aboriginal
- Native to a region; indigenous.
acculturation
- The process by which one culture is modified by another, specifically a group of people in the minority with respect to a dominating culture.
band
- Identifier of people of a certain tribe and by using the name of the tributary stream that they lived near. Smaller bands were part of larger bands together making up the politically unified composite band.
bundle
- Items that had significance to a band or clanThe ownership of a bundle would bring long life, success happiness and prestige.
cache
- Place where food, clothes, weapons- any items are hidden overa a period of time so that they can be dug up or taken out of hiding.
cavalry
- Soldiers who fought on horseback.
chief
- Hi
ghest in rank or authority.
clans- Agroup of people having a common ancestor.
collective
- A cooperative unit or organization; group effort; doing things together.
council
- The village council was made up of the band leaders, and important warriors.
counting coup
- Coup is a French word meaning to hit someone, or touch someone neatly, gracefully, and courageously. To “count coup” was a French word given to the Plains Indian custom or “touching” the enemy-getting close to the enemy and taking something from him perhaps, but without killing him.
Dawes Act
- It's aim was to assimilate the Indians into the body of the nation. It was passed in 1887. Also known as the General Allotment Act. See General Allotment Act.ethics- a system of values or teachings (philosophy) that theaches social behavior or the way individuals construct their behavior among one another.
ethnologist
- A specialist in a science that deals with
garrison
- Is a military post, especially one permanently established. Garrisoned means to supply a post with troops.
headman
- Leader of a village who attended the general welfare of the village members. This was generally an inherited position, although the headman was at times also a shaman who was a religious figure, and healer. Each village was led by a headman, and was made up of several related, extended families.
intangible
- Not able to be defined, perceived or precisely identified
kinship - The quality or state of being kin.
Manifest Destiny
- Expansion of American commerce and civilization.morals - a
Nimi’ipu
- (Also spelled Nee-Me-Poo) The name the Nez Perce used to call themselves. It means "Real People" or "The People."
nonconformity - Failure or refusal to conform.
nomadic - A member of a people that has no fixed home but wanders from place to place.
Non-Treaty
- Those Indians who refused to sign the 1863 Treaty. parley - discuss terms with an enemy.
peace chief
- A chief whose sole job is to promote peace.
pictograph
- A
n ancient or prehistoric drawing or painting on a rock wall.
Nez Perce -
A term given the Nee-Me-Poo by French trappers. It means pierced nose; although not all Nez Perce people pierced their nose.
regalia
- S
pecial dress.
Regiments
- Numbered and are composed of companies, named with a letter. During 1877 there were generally no more than 12 companies to a regiment.
Reservation
- They are small parcels of land on which Indian people were suppose to live. These lands were "reserved" by the Indian Tribes for their own use through the treaties.
sacrament
- Bond; a formal religious act that is shared as a sign or symbol of a spiritual reality.
Settlers
- A person who settles in a new country.
sinew
- Tendon of elk or bison;
one prepared for use as a cord or thread
sweatlodges
- Native American lodges set up for sacrament purposes to make people sweat
traditional -1: Handed down from age to age without writing. 2: based on custom.
tule mat-covered long house
- 100 feet long dwellings were used for ceremonial purposes, and for winter housing by several families. There were several rows of hearths in the center of the structure used by several families.
Sun Dance
- A religious ceremonies that most plains Indians participated in each year.