Native Americans:Historic:Glossary

abrader [n]	A rock, often made of sandstone, lined with grooves created by grinding the edges of other bone or stone tools.
adaptation [n]	An adjustment or modification of the structure or behavior of an organism that makes it more suited to its environment.
adolescence [n]	The transitional period in human development between puberty and adulthood.
agriculture [n]	A system of food production involving the cultivation of domesticated crops.
alabaster [n]	A fine-grained variety of gypsum, often white and translucent.
Algonquian [n]	A family of languages spoken by American Indians who lived historically in an area extending from Labrador westward to the Rocky Mountains, and southward from Michigan to Illinois.
archaeological site [n]	A place on the landscape containing the material remains of one or more former human occupations, including camp sites, villages, burial mounds, and ceremonial centers. When a site is recorded by an archaeologist, it is given a name and a catalog number. For example, the Zimmerman site, a village occupied historically by the Kaskaskia Illinois Indians, is named for the Zimmerman family, which owned the land when the site was excavated in 1947. The Zimmerman site is also identified in a state-wide site catalog maintained by the Illinois State Museum as site 11LS13. This code indicates that Zimmerman is located in the State of Illinois (alphabetically, Illinois is the 11^th of the 48 contiguous states in the United States), it is located in La Salle County (code=LS), and it was the 13^th site recorded by archaeologists in that county.
archaeology [n]	The scientific study of historic or prehistoric peoples and their cultures by analysis of their artifacts, inscriptions, monuments, and other such remains.
art [n]	Objects created by humans that have aesthetic value or express symbolic meaning, including drawings, paintings, and sculpture.
artifact [n]	Any object made or altered by a human for subsequent use.
bale seal [n]	An embossed emblem or symbol, historically made of lead, which is attached to a package of objects as evidence of ownership or authenticity.
beamer [n]	A tool, commonly made from the lower leg bone (metapodial) of a bison or elk, that was used to scrape animal hides.
bifacial [adj]	Having the opposite surfaces alike, as in a chipped-stone artifact with flakes removed from both sides.
bustard [n]	A name given by early French explorers and missionaries to a large water bird, probably the Canada goose (Branta canadensis).
Cahokia [n]	A tribe of American Indians that formed part of the Illinois nation (see Illinois). In the late 1600s and early 1700s, the Cahokia tribe occupied the central portion of Illinois territory along the Mississippi River in the American Bottom region of southwestern Illinois. Members of the tribe occupied the first terrace of Monks Mound, a large prehistoric earthen mound in the American Bottom, from 1725-1752 (River L'Abbe Mission site). The Cahokia were later absorbed by the Peoria tribe. Today, their descendents are represented by the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma.
calumet [n]	A long, ornamented tobacco pipe used by American Indians on ceremonial occasions, often as a symbol of peace.
Catlinite [n]	A red pipestone, composed of hardened clay, that was carved by American Indians to create pipes, pendants, and other objects. Catlinite was named for George Catlin (1796-1872), the American painter, who described the quarry location in southern Minnesota.
cede [v]	To formally surrender ownership or control of something to another party, as in the cession of land by treaty.
climatologist [n]	A scientist who studies climates or climatic conditions.
coalition [n]	A union or alliance of persons, factions, or tribes, which may be temporary.
communal [adj]	Used or shared in common with everyone in a group.
composite [n]	A member of the Compositae, a family of plants (including the daisy, dandelion, and aster) in which the florets (small flowers) are borne in a close head surrounded by a common rosette of bracts (specialized leaves).
cosmology [n]	A philosophy or set of beliefs regarding the origin and general structure of the universe.
council [n]	An assembly of people meeting to consult, deliberate, or advise on a certain issue.
cult hero [n]	A person or thing, real or mythological, which is greatly venerated or revered by a body of admirers.
culture [n]	The learned patterns of thought and behavior characteristic of a population or society. The main components of a culture include its economic, social, and belief systems.
cutlass [n]	A short, heavy sword with a slightly curved blade.
decorative art [n]	Objects of fine art that serve to decorate or adorn.
deity [n]	A supernatural divinity, god, or goddess.
dialect [n]	A variety of a language that is distinguished from other varieties of the same language by differences in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. The speakers of a dialect are usually set apart from others geographically or socially.
disarticulated [adj]	Disjointed, as when the bones of a body become separated from one another and are no longer in their natural anatomical position.
dugout [n]	A boat made by hollowing out a log.
economy [n]	The production, distribution, and consumption or use of material goods and services.
