Algonquian, or Algonkian, Indians,
The most powerful of the eight distinct Indian nations found in
North America by the Europeans in the seventeenth century.
It was composed of several tribes, the most important of which were the Ottawas, Chippewas, Sacs and Foxes, Menomonees,
Miamis, Pottawattomies, Kickapoos, Illinois, Shawnees, Powhatans, Corees, Nanticokes, Lenni-Lenapes or Delawares, Mohegans, the
New England Indians, the Abenakes, and Miemaes.
There were smaller independent tribes, the principal of which were the Susquehannas in
Pennsylvania; the Mannahoacs in the hill-country between the
York and
Potomac rivers; and the Monacans, on the headwaters of the
James River, Virginia.
All of these tribes were divided into cantons or clans, sometimes so small as to afford a war-party of only forty men. The domain of the Algonkians covered a vast region, bounded on the north and northeast by the Eskimos; on the northwest by the Knistenaux and Athabascas; on the west by the Dakotas; on the south by the Catawbas, Cherokees, Mobilians, and
Natchez; and on the east by
Nova Scotia.
West of the Missipssippi, the Blackfeet and Cheyennes are regarded as a family of the Algonkians.
The original land of the Ottawas was on the west side of
Lake Huron; but they were seated upon the
Ottawa River, in Canada, when the
French discovered them, and claimed sovereignty over that region.
The Chippewas and Pottawattomies were colsely allied by language and friendship.
The former were on the southern shores of
Lake Superior; the latter occupied the islands and mainland on the western shores of
Green Bay when first discovered by the
French.
In 1701 they seated themselves on the southern shores of
Lake Michigan.
The Sacs and Foxes are really one tribe.
They were found by the
French, in 1680, at the southern extremity of
Green Bay.
The Menomonees are among the few Indian tribes who occupy the same domain as when they were discovered by Europeans in 1699.
That domain is upon the shores of
Green Bay, and there the tribe remains.
The Miamis and Piankeshaws inhabited that portion of
Ohio lying between the
Miami or
Maumee, on
Lake Erie, and the watershed between the
Wabash and Kaskia rivers.
The
English and the Five Nations called them the Twightwees.
The Kickapoos were on the
Wisconsin River when discovered by the
French.
The Illinois formed a numerous tribe, 12,000 strong, when discovered by the
French.
They were seated on the
Illinois River, and composed a confederation of five families — namely, Kaskaskias, Cahokias, Tamaronas, Michigamies, and Peorias.
The Shawnees occupied a vast region west of the
Alleghany Mountains, and their great council-house was in the basin of the
Cumberland River.
The
Powhatans constituted a confederacy of more than twenty tribes, including the Accohannocks and Accomacs, on the eastern shore of
Chesapeake Bay.
The confederacy occupied the region in
Virginia consisting of the navigable portion of the
James and
York rivers, with their tributaries.
The Corees were south of the Powhatans, on the
Atlantic coast, in
northern North Carolina.
The Cheraws and other small tribes occupied the land of the once powerful Hateras family, below the Corees.
The Nanticokes were upon the peninsula between the
Chesapeake and
Delaware bays.
The Lenni-Lenapes, or Delawares, comprised powerful families — namely, the Minsis and Delawares proper.
The former occupied the northern part of
New Jersey and a portion of
Pennsylvania, and the latter inhabited
lower New Jersey, the banks of the
Delaware River below
Trenton, and the whole valley of the Schuylkill.
The Mohegans were a distinct tribe on the east side of the
Hudson River, and under that name were included several independent families on
Long Island and the country between the Lenni-Lenapes and the
New England Indians.
The New England Indians inhabited the country from the
Connecticut River eastward to the
Saco, in Maine.
The principal tribes were the Narragansets on
Rhode Island; the Pokanokets and Wampanoags on the eastern shore of Narraganset Bay and in a portion of
Massachusetts; the
Massachusetts in the vicinity of
Boston and the shores southward; and the Pawtuckets in the northeastern part of
Massachusetts, embracing the Pennacooks of
New Hampshire.
The
Abenakes (q. v.) were eastward
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101]
of the
Saco.
Their chief tribes were the Penobscots, Norridgewocks, Androscoggins, and Passamaquoddies.
For further details of the principal tribes, see their respective titles.
