Western Scenes and Reminiscences Part 26

AGUALULCO, the capital of the jurisdiction of Izatlan, New Galicia, which in 1745, contained 100 Indian families.

AGUANOS, a settlement in the province of Mainas, Quito, so called from the Indians of whom it is composed.

AGUARICO, an Indian mission of the Jesuits, on the sh.o.r.es of the river Napo, of the province of Mainas, Quito.

AGUARINGUA, an ancient and large settlement of Indians of the Taironas nation, in Santa Marta.

AGUILUSCO, a settlement of the district of Arantzan, in the province of Mechoacan, which contains 36 Indian families. They subsist by sowing seed, cutting wood, making saddle trees, and manufacturing vessels of fine earthen ware.

AHAPOPKA, a lake of Florida, having its outlet through the Oclawaha river of the St. John's.

AHASIMUS, an ancient Indian name, for the present site of Jersey city, Hudson county, New Jersey.

AHOME, or Ahoma, a nation of Indians, living on the banks of the river Zaque, in the province of Cinaloa, of California. They are located four leagues from the gulf, in extensive and fertile plains, and are said to be superior, by nature, to the other Indians of New Spain. Some of their customs denote this. They abhor poligamy, they hold virginity in the highest estimation. Unmarried girls, by way of distinction, wear a small sh.e.l.l suspended to their neck, until the day of their nuptials, when it is taken off by the bridegroom. They wear woven cotton. They bewail their dead a year, at night and morning. They are gentle and faithful in their covenants and engagements.

AHOUANDaTE, a name for the tribe of the Wyandots, which is found on ancient maps of the Colonies.

AHUACATLAN, the name of four separate settlements of Mexico, containing, respectively, 51, 13, 450, and 160 families of Indians.

AHUACAZALCA, Nueva Espana. At this place, 56 families of Indians live by raising rice and cotton. It is in the district of San Luis de la Costa.

AHUACAZINGO, in the district of Atengo, Nueva Espana, contains 46 Indian families.

AHUALICAN, of the same province, has 36 Indian families.

AHUATELCO, ib. Has 289 families, who cultivate wheat and raise cattle.

AHUATEMPA, ib. Has 39 families.

AHUATEPEC, ib. Has 32 families.

AHUAZITLA, ib. Has 36 families, who trade _inchia_, a white medicinal earth, grain and earthen-ware.

AHWAHAWA, a tribe of Indians who were found in 1805 to be located a few miles above the Mandans, on the south-west banks of the Missouri. They are believed to have been a band of the Minnitares. They numbered at that date 200. They wore at war with the Snake Indians. They claim to have once been a part of the Crow nation. They professed to have been long residents of the spot occupied. The name has not been kept up, and does not appear in recent reports from that quarter. Their history is, probably, to be sought in that of the Mandans and the Minnetares.

AIAHUALTEMPA, a settlement of Chalipa, Mexico, containing 36 Indian families.

AIAHUALULCO, ib. Two settlements of this name, contain, respectively, 70 and 42 Indian families.

AIAPANGO, ib. contains 100 Indian families.

AIATEPEC, ib. has 45 families of natives.

AIAUTLA, ib. has 100 families.

AICHES, a settlement of Indians of Texas, situated on the main road to Mexico.

AIECTIPAC, Mexico. Twenty-one Indian families reside here.

AINSE, a Chippewa chief of Point St. Ignace, Michilimackinac county, Michigan. The population of this band, as shown by the government census rolls in 1840, was 193, of whom 33 were men, 54 women, and 106 children.

They support themselves by the chase and by fis.h.i.+ng. They cultivate potatoes only. They receive, together with the other bands, annuities from the government, in coin, provisions, salt, and tobacco, for which purpose they a.s.semble annually, on the island of Michilimackinac. The name of this chief is believed to be a corruption from Hans.

AIOCUESCO, an Indian settlement of Chalipa, Mexico. Has 400 Indian families.

AIOCt.i.tLAN, ib. Has 76 ditto.

AIOZINAPA, ib. Has 34 ditto.

AIOZINGO, ib. Has 120 ditto.

AIRICOS, a nation of Indians inhabiting the plains of Cazanare and Meta in the new kingdom of Grenada, to the east of the mountains of Bogota.

They inhabit the banks of the river Ele. They are numerous and warlike, and feared by all their neighbours, for their valour and dexterity in the use of arms. In 1662 Antonio de Monteverde, a Jesuit, established a mission among them, and baptized numbers.

AISHQUaGONABEE. A Chippewa chief, of some note, of a mild and dignified carriage, living on Grand Traverse Bay, on the east sh.o.r.es of lake Michigan. In 1836 he formed a part of the delegation of Chippewa and Ottowa chiefs, who proceeded to Was.h.i.+ngton city, and concluded a treaty ceding their lands to the U. S. from Grand river on lake Michigan, to Chocolate river on lake Superior. The name signifies, the first feather, or feather of honour. The population of his village in 1840, as shown by the census rolls, was 207, of whom 51 were men, or heads of families, 49 women, and 107 children. They receive annuities annually at Michilimackinac. They subsist by the chase, by planting corn, beans and potatoes, and by fis.h.i.+ng.

