Native American Heritage Month...Tribes Avoyel A small tribe Natchez-speaking band who called themselves Tamoucougoula. The word Avoyel is of French derivation and means either Flint People or the people of the rocks. Said by French explorers to have numbered about 280 people in 1698, they began to decline. In the 18th century they were said to have been one of the nations of the Red River, having their villages near the mouth of that stream, within what is now Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. They probably belonged to the Caddoan family, the tribe representing a group that had remained near the ancient habitat of its kindred. The country occupied by the Avoyelles was fertile and intersected by lakes and bayous. Living in villages, they cultivated maize and vegetables, and practiced the arts common to the tribes of the Gulf region. Nothing definite is known of their beliefs and ceremonies. Like their neighbors, they had come into possession of horses, which they bred, and later they obtained cattle and horses. During the general displacement of the tribes throughout the Gulf states, which began in the 18th century, the Avoyel country proved to be attractive. The Biloxi settled there and other tribes entered and took possession. The Avoyel mingled with the newcomers, but through the ravages of wars and new diseases the tribe was soon reduced in numbers. Before the close of the century their villages and their tribal organization had melted away. According to John Sibley, an Indian agent, the tribe had become reduced to two or three women by 1805. Today, a non-profit organization called the Avoyel-Taensa Tribe/Nation of Louisiana, Inc. exists in Marksville, Louisiana. There is an Archeological period named after the Marksville site which dates back between 1 and 400 A.D.. This period was when the mound building was at its peak. Awani/Awanichi A division of the Miwok that were living in the Yosemite Valley in Mariposa County, California. The name applied by the natives of the Valley, was the principal village, which by extension was given to the whole valley and its inhabitants, who occupied it when snow permitted. The Awani had nine villages, containing 450 people, when the white settlers first came upon them. Awatobi A former pueblo of the Hopi on a mesa about nine miles southeast of Walpi, Arizona. It was one of the original villages of the province of Tusayan of the early Spaniards and visited by several Spanish explorers in the 1500s. It became the seat of the Franciscan mission of San Bernardino in 1629, under Father Porras, who was poisoned by the Hopi in 1633; but the endeavor to Christianize the Hopi at this and other pueblos was continued until 1680, when, in the Pueblo rebellion which began in August, the Awatobi missionary, Father Figueroa, was murdered. At this time the Awatobi people numbered 800. Henceforward no Spanish priests were established among the Hopi, although in 1700, Father Garaycoechea visited Awatobi, where he baptized 73 natives, but was unsuccessful it his attempt to reestablish missions among them. In November of the same year owing to the friendly feeling which the Awatobi are said to have had for the Spanish friars, their kindred, especially of Walpi and Mashongnovi, joined in an attack on Awatobi at night, setting fire to the pueblo, killing many of its inhabitants, including all the men, and carrying off women and children to the other pueblos, chiefly to Mashongnovi, Walpi and Oraibi. Awatobi was never again inhabited. Bahacecha A tribe visited by Spanish explorer Don Juan de Oñate Salazar in 1604. At that time, the Bahacecha were living on the Colorado River in Arizona, between Bill Williams fork and the Gila. Their language was described as being almost the same as that of the Mohave, whose territory was to the north of them and with whom they were friendly. The y lived in low wood houses covered with earth. Though the Yuman tribes also inhabited that region, they are not identified with them. Bankalachi A small Shoshonean tribe who lived on upper Deer Creek, which drains into Tulare Lake in Southern California. With the Tubatulabal, they constitute one of the four principal coordinate branches of the Shoshonean family.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 15:00:04 +0000
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