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Ti-iis pamphlet is isslued to subscribers, for the purpose of defraying in part the expense of an effort to establish a National
Professorship of Indian Languages and Archaeology.
The correct interpretation of a single Indian name often requires
months of labor.
There are a few interpretations ill this pamphlet which may be
incorrect.  These will be amended in the Bulletin for 1868.
The Indian Bulletin for 1868 will continue the interpretation of
Idlian names and give an account of the ancient Chinese voyages
to this continent.
Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1S6'7,
BY N. W. JONES,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the IUnited States for the
Southern District of New  York.                  -
iF; 
//-   30 -     I
INDIAN BULLETIN.
"' W\ELCO-IIE, welcome, Englishman," was the salutation with which the pilgrims were greeted on their arrival
upon the shores of the New World, by thle noble and
generous native.
Further south, the beautiful Pocahontas saved the life
of Captain John Smith, and her countrymen fuirnished
provisions to sustain the infant colony of Virginia. In
Newv York, in Rhode Island, and wherever the first
settlers of this continent came, Indian storehouses were
opened to supply the wants of famishing adventurers.
They furnished food, shelter, land, trade, and wealth to
hundreds and thousands.  Who  was this Indian who
nursed the infancy of this great nation? He was a man
made in the image of God, and once sole proprietor of
this vast continent. He was a true friend, a brave warrior,
generous in disposition, and a devout worshiper of the
Great Spirit.  He had a language more copious than any
in the known world. He was an eloquent orator, a skillful
imechanic, a successful physician, a practical farmer; and
the native Mexicans were more accurate astronomers than
either the ancient Greeks or Romans.
This race is fast passing away; but they have left a
literature, written by the early missionaries,  ar more
copious than the Hebrew, and almost every stream,
valley, and mountain commemnorates their existence.
TRIBAL DIVISIONS.
The Indians of North America, east of the Mississippi,
and north of the Gulf of Mexico, have been divided into
five great divisions.
i 
4
1. The Eskimaux.
2. Thie Athapascas.
3. Algonkin Lenape.
4. Iroquois, or Six Nationls.
5. Southern Indians, Creeks, Chllerokees, Choctas,
Chicasas, and kindred tribes.
The most numerous family of nations, the Algonkins,
has been thus classified:
NORTHERN ALGONKINS,
Knistinaux, Chippewas, Ottawas, Potowotaimies, Mississagues.
NORTHEASTERxN,
including the Algonkins of Labrador, the  Micmacs,
the Etchemins, and the Abenakis.
-EASTERN, OR ATLANTIC ALGONKINS,
occupying the country between the Saco River, in
Maine, and Cape Hatteras, in North Carolina.
These were, first, the New England Indians, embracing
the Pequods, of Connecticut; the Narragansetts, of Rhode
Island; the Pawkunnawkuts, or Wampanoags, mostly
within thie bounds of the Plymouth colony. The Massachusetts.
The Pawtuckets, north and northeast of Massachusetts, the chief tribe of which were called Penacooks.
Delawares and Minsi, between the Hudsmn and Delaware Rivers.
The Susquehanocks, on the Susquehanna River.
Powhatans of Virginia, consisting of thlirty-four tribes,
speaking the same language, and numbering ten thousand
souls.
Pamlicos, of North Carolina, extending as far southI
as Cape Hlatteras. 
5
WESTERN LENAPE,
embracing  the  Miamis,  Illinois,  Shawnees,  Sankis,
Menomenies.
IROQUOIS TRIBES.
Northern acnd Souithern Ir[oquois.
The Northern were-First, the Five Nations, consisting
of the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, the Cayugas, and
the Senecas. Second, the Western Iroquois tribes, consisting of the Wyandots, or Hurons; Attiouandarons, or
the neutral nation; the Erigas and the Andastes, or
Guandastogues, south of Lake Erie.
The Southern Iroquois tribes occupied the River
Chowan and its tributary streams, and also the Rivers
NReuse and Tar. On th? two latter lived the Tuscaroras,
the most powerful tribe in North Carolina, who were
afterward incorporated among the Five Nations.
SOUTHERN INDIANS.
The Southern Indians, east of the Mississippi, and
south of the country occupied by the Lenape and Iroquois, were the Catawbas, Cherokees, Creeks, Seminoles,
Choctaws, Chickasas, together with the Natchez, and some
smaller tribes not much known.