effigy [n]	A representation or image of a person or animal, as in a three-dimensional carving, molding, or sculpture.
egalitarian [adj]	A type of social organization that assumes the equality of all people, in which every individual has an equal opportunity to obtain resources and the esteem of others in leadership activities.
elongate [n]	A long or extended object.
emigrant [n]	A person who leaves one country or region to settle in another.
endangered [adj]	A species of organism that is in danger of becoming extinct or extirpated from a certain area.
ethnic group [n]	A group of people of the same race or nationality who share a common and distinctive culture.
extinct [adj]	A species of organism that has no living representatives.
extirpated [adj]	A species of organism that no longer lives in a certain portion of its total range.
feature [n]	A prominent or conspicuous part of an archaeological site, such as a house, storage pit, or human burial.
flageolet [n]	A small, end-blown flute with four finger holes in front and two in the rear.
flammable [adj]	Easily set on fire; combustible.
foraging [n]	A system of food collection based on hunting, fishing, and the gathering of wild plant foods.
Fox (Mesquakie) [n]	A tribe of American Indians that speaks an Algonquian language (Sauk-Fox) related to the Kickapoo language. The Fox, who call themselves the Mesquakie or "red-earth" people, lived historically in what is today southern Wisconsin, northwestern Illinois, and eastern Iowa. They became allied with the Sauk tribe in the 1730s, but separated from the Sauk in the 1850s. Today the Fox maintain a reservation near Tama, Iowa, and are known as the Sax & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa.
gait [n]	A manner of walking, stepping, or running.
garrison [n]	A body of troops stationed in a fortified place.
garter [n]	A strap of cloth, leather, or hair worn around the leg. Among the Illinois, garters were decorative and did not serve to hold up a stocking.
genus [n]	A major subdivision of a family or subfamily in the biological classification of plants and animals, consisting of one or more species.
gorget [n]	A large ornament worn on a cord worn around the neck. European officers wore crescent-shaped gorgets as a sign of rank in the 17^th and 18^th centuries.
granitic [adj]	Composed of granite or granite-like rock; a textural term applied to coarse- and medium-grained, granular igneous rocks.
harangue [n]	A long, passionate, and vehement speech, especially one delivered before a public gathering.
ideology [n]	The consciously shared ideas and beliefs that members of a society have about themselves and the world around them.
Illinois [n]	A nation of related American Indian tribes (including the Cahokia, Kaskaskia, Michigamea, Peoria, and Tamaroa tribes) that spoke an Algonquian language (Miami-Illinois). The Illinois (=Illiniwek) historically occupied a vast territory in the central Mississippi River valley in the present states of Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas. Their population and territory shrank during the 1700s because of warfare and disease. The descendants of the Illinois are represented by the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, which maintains its headquarters in Miami, Oklahoma.
Illiniwek [n]	A name sometimes applied to the Illinois nation of American Indian tribes (see Illinois)
immunity [n]	The state of being immune from or not susceptible to a particular disease.
impermeable [adj]	Does not permit the passage of fluid through its pores or interstices.
Ioway [n]	A tribe of American Indians that speaks a Siouan language (Chiwere) also spoken by the Missouri and Oto tribes. The Ioway lived historically in the present state of Iowa and established villages near the Mississippi River in western Illinois during the late 1700s. Some descendants of the Ioway live on a reservation that spans the Kansas-Nebraska border; others live in Oklahoma.
Jesuit [n]	A member of a Roman Catholic religious order (Society of Jesus) founded by Ignatius Loyola in 1534.
Kaskaskia [n]	A tribe of American Indians that formed part of the Illinois nation (see Illinois). In the late 1600s, the Kaskaskia tribe occupied the northeastern portion of Illinois territory in the upper Illinois River valley southwest of Lake Michigan. French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet visited the Grand Village of Kaskaskia (Zimmerman site) on their famous voyage in 1673. The Kaskaskia vacated the Illinois River in 1700 when they moved to the mouth of the Kaskaskia River in southwestern Illinois. They remained in that area until the early 1800s, when they signed treaties ceding their land east of the Mississippi River. Today, their descendants are represented by the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma.
keelboat [n]	A roughly built, shallow freight boat, formerly used on the Mississippi River and its tributaries, having a keel to permit sailing into the wind.
