-1-60472-712-8 Printed in the USA Anasazi cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde National Park Colorado CG CG www rourkepublishing com rourke rourkepublishing com Post Office Box 3328 Vero Beach FL 32964
Introduction In 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed from Europe to North America and changed the world forever Soon people from crowded European cities learned of the New World a big beautiful place where they could hunt farm and worship in freedom For the millions of people already living there however this world was not new it was home Their ancestors had been living on the American continents for thousands of years They had their own rich civilizations languages and cultures Columbus called them Indians thinking he had reached India Today in the United States they are called Native Americans and in Canada they are called First Peoples They are further categorized by their tribal names such as Cherokee Mohawk or Hopi Translated into English many tribal names simply mean The People As this name implies they were the people of the land the only people Then Europeans came to North America Colonists settled the eastern coast of North America and later established the United States Then pioneers arrived and moved to new areas west of the colonies The incoming Europeans brought a hunger for more land They also brought diseases for which the Native Americans had no immunity During a period of four hundred years after the arrival of Columbus both the Native Americans and the settlers faced immense challenges During this time millions of Native Americans died from disease and war Since the 1900s however their populations have grown and much of their culture has survived This encyclopedia series presents significant people and events in the history of Native Americans from the arrival of the Europeans to present-day events 1 2 3 4 1 People are listed with their last name first 2 The entries reference over 200 Native American tribes They are listed by their most familiar name A pronunciation chart is provided for many of the tribe names on page 64 3 Cross-references direct you to additional information related to a topic 4 Words to Know glossary is embedded in the text to help you pronounce and understand unfamiliar words
4 Massasoit Meet Massasoit Massasoit about 1581-1661 also known as Ousamequin meaning Yellow Feather the grand sachem of the Wampanoag lived at the time of the first English colonies in the New World Smallpox reduced the Wampanoag population by 75 percent and left them defenseless against enemy tribes In order to strengthen their numbers Massasoit meaning great sachem allowed the Plymouth pilgrims to live on Wampanoag land The Pilgrims who had come to depend on the tribe for survival invited the Wampanoag to their fall harvest celebration called the First Thanksgiving The Pilgrims later fulfilled Massasoit’s hope that friendship with them would help his own tribe when they joined the Wampanoag in a defense against an attack by the Narragansett As long as Massasoit lived the tribe kept the peace with the English colonists March 1621 Makes treaty with Pilgrims Fall 1621 Celebrates first Thanksgiving 1661 Dies sons Wamsutta then Metacomet become grand sachems 1632 Leads defense against Narragansett Mathews John Joseph 1894 1979 an Osage attended universities in Oklahoma England and Switzerland He words to know wrote books about Native American struggles and Osage life including Sundown and Talking to the Moon He also helped the Osage claim the rights to the oil and natural gas found on their land in Oklahoma historians hiss-TOR-ee-ihnz people who study old records in order to piece together the past history experts human sacrifice HEW-muhn SAK-ruh-fyes an offering of blood flesh or the life of a person to please or show respect for a god or supernatural being sachem SAY-chum a chief over several villages or bands sophisticated suh-FIHS-tuh-kay-tihd advanced for their time Matrilineal descent traces the kinship of a person through his or her mother and her female ancestors In a society that uses a matrilineal descent system children belong to the mother’s clan or family group
Maya 5 Maya descended from the ancient Olmec people lived in the rainforests of Central America for hundreds of years Historians divide this time into three periods the Preclassic Classic and Postclassic Preclassic Maya lived among the Olmec Classic Maya lived in what is now Guatemala Postclassic Maya lived in the Yucatán Peninsula of eastern Mexico Mayans divided their societies into classes including rulers religious leaders government workers craftspeople farmers and slaves Classic and Postclassic Maya built important religious and trade centers called city-states The ruins of some city states still exist including Tikal and Palenque The recent discovery of sophisticated Preclassic ruins show that they too had a flourishing culture Historians do not know the exact reasons for the Mayan decline but suspect war and crop failure Plains peoples actively managed the land for native plants and animals They set the Preclassic A D 300 Classic A D 900 Postclassic A D 1500 FACT FILE This temple shows the stone architecture of the Maya Mayan farmers built rectangular homes with rounded corners and thatched roofs Language They spoke the Mayan language Location They occupied Mesoamerica particularly the Yucatán Peninsula Guatemala Belize western Honduras and El Salvador Diet They planted corn beans squash chili peppers and cassava a kind of melon Housing The Maya built stone palaces and pyramid temples Farmers lived in simple pole and grass houses outside the cities Customs Priests performed sacred ceremonies Interesting Fact Mayan writings include history science and math The Maya developed their own calendars and even built observatories to study the stars and planets
