790 



MAIDU MAIZE 



[b. a. h. 



Maicoba. — Orozco y Berra, Geog., 351, 1864. S. 

 Francisco Borja Maicoba. — Zapata (1678) in Doc. 

 Hist. Wex., 4th s., in, 345, 1857. 



Maidu ( ' man ' , ' Indian ' ) . A tribe for- 

 merly dwelling in Sacramento valley and 

 the adjacent Sierra Nevada in California. 

 This single tribe constitutes the entire 

 Pujunan linguistic family of Powell, all 

 the divisions of which called themselves 

 Maidu, and distinguished themselves one 

 from another by their lox'al names only. 

 The Maidu proper, comprising the divi- 

 sions N. of Bear r. valley, were formerly 

 considered a different stock from the 

 Nishinam, who are now recognized as the 

 southern 1 )ranch of the family. The names 

 of the Maidu villages and of the inhab- 

 itants were usually local place names. It 



OLD MAIDU MAN. (university OF California) 



may be doubted if, in the following list of 

 the divisional and village names, the for- 

 mer have a greater value than the latter 

 or were in fact anything more than the 

 larger villages with perhaps outlying set- 

 tlements of a more or less temporary 

 character. Divisions: Cohes, Cushna, 

 Hoitda, Honkut, Kiski, Konkau, Kulo- 

 mum, Mohua, Nimsewi, Pakamali, Tsak- 

 tomo, Tsamak, Tsulumsewi, Tummeli, 

 Ustoma, Willi, Yumagatok, and Yunu. 

 Villages: Eamom, Bauka, Bayu, Ben- 

 komkomi, Botoko, Eskini, Hembem, 

 Hoako, Hoholto, Hokomo, Hopnomkoyo, 

 Indak, Kalkalya, Kotasi, Kulaiapto, 

 Kulkumish, Michopdo, Mimal, Molma, 

 Nakankoyo, Oidoingkoyo, Okpam, Ola, 

 Ololopa, Onchoma, Opok, Otaki, Paki, 



Panpakan, Pitsokut, Pulakatu, Sekumne, 

 Sisu, Silongkoyo, Siwim Pakan, Sunusi, 

 Tadoiko, Taikus, Taisida, Tasikoyo, 

 Tchikimisi, Tishum, Ton^cha, Totoma, 

 Tsam Bahenom, Tsekankan, Tsuka, 

 Wokodot, Yalisumni, Y''amako, Yauko, 

 Yiikulme, Yodok, Yotammoto, Yumam, 

 and Yupu. Consult Dixon in Bui. Am. 

 Mus. Nat. Hist, xvii, pt. 3, 1905. See 

 Pvjuniin Family. 



Mai'-deh. — Powers'in Cont. N. A. Ethnol., Ill, 282, 

 1877. Mai'-du. — Ibid. Meidoos. — Powers in Over- 

 landMo., xn,21,1874. Midu. — Merriain in Science, 

 n. s., XIX, 914, June 15, 19U4 (pmn. Mi-duo). Wa- 

 wah. — Powers, Inds. West Nevada, 14, 1876 ('stran- 

 gers': Paiute name for all Sacramento r. tribes). 



Mailam-ateuna ( ' those of the lower- 

 most'). A Zuni phratry consisting of 

 the Takya (Toad) and Chitola (Rattle- 

 snake) clans, (f. H. C. ) 



Maitheshkizli ('Coyote pass,' referring 

 to the puel)lo of Jemez) . A Navaho 

 clan, descended from a captive Jemez girl 

 and now affiliated with the Tsedzhinkini. 

 Mair/feckij. — ?*Iatthews in Jour. Am. Folk-lore, in, 

 104, is'jn. Mai^eckijni.— Ibid. Mai'/e.^ki'r.— Mat- 

 thews, Xavaho Legends, 30, 1897. Maide.-.ki'cni. — 

 Ibid. 



Maitho ('Coyote spring'). A Navaho 

 clan. 



Maipb'. — Matthews in Jour. Am, Folk-lore, in, 103, 

 ISIK). Maifb'^ine. — Ibid. Mai/6'. — Matthews, Na- 

 vaho Legends, 30, 1897. Mai^o'c/ine'. — Ibid. 



Maize (from the Arawak marhe, 

 changed to maysi and mdhiz in the An- 

 tilles). This giant cereal, known in the 

 United States and Canada as 'Indian 

 corn,' or simply 'corn,' and to botanists 

 as Zea mays Linn., was the great food 

 plant of those American Indians who 

 sought the aid of cultivation in oljtaining 

 food. It is now generally supposed to 

 have been derived from native grasses— 

 the I'Juclila-iia utexicana of s. Mexico 

 and E. liLvurians of Guatemala, the latter 

 approximating most nearly the cultivated 

 corn. These are the only known species 

 of North American endogens from which 

 the numerous varieties now in use could 

 have been developed. Harshberger says 

 linguistic evidence shows that maize was 

 introduced into the United States from 

 the tribes of Mexico and from the Carib 

 of the West Indies, but the time of this 

 introduction can only be conjectured. 

 That it was long before the appearance 

 of Europeans, however, is evident, not 

 only from its early and widespread culti- 

 vation by tribes of the area now embraced 

 in the United States, but from the fact 

 that indications of its cultivation are 

 found in mounds and in the ancient 

 pueblo ruins and cliff dwellings, while 

 corroborative evidence is found in the 

 fact that several varieties of maize had 

 already been developed at the time of 

 discover}', four being mentioned as in use 

 among the Indians of Virginia (Beverley, 

 Hist. Virginia, 125-128, 1722). Jacques 

 Cartier, the first European to enter the St 