Kickapoo [n]	A tribe of American Indians that speaks an Algonquian language (Kickapoo) related to the Saux-Fox language. The Kickapoo resided in southern Wisconsin at the time of European contact but moved to central Illinois during the 1700s. Descendants of the Kickapoo maintain tribal headquarters in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Mexico.
kilometer [n]	A metric unit of length equal to 1,000 meters; equivalent to 3,280.8 feet or 0.621 mile.
lacrosse [n]	A game, originated by American Indians, in which two teams attempt to send a small ball into each other's goal, each player being equipped with a crosse or stick at the end of which is a netted pocket for catching, carrying, or throwing the ball.
league [n]	A unit of distance that varied at different times and in different countries; among French explorers and colonists in North America, a league was equivalent to about 3-5 kilometers or 2-3 miles.
legume [n]	Any plant of the family Leguminosae, including beans, sennas, and mimosas, which have seed pods that divide into two parts or valves.
longhouse [n]	A communal dwelling of the Iroquois and other American Indian peoples, consisting of a wooden framework up to 30 meters (100 feet) in length and covered with sheets of bark or reed mats.
Louisiana [n]	A French colony in North America (Fr., Louisiane), claimed at the mouth of the Mississippi River in April 1682 by René-Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle, and named in honor of Louis XIV, King of France. The colony had indefinite boundaries consisting of the entire drainage basin of the Mississippi River.
magazine [n]	A building or place for keeping military stores, such as arms, ammunition, explosives, and provisions.
manitou [n]	A supernatural being that controls nature, common in the belief systems of Algonquian-speaking American Indians. Among the Illinois, manitous were personal spirits that took the form of a bison, bear, wolf, or some other animal, and which allowed a person to communicate with the supreme deity, Kitchesmanetoa.
mano [n]	A hand-held stone, often granitic, used with a metate to grind dried corn or other plant foods.
Mascouten [n]	A tribe of American Indians that spoke an Algonquian language (probably Kickapoo). The Mascouten lived in southern Michigan in the early 1600s but had moved to southern Wisconsin by the time of European contact in the 1660s. They lived in eastern Illinois and western Indiana in association with the Kickapoo tribe during the 1700s and were incorporated by the Kickapoo in the early 1800s.
medicine bag [n]	Among the Illinois, a special container used by a shaman to carry medicine or symbols of animal spirits used for treating illness.
mesic [adj]	Of or pertaining to an environment with a balanced supply of moisture (wetter than xeric; drier than hydric).
metate [n]	A large stone with a broad trough or groove, used with a mano to grind dried corn or other plant foods.
Miami [n]	A nation, and later a tribe, of American Indians that spoke an Algonquian language (Miami-Illinois). In the 1670s, the Miami formed a nation of six tribes (including the Atchatchakangouen, Kilatika, Mengakonkia, Peikokia, Piankashaw, and Wea tribes) that lived in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. The Miami became a tribe in the early 1700s, when several of its constituent groups merged or disappeared and the Miami moved to the upper regions of the Wabash and Maumee river systems in eastern Indiana. Today, the Miami tribe maintains its headquarters in Miami, Oklahoma.
Michigamea [n]	A tribe of American Indians that formed part of the Illinois nation (see Illinois). In the late 1600s, the Michigamea tribe occupied the southern portion of Illinois territory in northeastern Arkansas. By 1700 they had moved north to the Mississippi River in the American Bottom region of southwestern Illinois. They established a series of villages near a French fort (Fort de Chartes), including one fortified village (Waterman site) that has been excavated by archaeologists. The Michigamea merged with the Kaskaskia tribe during the late 1700s. Today, their descendants are represented by the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma.
middlemen [n]	Persons who play intermediate economic roles between producers and consumers.
militia [n]	A group of citizen soldiers enrolled for military service, which serves full time only in emergencies.
mosaic [n]	Something made up of many fragments or diverse elements, as in a picture or decoration made of small pieces of inlaid stone or glass, or an environment composed of different elements such as prairie, forest, and wetland habitats.
mound [n]	An elevation formed of earth, sand, or stones that may be natural or artificial.
music [n]	Vocal or instrumental sounds that express ideas and emotions through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and/or color.
nation (Indian) [n]	A group of related American Indian tribes associated with a particular territory.
oral tradition [n]	A statement, belief, legend, or custom that is handed down from generation to generation by word of mouth.
oxidize [v]	To convert an element to its oxide by combining it with oxygen. For example, one of the naturally occurring oxides of iron (Fe) is ferric oxide (Fe₂ O₃), also called rust or hematite.
paddle-and-anvil technique [n]	A technique used to form a pottery vessel in which the potter holds a supporting tool, the anvil, on the inside of the vessel while striking the outside with a paddle, usually made of wood.
palisade [n]	A defensive enclosure consisting of a fence of stakes or poles set firmly in the ground.
pendant [n]	A hanging or suspended ornament, such as an earring or the main piece in a necklace.
