BULL. 30] 



BICAM BIDAI 



145 



fred Wright, were printed as early as 

 1831, and the complete New Testament, 

 ))y Wright and Byington, in 1848. Tlie 

 Pentateuch, the historical books of the Old 

 Testament, and the Psalms, by Wright, 

 Byington, and Edwards, cameoutbetween 

 1852 and 1886. In Creek, St John'sGos- 

 l)el, translated by Davis and Lykins, was 

 printed in 1835; another version, by 

 Buckner, in 1860; and the whole New 

 Testament, by Mrs Robertson and others, 

 between 1875 and 1887; and Genesis and 

 the Psalms, l)y the same, in 1893-96. 



Only two languages of the Siouan fam- 

 ily, the Santee Dakota and the Mandan, 

 are represented in scriptural translations. 

 Portions of the Bible were translated into 

 the former by Renville and printed as 

 early as 1889; the whole New Testament, 

 bv Riggs and others, was published in 

 1865; the Old Testament, by Williamson 

 and Riggs, was finished in 1877; and a re- 

 vised edition of the complete Bible was 

 issued in 1880. A small volume of 

 hvmns and scriptural selections, trans- 

 lated into Mandan by Rev. C. F. Hall, 

 was ijublished in 1905. 



The Caddoan language is represented 

 by a small volume of Bible translations 

 and hvmns in Arikara, by Rev. C. F. 

 Hall (1900; 2ded., enlarged, 1905). 



In the Nez Perce language, of the Sha- 

 hai^tian family, St Matthew's Gospel, by 

 Spalding, was twice printed (in 1845 and 

 1871); and St John, by Ainslie, appeared 

 in 1876. In the Kwakiutl language, of 

 the Wakashan family, A. J. Hall's trans- 

 lation of the Gospels of St Matthew and 

 St John came out in 1882-84 and the Acts 

 in 1897. In the Tsimshian language, of 

 the Chimmesyan family, the Four Gos- 

 ]iels, translated by William Duncan, were 

 printed in 1885-89; and in the Niska lan- 

 guage J. B. McCuUagh began work on 

 the Gospels in 1894. In the Haida lan- 

 guage, of the Skittagetan family, trans- 

 lations of three of the Gospels and of the 

 Acts, by Charles Harrison and J. H. Keen, 

 were printed in 1891-97. 



Consult the various bibliographies of 

 Indian languages, by J. C. Pilling, pub- 

 lished as bulletins by the Bureau of Amer- 

 ican Ethnology. See Books in Indian 

 languages, Dictionaries, Eliot Bible, Peri- 

 odicals, (w. E. ) 



Bicam. A Yaqui settlement on the s. 

 bank of the lower Rio Yaqui, s. w. Sono- 

 ra, Mexico, with an estimated population 

 of 9,000 in 1849. 



Bicam. — Velasoo, Noticia.s de Sonora, 84, 1850. 

 Bican. — Miihlenpfordt <iuoted by Bancroft. Nat. 

 Races, i, 008, 1882. Santisima Trinidad Vicara.— 

 Orozco y Berra, Geog., 355, 18(54 (or Bicam). 



Bichechic. A Tarahumare settlement 

 on the headwaters of the Rio Conchos, 

 lat. 28° 10', long. 107° 10', Chihuahua, 

 Mexico. — Orozco v Berra, Geog., 323, 

 1864. 



Bull. 30—05 10 



Bidai (Caddo for 'brushwood,' proba- 

 bly referring to the peculiar growth char- 

 acteristic of the region ) . An extinct tribe, 

 supposed to have belonged to the Caddoan 

 stock, whose villages were scattered over 

 a wide territory, but principally about 

 Trinity r. , Texas, while some were as far x. 

 as the Neches or beyond. A creek empty- 

 ing into Trinity r. between Walker and 

 Madison cos., Tex., l)ears the name of 

 the tribe, as did also, according to La 

 Harpe, a small bay on the coast x. of 

 Matagorda bay. A number of geographic 

 names derived from this tribe survive in 

 the region. The tribal tradition of the 

 Bidai is that they were the oldest inhabi- 

 tants of the countrj^ where they dwelt. 

 This belief may have strengthened 

 tribal pride, for although the Bidai 

 were surrounded by tribes belonging 

 to the Caddo confederacy, the people 

 long kept their independence. They 

 were neighbors of the Arkokisa, who 

 lived on lower Trinity r. and may have 

 been their allies, for accordingto LaHarpe 

 (1721) they were on friendly terms with 

 that tribe while they were at war with the 

 people dwelling on Matagorda bay. Dur- 

 ing the latter part of the 18th century 

 the Bidai were reported to be the chief 

 intermediaries between the French and 

 the Apache in the trade in firearms; later 

 they suffered from the political disturb- 

 ances incident to the controversy between 

 the Spaniards and the French, as well as 

 from intertribal wars and the introduc- 

 tion of new diseases. As a result rem- 

 nants of different villages combined, and 

 the olden tribal organization was broken 

 up. Little is known of their customs and 

 beliefs, which were probablj' similar to 

 those of the surrounding tribes of the 

 Caddo confederacy. They lived in fixed 

 habitations, cultivated the soil, hunted 

 the buffalo, which ranged through their 

 territory, and were said by Sibley in 1805 

 to have had "an excellent character for 

 honesty and punctuality." At that time 

 they numbered about 100, but in 1776-7 

 an epidemic carried off nearly half their 

 number. About the middle of the 19th 

 century a remnant of the Bidai were living 

 in a small village 12 m. from Montgom- 

 ery, Tex., cultivating maize, serving as 

 cotton pickers, and bearing faithful alle- 

 giance to the Texans. The women were 

 still skilled in basketry of "curious de- 

 signs and great variety." The few sur- 

 vivors were i^robably incorporated by the 

 Caddo. (a. c. f. ) 



Badies.— Ker, Travels, 122, 1816. Beadeyes,— Ed- 

 ward, Hist. Tex., 92, ISSti. Bedais.— French, Hi.st. 

 Coll. La., II, 11, 1875. Beddies.— Brackcnridge, 

 Views of La., 81, 1815. Bedees.— Ibid.,.s7. Bedies,— 

 Sibley (1805), Hist. Sketches,-!, 1S06. Bidais.— Rob- 

 in, Voy. Louisiane, in, 14, 1807. Bidaises,— See. 

 Mex. Geog., 266, 1870. Biday.— Doc. of 1719-21 in 

 Margry, D^c., Vl, 341, 1886. Bidayes.— La Harpe 

 {ca. 1721), ibid., 341. Bidias.— Latham in Trans. 



