Hoffman.] -«^ [Feb. 5*. 



REMARKS ON INDIAN TRIBAL NAMES. 



By W. J. Hoffman, M.D. 



{Read before the American Philosophical Society, February 5, 1SS6.) 



During the past fifteen years' experience with the numerous tribes of 

 Indians of the United States, the present writer has frequently observed 

 that certain tribes were not familiar with the names applied to them, as- 

 found in current literature, but that they had distinct tribal designations 

 for themselves, which, for some reason unknown, were seldom met with 

 outside of the tribe itself. Frequently a common term is met with, which 

 may apply to a number ot tribes, as the term Digger, which has been used 

 with reference to at least fifty different tribes and bands along either side 

 of the Sierra Nevada ; so also with the word Snake, being used for several 

 tribes and bands in Nevada, Idaho and Oregon. 



It is the intention here to present the names of a few well-known tribes, 

 and to give their tribal designations with such explanations as is possible. 

 Many others might be added, but the following are deemed sufficient to 

 illustrate the preceding remarks, and may serve as a contribution to a 

 general woi'k on the Ethnography of North America, which should of 

 necessity embrace a synonomy as complete as practicable. 



Tsa/nish. 



The tribe of Indians known as the Ari'kare or Rees, forms the northern- 

 most branch of the Panian linguistic family, and has for a number of years 

 lived in the vicinity of Ft. Berthold, D. T., on friendly terms with the 

 Mandans and Hidatsa. The alliance formed by these three tribes was not 

 based upon friendly feelings for one another, but for mutual resistance 

 against the Sioux on the south, and the occasional incursions of the Crees 

 on the north. At the present day it is seldom that a Mandan, or a Hidatsa, 

 will select an Arikare wife, though the contrary is of frequent occur- 

 rence. The village consisted, at the time of the present writer's last visit 

 in 1881, of one hundred and thirty-four lodges, the eastern half being en- 

 tirely occupied by the Arikare, who numbered about seven hundred and 

 fifty souls, while three-fourths of the other half was occupied by tbe 

 Hidatsa, and the remaining dwellings by Mandans. The total population 

 of the village was about fifteen hundred. 



The word Arlk'are, is of Hidatsa origin, and was changed by the Man- 

 dans into Ai dik'ada-hu. The word signifies "The-people-of-the-flow- 

 ing-hair," from a'-ra — hair ; ka'-ra (or ka'-da) — to run, or -flowing, and 

 a-hflts' (a-huO — many. The word is abbreviated, by the Hidatsa, into 

 A-rik'-a-htt, and by the Mandans into A'-ri-ka'-ra, from which the com- 

 mon term is derived. 



The tribal designation is Tsa'nish, a word employed at all times to de- 

 note the tribe in general, or an individual member thereof. The word 

 signifies people, according to themselves, but the tribal designation in. 