Peoria [n]	A tribe of American Indians that formed part of the Illinois nation (see Illinois). In the late 1600s, the Peoria tribe occupied the northwestern portion of Illinois territory along tributaries of the Mississippi River in southeastern Iowa and northeastern Missouri. French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet visited a large Peoria village near the mouth of the Des Moines River on their famous voyage of exploration in 1673. The Peoria later moved east to the Illinois River valley and, in 1691, established a village near the present city of Peoria, Illinois. The tribe abandoned the Illinois Valley by the 1760s, when they moved south to the Mississippi River in southwestern Illinois and eastern Missouri. The Peoria tribe ceded its lands east of the Mississippi River in a treaty signed with the U.S. government in 1818. Today, their descendants are represented by the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma.
phoneme [n]	The basic units of meaningful spoken sound in a language, by which morphemes, words, and sentences are constructed. Languages usually have about 20-60 phonemes, which are different in each language. For example, 'p' and 'b' are recognized as different phonemes in the English language because they not only represent different sounds, but also carry different meanings (as in pit versus bit).
Piankashaw [n]	A tribe of American Indians that spoke an Algonquian language (Miami-Illinois). In the 1670s, the Piankashaw were one of the six constituent tribes of the Miami nation living in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. The Piankashaw became independent of the Miami in the early 1700s and resided in southeastern Illinois and southern Indiana. In the 1800s, the Piankashaw and Wea tribes merged with remnants of the Illinois nation to form a group that later became the Peoria Tribe of Oklahoma.
piasa [n]	The name given to a Native American rock painting (pictograph) seen and described in 1673 by Jacques Marquette near present Alton, Illinois, which depicts a monster with antlers, a human-like face, a body covered with scales, and a long tail. The piasa is similar to the water spirit of the Winnebago tribe, the Uktena of the Cherokee tribe, and the Water Cougar of the Seminole tribe, all powerful deities associated with water and the Lower World.
portage [n]	The act (or place) of carrying boats and cargo overland from one navigable stream or lake to another.
Potawatomi [n]	A tribe of American Indians that spoke an Algonquian language (Potawatomi) related to languages spoken by the Chippewa-Ojibwa and Ottawa tribes. The Potawatomi probably lived in southern Michigan prior to European contact, but had moved to the Door Peninsula of eastern Wisconsin by the 1660s. In the 1700s, they expanded southward into Illinois and Indiana. Today, the Potawatomi maintain tribal headquarters in Kansas, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin.
powwow [n]	A secular (non-religious) event usually hosted by an American Indian tribe that features group singing and social dancing by men, women, and children.
quiver [n]	A cylindrical case for holding or carrying arrows.
recorder [n]	An end-blown flute having a special mouthpiece (fipple) and a soft, mellow tone.
roach [n]	A hair style in which a ridge of hair down the center of the scalp is clipped to a uniform length and stands erect.
Sauk [n]	A tribe of American Indians that speaks an Algonquian language (Sauk-Fox) related to the Kickapoo language. The Sauk probably lived in the Saginaw Valley of Michigan in the early 1600s, but they had moved to the Green Bay region of eastern Wisconsin by the time of European contact in the 1670s. They became allied with the Fox (Mesquakie) tribe in the 1730s and established themselves along the Mississippi River in southwestern Wisconsin, northwestern Illinois, and eastern Iowa prior to their removal to reservation lands west of the Mississippi in the 1830s. The Sauk currently maintain tribal headquarters in Oklahoma and Kansas.
savage [n]	A term commonly applied to American Indians by Europeans (Fr. sauvage), meaning wild or uncivilized.
scaffold [n]	An elevated wooden platform sometimes used by American Indians as a structure for temporarily holding human remains prior to burial.
sedge [n]	Rushlike or grasslike plants of the family Cyperaceae, which often grow in wet places and usually have a triangular stem with a pith (not hollow) and a small, hard, dry, one-seeded fruit (achene). Examples include sedges (Carex sp.), the lean sedge (Cyperus strigosus), the slender spikerush (Eleocharis acicularis), and the American bulrush (Scirpus americanus).
semi-cylindrical [adj]	Having the shape of half a cylinder, divided lengthwise.
semi-sedentary [adj]	The practice of residing at one or two established locations during most of the year, but occupying temporary encampments during part of the year.
shaft wrench [n]	An elongate, perforated tool, often made of bone, used to straighten the shaft of an arrow or spear.
shaman [n]	A person who mediates between people and the spirit world, in which case the practitioner's authority is dependent upon his or her own personal ability.