The Southern Indians were somewhat more civilized
than the Northern, and depended more upon agriculture
for a subsistence, and the men assisted in the labors of
the field.  One cause of their being more agricultural,
doubtless, was the fact that corn was more easily raised,
and game less plentiful than in the North. 
Among the southern tribes, the Natcl-iez were distingutished by temples dedicated to the sun, and a regularly organized priesthood. There was a tradition among
the lNatchez that their nation once extended for twelve
days' journey, from east to west, and fifteen from north
to south, having within these bounds five hundred chiefs,
called Suns. 
6
The principal Indian tribes between the Mississippi
and the Rocky Mountains are the Sioux, Pawnees, and
Black Feet. The Sioux call themselves Dahlicotas.
LOCAL TRIBES.
From Albany westward to Lake Erie were the Five
Nations.
De Laet thus enumerates the tribes along the Hudson
River: The Manhattans and Packamnins, along the eastern
bank, below the Highlands; the Waroanekins, on the
eastern, and the AVtaranancongyns, on the western bank,
both in the vicinity of Kingston. Above them he places
the Manikans, on the eastern bank, and opposite them
the MAackwes (Mohawks), their hereditary enemies.
LONG ISLAND.
The tribes upon Long Island consisted of the Canarsee,
Rockaway, Merric (or, Meroke), Massapequa (or, Marsapeagne), Matinecock, Nesaquake (or, Nissaquogue), Seatalcot (or, Setauket), Corchaug, Manhasset, Secatogue,
Patchogue, Shinecock, Montauk.
The sachem of the lMontauks was acknowledged to be
the Grand Sachem of Long Island.  Long Island was a
favorite residence of the Indians; its bays and coves
affording a most abundant supply of fish and clams, and
its woods were well stocked with deer. The eastern portion of Pennsylvania was inhabited by the Delawares,
or Leni Lenape.  It was among these that William Penn
founded his colony, and, by treating the natives with jistice, formed a chain of firiendship between the Quaker
and the Indian, which remains still unbroken.
New Jersey was wholly occupied by tribes of the
D)elaware confederacy. Among these were the Rtaritans,
Hackensacks, Poniptons, and Minisinks.  The colony of
New Jersey treated the Indians with uniform justice, and
fairly purchased their lands of thle native proprietors 
7
ARTS OF THIE INDIANS.
They were skilled in agriculturescultivating corn,
beans, squashes, and tobacco, on fertile lands, and leaving the barren as pasturage for deer, and other wild
animals.
They were ingenious artisans, as their bows, arrows,
axes, pottery, and other household utensils, bear witness.
Their canoes of various kinds, mats, head-dresses, and
garments, adorned with feathers and beads, testify to
both their skill and their taste.
They were excellent physicians, having a knowledge
of many plants, roots, and species of bark, which were
very useful as remedies.  Roger Williams and Heckewelder both assert that the Indians excelled in the healing
art, in regard to those diseases which were common among
them.
Di Pratz, the French historian of Louisiana, says that
he was cured of a painful disease of the eye in ten days,
by Indian physicians. He also mentions several cases of
sickness cured by the Indians in a few days, which
baffled the skill of the best French physicians in Louisiana.
They displayed great ingenuity in trapping wild animals. Sometimes a herd of fifty or sixty deer were
driven into a small inclosure, a portion of them killed,
and those most suitable for perpetuating the race spared
They were careful not to exterminate any species of
game.
They had a mode of preparing condensed food, by
parching and pounding their corn, then sifting and mixing it with maple sugar. A single spoonful of this
parched mneal was, according to the testimony of Roger
Williamis, sufficient for a man's meal.  It would, no
doubt, be very serviceable to soldiers on long marlches,
in a modern campaign.
In war they exhibited unexampled bravery. VAeryI
few Indians have been known to be cowards.  Friendly 
8
and Christian Indians probably saved the New Englaind
colonies from extermination in the time of King Philip's
war. In our late contest, an Indian served with distinguished honor on General Grant's Staff.
