Library: Native American Studies by Credo Reference: Groups

Groups and Alliances in North America

Eskimo: Topic Page
A general term used to refer to a number of groups inhabiting the coastline from the Bering Sea to Greenland and the Chukchi Peninsula in NE Siberia.
Five Civilized Tribes: Topic Page
Inclusive term used since mid-19th cent. for the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes of E Oklahoma.
Iroquois: Topic Page
Member of a confederation of American Indian peoples of northeastern North America formed about 1570 MORE
Plains Indians: Topic Page

A member of any of the North American Indian peoples formerly living in the Great Plains of the U.S. and Canada.
Sioux: Topic Page
Confederation of Native North American tribes, the dominant group of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock, which is divided into several separate branches.
Powhatan Confederacy: Topic Page
Group of Native North Americans belonging to the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock. Their area embraced most of tidewater Virginia and the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay.
Mound Builders: Topic Page
In North American archaeology, name given to those people who built mounds in a large area from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Mississippi River to the Appalachian Mountains. The greatest concentrations of mounds are found in the Mississippi and Ohio valleys.

Indigenous Peoples in Mexico and South America

Aztec: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who migrated south into the valley of Mexico in about 1168.
Inca: Topic Page
Pre-Columbian empire, W South America. The name Inca may specifically refer to the emperor, but is generally used to mean the empire or the people.
Maya: Topic Page
One of the great cultures of mesoamerica, Maya civilization extended throughout southern mexico and northern Central America.
Olmec: Topic Page
Term denoting the culture of ancient Mexican natives inhabiting the tropical coastal plain of the contemporary states of Veracruz and Tabasco, between 1300 and 400 B.C.
Toltec: Topic Page

Member of an ancient American Indian people who ruled much of Mexico and Central America in the 10th-12th centuries, with their capital and religious center at Tula or Tollán, northeast of Mexico City.

Tribes in the United States and Canada

Apache: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who migrated from Canada to Arizona, and parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and north Mexico.
Arapaho: Topic Page
One group, the Northern Arapaho, continued to live on the North Platte River in Wyoming, while the Southern Arapaho moved south to the Arkansas River in Colorado. Traditionally the Southern Arapaho were allied with the Cheyenne against the Pawnee.
Blackfoot: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who migrated from the Great Lakes north and west into the Saskatchewan River valley, Canada, and Montana, in the early 1700s.
Cherokee: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who moved from the Great Lakes region to the southern Appalachian Mountains (Virginia, North and South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and possibly Kentucky).
Chickasaw: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who moved from northern Mississippi and Alabama to the floodplains of Mississippi and parts of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Arkansas by the 16th century.
Chippewa: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who had settled around lakes Superior and Huron (now Québec, Ontario, Michigan, and Minnesota) by the 16th century.
Choctaw: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who inhabited the Mississippi region, possibly as descendants of the prehistoric Moundbuilders.
Cree: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who inhabited the subarctic regions of Canada (northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories to Québec).
Creek: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who lived in the southeastern USA (parts of Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Tennessee); they are thought to be descendants of the prehistoric Moundbuilders.
Hopi: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people living in southwest USA, especially northeast Arizona, since prehistoric times.
Hupa: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people living in the Hoopa Valley, northwest California.
Inuit: Topic Page
Member of am American Indian people inhabiting the Arctic coasts of Alaska, the eastern islands of the Canadian Arctic, Labrador, and the ice-free coasts of Greenland.
Kickapoo: Topic Page
Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages) and who in the late 17th cent. occupied SW Wisconsin.
Kiowa: Topic Page
A member of a Native American people formerly inhabiting the southern Great Plains, with a present-day population in southwest Oklahoma.
Menominee: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who lived along the Menominee River between Wisconsin and Michigan.
Mohawk: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people, part of the Iroquois confederation, who originally inhabited the Mohawk Valley, New York.
Mohican: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who occupied the upper Hudson River valley in New York State until the mid-17th century.
Narragansett: Topic Page
Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock. Part of the Eastern Woodlands culture , in the early 17th cent. they occupied most of Rhode Island, from Narragansett Bay on the east to the Pawcatuck River on the west.
Navajo: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people, who migrated from Canada to southwest USA (Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah) in about AD 1000.
Nez Percé: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who inhabited the plateau between the Rocky Mountain and Coastal ranges (Idaho, Washington, and Oregon) until the mid-19th century.
Oneida: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who lived in central New York State and belonged to the Iroquois confederacy.
Osage: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who originally inhabited the Ohio River Valley, but had migrated to western Missouri by the 17th century.
Paiute: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people living in the Great Basin region of Oregon, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and California.
Pawnee: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who inhabited the lower Mississippi River Valley until the 17th-18th centuries when they moved to Nebraska on the Platte River after acquiring horses.
Pequot: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who inhabited the Connecticut and Rhode Island coast in the 1600s. Their language belongs to the Algonquian family.
Potawatomi: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who originated in the Michigan region, but had migrated to Wisconsin by 1670, moving south into Illinois and Indiana in the late 17th century.
Quapaw: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who probably originated in the Ohio Valley, but had migrated to the Mississippi-Arkansas river confluence (northern Arkansas) by the mid-16th century.
Seminole: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who inhabited Georgia until moving to Florida in the early 18th century.
Seneca: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who originally lived in western New York State and eastern Ohio. They belong to the Iroquoian linguistic group, and were the largest nation in the Iroquois League.
Seneca: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who originally lived in western New York State and eastern Ohio.
Shawnee: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who inhabited the central Ohio River Valley until dispersed by Iroquois aggression and white settlement from the 17th century, migrating extensively through most of eastern and southern USA.
Shoshone: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who inhabited the Great Basin region (Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada).
Tlingit: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people living on the coasts of southwest Alaska and northern British Columbia for thousands of years.
Tuscarora: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who lived in North Carolina until the early 18th century. Their language belongs to the Iroquoian family.
Ute: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who inhabited the Great Basin region of Utah and western Colorado by the 16th century.
Wampanoag: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who lived between Narragansett Bay and Cape Cod on the Atlantic coast (Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Island) in the 1600s.
Yakama: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who lived along the Columbia River valley on the Great Columbia Plateau, Washington.