Shawnee [n]	A tribe of American Indians that speaks an Algonquian language (Shawnee). The Shawnee are commonly associated with land in southern Ohio, where many members of the tribe lived in the late 1700s and where the tribe may have been located prior to European contact. However, during much of the contact period the Shawnee were fragmented into small bands that were widely scattered in the present states of Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. Today, the Shawnee maintain three separate tribal headquarters in Oklahoma.
siliceous [adj]	Composed of silica (silicon dioxide, SiO₂), which occurs in nature as chert, quartz, flint, and agate.
sinew [n]	A tendon. The Illinois removed sinew from the bodies of bison or deer and used them for lacing lacrosse rackets or, once split into strands, as thread for sewing garments.
smudge pit [n]	A small pit containing charred corn cobs. Based on historical observations of American Indian peoples, these pits may have been used for smoking hides or new pottery vessels.
society [n]	A population of humans or other animals that has an organized way of life.
stockade [n]	A defensive barrier consisting of strong posts or timbers fixed upright in the ground.
stomp dance [n]	A group dance performed by contemporary American Indians of various tribes. Each dance is led by a dance leader, who sings and dances in a circular pattern, often around an open fire. Others fall in behind the leader to form a revolving spiral of dancers.
straw [n]	The stalks or stems of herbaceous straight-stemmed plants, which today comes from plants like wheat, rye, oats, or barley.
subsistence [n]	The means of obtaining food and other items necessary for basic existence.
Tamaroa [n]	A tribe of American Indians that formed part of the Illinois nation (see Illinois). In the late 1600s and early 1700s, the Tamaroa tribe occupied the central portion of Illinois territory along the Mississippi River in east-central Missouri and in the American Bottom region of southwestern Illinois. The Tamaroa were alter absorbed by the Kaskaskia tribe. Today, their descendants are represented by the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma.
technology [n]	The ways in which a society provides itself with the material objects of its culture.
temper [n]	A substance added to something to modify its qualities or properties. In pottery manufacture, temper is a nonplastic material (e.g., ash, limestone, sand, shell, crushed sherd) added to clay to prevent excessive shrinkage of the vessel during drying and firing.
terrain [n]	An area of land considered in terms of its extent and natural features as a place for performing certain activities.
threatened [adj]	A species of organism that has exhibited a considerable decrease in numbers or range, and is likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future if certain conditions are not met.
tine [n]	A sharp, projecting point or prong, as of a fork or the pointed tip of an antler.
tinkling cone [n]	A cone-shaped pendant, made of sheet brass or copper, which was worn as an ornament by historic American Indians.
tradition [n]	Customs, legends, or beliefs that are handed down from generation to generation, often by word of mouth or by example.
tribe [n]	A group of people united by ties of descent from a common ancestor and a set of shared customs and traditions.
vision quest [n]	An attempt to envision and communicate with a supernatural being, commonly undertaken by Illinois Indians at the age of adolescence.
war bundle [n]	Among the Illinois, a woven container used by a war chief to carry the dried skins of birds representing the manitous of individuals in his war party.
Wea [n]	A tribe of American Indians that spoke an Algonquian language (Miami-Illinois). In the 1670s, the Wea were one of six constituent tribes of the Miami nation living in Southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. The Wea became independent of the Miami in the early 1700s and resided in eastern Illinois and central Indiana. In the 1800s, the Piankashaw and Wea tribes merged with the remnants of the Illinois nation to form a group that later became the Peoria Tribe of Oklahoma.
Winnebago [n]	A tribe of American Indians that speaks a Siouan language (Winnebago) related to the Chiwere language spoken by the Ioway, Missouri, and Oto tribes. In the 1630s, when the Winnebago (=Ho-Chunk) tribe was first contacted by Europeans, the tribe was populous and powerful, and appears to have occupied the Green Bay region of eastern Wisconsin. However, by the 1660s warfare and disease had reduced the tribe to fewer than 600 people. The tribe recouped its losses during the fur-trade era and eventually expanded across southern Wisconsin and into the Rock River valley of northern Illinois. Currently, the Winnebago are divided into two tribes: one headquartered at Black River Falls, Wisconsin, and the second on a reservation in northeastern Nebraska.