In their domestic relations they were quite as happy
as their European conquerors.  Whatever the husband
procured by hunting belonged to the wife; and whatever the wife raised in the field belonged to tile husband.  The boys were early trained to hunt and fish, and
the girls, to raise corn and weave mats.  Children were
taught to respect the aged. New corn-fields were usually
broken up by a mirthful gathering of all residing in the
vicinity.
GOVERNAMENT.
Their Government was of the patriarchal kind, consisting of chiefs and counselors, and was admirably adapted
to men in the hunter state. They had a system of law
analogous to the common law of England, founded upon
immemorial custom.   Murderers were punished by the
nearest relative of the deceased. The declaration of war
and treaties of peace were accompanied with appropriate
ceremonies. No Indian was allowed to marry in his own
tribe. The succession to the chieftainship was governed
by special laws. Among many tribes, a son could not
succeed his father as chief, because his mother was a
foreigner.
ORIGIN OF TlHE INDIANS.
They probably came to America in very early times,
but by what route, it is difficult to ascertain. The
first people of this continent undoubtedly consisted of
those driven upon the coast by accident, by shipwreck,
by drifting canoes, and by floating icebergs.
It is probable that in Mexico, Central America, and
along the Pacific coast, a great variety of tribes were
landed upon the shores of America either by accident or
design. 
9
To Mexico or California came Chinese ships in the year
458 of our era, and the country is called Fau Sang in
Chinese geographies.  The eastern coast of Central America and Mexico are supposed to have been visited by
Phlnician or Carthaginian ships in very early times.
Many Carthaginian ships, we  are told in history,
passed beyond the River Lixus (Senegal), and never
returned.  Some of these may have got into the tradewinds, which blow from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean Sea, and been wafted to the shores of America.
There can be but little doubt that some of the searovers of ancient days reached the shores of America,
and, returning, communicated information which laid the
foundation of the story of Atlantis.
In some way a knowledge of a great country, beyond
the pillars of Hercules, larger than Europe or Asia, had
reached the priests of Egypt five hundred years B. c.
About that time the fact was made known to Solon by
an Egyptian priest, and a brief account is given of the
country by Plato and other authors.
In the days of Solomon, king of Judea, his ships made
voyages of three years' duration.
Tile Argonautic expedition implies much knowledge of
the sea at an early date. The Phcenicians are known to
have planted colonies in Spain, and to have visited the
coasts of England and the Baltic.
The Carthaginians visited the Canaries, Madeira, and
the Azores.  No less than three attempts were made by
the Phoenicians to circumnavigate the continent of Africa,
two of which are said to have been successful. The first
successful attempt was made by Pharaoh Neehi6, king of
Egypt, six hundred years B. c. The second attempt
was made by Sataspes, a Persian nobleman, who
was condemned to death by Xerxes, and had his sentence
commuted to the task of sailing around the continent of
Africa. This was unsuccessful.
The third attempt was made by Eudoxus, in the time 
10
of Ptolemy Euergetes, who, after several ineffectual at tempts, is reported finally to have accomplished his object
Five hundred and seventy years B. ca, Hlanno, a Carthlaginian admiral, with a fleet of sixty ships, of fifty oars
each, having on board thirty thousand men and women,
sailed fromn Carthage for the purpose of founding cities on
the western coast of Africa.  They founded several cities,
and penetrated as far south, it is believed, as Sierra
Leone.  It is thus positively proved that large ships were
built and voyages made, thousands of miles in length,
six hundred  years B. C.; and it is possible that the
Phoenicians had derived fromn the Chinese a knowledge
of the magnetic needle.  The trade-winds from the vicinity
of the Canary Islands would have carried them into the
Caribbean Sea with scarcely a change of sail. It is almost
certain that some of them passed over to America, either
by accident or design. It is equally certain that some few
returned and imparted a knowledge of these countries,
otherwise it would have been impossible for the Egyptiaii
priests in the days of Solon to have described the country.
It is the opinion of many learned men that in the earliest
times regular voyages were made by the Phenicians to
America. This, though difficult to prove, is at least
highly probable.
The Chinese made voyages to the coast of California
in the year four hundred and fifty-eight (458), and it is the
opinion of eminent Chinese scholars that they were acquainted with the western coast of America nearly to
Cape Horn. It is supposed that Buddhist priests came
in these ships and introduced their science and religious
ceremonies into Mexico. The missionaries who accompanied Cortes in his expedition against Montezuma, found
among the inhabitants the symbol of the cross, something
analogous to the Lord's Supper, and other rites similar to
those in the Roman church.  These, it is supposed, were
introduced by Buddhist missionaries.