AISHKEBUGeKOZH, or the Flat Mouth, called Guelle Platte, in the patois of the Fur Trade. The Head chief of the band of the Chippewas, called Mukundwas or Pilligers, who are situated at Leech Lake, on the sources of the Mississippi. This band, it is estimated, can furnish 200 warriors, they are a brave and warlike people, and are at perpetual war with their western neighbours, the Sioux. They subsist by the chase, and by taking white fish in the lake. Some corn and potatoes are also raised by the women and the old and superannuated men of the band. They are a fierce, wild, untamed race, strong in their numbers, and proud and confident in their success in war, and the comparative ease with which they procure a subsistence from the chase. They adhere to their ancient religious ceremonies and incantations, and are under the government of their native priests, jossakeeds and seers. Aishkebugekozh, has for many years exercised the political sway over them, leading them, sometimes to war, and presiding, at all times, in their councils. He is a shrewd man, of much observation and experience in the affairs of the frontiers. He is of a large, rather stout frame, broad shoulders and chest, and broad face, with a somewhat stern countenance, denoting decision of character and capacity to command. Thin and extended lips, parted in a right line over a prominent jaw, render the name, which his people have bestowed on him, characteristic. By the term Kozh, instead of Odoan, the true meaning of it is rather muzzle, or snout, than mouth, a distinction which the French have preserved in the term _Guelle_.

AIUINOS, a nation of Indians, of the government of Cinaloa, New Spain.

They live in the north part of the province. They formerly dwelt in lofty mountains, to escape the effects of war with other nations. In 1624, the Jesuits established a mission amongst them. They are docile, well inclined, and of good habits.

AIUTLA, a settlement of New Spain, containing 187 Indian families.

Another location of the same name contains 23 families.

AJOUES, a tribe of Indians of Louisiana, in its ancient extent, while it existed under the government of the French. The word, as expressed in English orthography, is Iowas, and the tribe will be considered under that head.

AKoSA, an Odjibwa chief, living on the peninsula of Grand Traverse Bay, lake Michigan, known for his good will towards the mission established near his village, by the American Board, in 1839. In the recess periods of hunting, he is attentive on the means of instruction furnished at that station. He enjoins on his children attendance at the school. He bestows a punctual care in planting his cornfield and garden. He has erected a good dwelling house of logs, and supplied it with several articles of plain household furniture. He is of a mild and pleasing character, and appreciates and acknowledges the superiority of agriculture and civilization over the uncertainties of the chase.

Without distinction in war, or eloquence, or a genealogy of warriors to refer to, and consequently, of but little general note or fame in his tribe, he is an active hunter, and stable, temperate man, and may be regarded as a fair average specimen, physically and mentally, of the race. The band of Akosa mustered 160 souls, on the pay rolls of 1840, of which number, 37 were men, 42 women, and 89 children. They receive their annuities at Michilimackinac.

AKANSA, a synonym of Arkansas.

ALABAMA, one of the United States of America. The name is derived from a tribe of Indians, who formerly inhabited the banks of the river of the same name. This river, on its junction with the Tombigbee, forms the Mobile. The Alabama Indians, were succeeded in the occupancy of this river by the Creeks, or Muscogees. They withdrew towards the west. In 1790 their descendants lived in a village, eligibly situated, on several swelling green hills on the banks of the Mississippi. No accounts of them are given in recent reports. They appear to have continued their route westward by the way of Red River. The precise period of their crossing the Mississippi is not known. They came to Red River about the same time as the Bolixies and Appalaches. Their language is represented to be the Mobilian, as denominated by Du Pratz, that is the Chacta. Part of them lived, at the end of the 18th century, on Red River, sixteen miles above Bayou Rapide. Thence they went higher up the stream, and settled near the Caddoes, where they raised good crops of corn. Another party, of about 40 men, lived in Apalousas district, where they cultivated corn, raised and kept horses, hogs and cattle, and exhibited a quiet and pacific character. From a statement published in a paper, at Houston, the seat of government of Texas, in 1840, their descendants were then settled on the river Trinity, in that republic, where they are a.s.sociated with the Coshattas, forming two villages, numbering two hundred warriors, or about 1000 souls. They preserve, in this new location, the pacific and agricultural traits noticed during their residence in Louisiana.

ALACHUA, an extensive level prairie, in Florida, about 75 miles west of St. Augustine. The ancient Indian town of Alachua, stood on its borders, but its inhabitants removed to a more healthful position at Cuscowilla.

ALACLATZALA, a settlement in the district of St. Lewis, New Spain, containing 125 Indian families.

ALAHUITZLAN, ib. a settlement having 270 Indian families.

ALAPAHA, one of the higher tributary streams of the Suwannee river, in Florida.

ALASKE, or ONALASKA, a long peninsula on the N. W. coast of America. At its termination, are a number of islands, which form a part of the cl.u.s.ter called the northern Archipelago.

ALBARRADA, a settlement of Indians in the kingdom of Chile, situated on the sh.o.r.es of the river Cauchupil. Also a settlement of New Spain, containing 22 Indian families.

ALEMPIGON improperly written for Nipigon, a small lake north of lake Superior.

ALFAXAIUCA, a settlement of New Spain, containing 171 Indian families.