The Northmen repeatedly visited the coast of North 
11
America, between the tenth and thirteenth centuries.
Their explorations extended as far south as Rhode Island,
perhaps further.
MIOUNDS AND MOUND BUILDERS.
In various parts of our country, particularly in the
West, are found large mounds and fortifications, whichl
have excited the wonder of the curious.  Some of them
are, perhaps, five hundred years old, as they have trees
growing upon them three hundred years old, and the remains of a previous growth decaying upon the ground.
They are generally found in the vicinity of very fertile
lands, easy of cultivation, where a large population could
be sustained with little labor.  Those which are of a warlike nature were probably thrown up as a defense against
enemies. A multitude of hands would soon pile up an
enormous quantity of earth.  These mounds probably required but little more labor than some of the palisaded
forts of the Atlantic States.  The largest known mound
within the United States could easily have been thrown
up by five hundred men in eleven months, according to
careful estimates made by those who have examined
them.
In Central America and Mexico we find a civilization
of a higher type.  The empire of Montezuma had existed
but a comparatively short period at the time of the Spanish
Conquest, having been founded, as is supposed, in 1325.
It was preceded by the mighty Toltec empire. According
to Mexican historians, the Toltecs arrived in the Valley
of Mexico A. D. 648. They continued to spread their conquests far and wide during a period of fotir hundred
years.  They built the great pyramid of Chlolula, and
other large structures. About A. D). 1051, the Toltecs,
having been greatly reduced by war, pestilence, and
famine, silently and mysteriously disappeared.   The
Toltecs extended their conquests into Central America,
and have left their language in some of its provinces.
It was in this region, abundantly favored lb)y nature, 
12
where European, Asiatic and African adventurers met
and brought the seeds of knowledge from three continents,
that we find a peculiar form of civilization, in part indigenous and in part foreign.
MIISSIONARIES AMIONG TIHE INDIANS.
The Roman Catholics had many stations among them
in former periods, and converted many to their faith.
Eliott and Mayhew, in MIassachusetts, were very success
ful as missionaries, also the Moravians, in Pennsylvania.
Upon the breaking out of King Philip's war, the Indians
of Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and Cape Cod were
mostly professed Christians. Besides these there were
no less than seven villages of praying Indians, who had
long been instructed by the venerable Eliott, within the
bounds of the colony of Massachusetts.  These were faithful to the English during the war. Had they joined
Philip, the New England colonies would, in all human
probability, have been exterminated. When we carefully survey the efforts that have been made to Christianize the Indians,  we shall find as  much  success
among them as among the inhabitants of the East Indies.
We have in America ancient races and hoary ruins
quite as interesting as any presented by Assyria, Greece,
or Rome. It should be the pride of American citizens to
solve the problems connected with the origin of the first
population of America, and the civilization of Mexico and
Peru. The subject not only has the charm of novelty
and romance, but deserves the serious attention of the
most profound intellect.  It is hoped that this promising
field of archeological research will not be left entirely to
the learned societies of Europe, but that we shall do our
part in rescuing from oblivion the language, arts, and
monuments of America. 
INTERPRETATION OF INDIAN NAMES.
INDIAN NAMES IN NESW YORK.
MIANIATTAN-Rapids-Ment'itan, Rasle.
CHATEIUc -Great  rocks-C/a,  great;  Amu'qut,
Rock, Eliott, B.
MUscoOUTA-Low plains.
KITCIIAWAXN-Large flowing stream.
NYAcK-Corner, point, or angle-AaiaQ, El.
EsoPus —Steep coast, or high walled banks. (The
Indians living around the abrupt hills at Farmington,
Connecticut, were called Sopus Indians.)
POUGHKEEPSIE-Small cove, or harbor.
SAXWANGUNK-Great wall-Cia, great; TVa)konos, a
wall.
QLAssAIcK —Rocky stream.
PUNKHOCKIE-A steep bank.
COHONKSON-Place  of wild geese - Coho)lk, gray
goose.
PETAUCUNK-A plunge, a fall in a stream.
MOHIIUNK-Great hill.
HUNK-A fall in a stream.
SUCKANISSING-Black stone place.
IHoowAcK —Water flows out.
M[AMAKATING-Great standing heap.
MAHACKAMACK-Chiefs house, or king's palace.
NESCOTACK-Bad swamp.
COXSAcKIE-High hills.
AsHoKAN-lRapids.
WAWARSING —Holy place, place of sacred feasts and
war dances.
MATTEAWAN —Place of dressed skins.
NAPANOCK-Name of an Indian chief.
LONG ISLAND.
GOwANUS-TO flow down, shallows.
SEWANHACKIE-Wampum land.
MASPETI —A swamp.
13 
14
MANHASSET-An is]and sheltered by other islands.
SHAGwA-AM-High bluff.
MONTAUK-Standard, pillar, or ensign.
NAYACK-A point.
INDIAN N-AMES IN PENNSYLVANIA.
CoAQUANNOCK-Philadelphia —Grove of long pine
trees.
KITHANNE, or LENAPEItITTUK-D)elaware  RiverLarge river, or river of the Lenape.
NESHAIONIE-Two streams making one by flowing
together.
PE.IAPAcK-A pond without a current.
SAUcON-Tllhe outlet of a stream.
LECIAUuANNE-The forks occasioned by the confluence of two rivers.
THUPPE-KITANNE-Cold spring stream.
SANKENAK-Flint stonle.
COCOSSING-Place of owls.
POHOPOKA-Two mountains butting with their ends
against each other, with a stream of water between.
TANKHANNA-Small stream.
TOBYHANNA-Alder stream.
MAECIHHANNE-Large stream.
MASGEcKIIANNE-Swamp stream.
SHOIIOKAN —Glue.
TOMIBICAN-Place of crab apples.
TAMI AQUAN-Beaver stream.
LYCOIING- Sandy creek.
TAPPAN-Cold stream.
INDIAN NA-iMES IN NEW JERSEY.
PASSAICK-Large river.
HACKENSACK-Fields at the mouth of a river.
MUSCONETCONG-Rushing stream.
WATCHOG-Overflowing pond.
RARITAN-Forked river. 
15
RAwVAY-A forked rapid stream.
BARNEGAT-Transparent water.
NEVERSINK  Between place, or (Naiwisink) place of
corners.
MAxNASQUAN-End of peninsula.
CO)IMMUNIPAw-Good fishing.
PISCATAWAY-WVater gap.  A breach in high rocks
through which a stream runs.
TUCKAITOE-Troubled water.
Ass UNPINK-Standing stone; a large rock standing
alone in a stream.
TOTOwA-Passaic Falls; gaps, or breaches.
INDIAN NAMES IN MASSACHIIUSETTS.
AGAwA-A-A fishing station.
ASSABET —Miry stream.
HIOOSAC-A pinnacle.
SQUAMI-Last; highest.
MEI,RRIIACK —Rushing water.
NAIHANT-A point.
AIISHAwUN-Large peninsula.
SHIIAWMUT-A close, or compacted place. A name
often applied to necks of land. It may, in this case,
possibly mean a cluster of sharp pointed hills. From
Sham, close; and Multaag, a standard, pillar. or ensign.
Cluster, El. Bible, Numn. xiii. 23, cheauash. Compacted,
Eph. iv. 16, Shamwehteunk.
WACIITUSET-A mountain.
NANTASKET-Place of low ebb tide.
INDIAN NAMES IN CONNECTICUT.
CONNECTICUT-Long river.
MYsTIC-Large river.
QUINEBAUG-Long water.
PAWCATUCK-Pure river. Pahke, pure; luck, river.
SHIETUCKET-Violent river.
YANTIC-Four rivers. 
16
MASHAPAUG-Large pond.
NAUGATUCK-River of the mountain's fore-front. *
HOUSAToNIc-River of the lofty mountains.
QUASSAPOG-Stony pond.
INDIAN NAMIES IN RHODE ISLAND.
AQUIDNIc-An island.
AQUIDNESUK-Small island.
MANISSES-Small island.
MASHIAPAUG-Large pond.
MINNABAUG-Still or deep water.
NAYATT-A point.
PETTAQUOMSCOT-Rock at the entrance.
PAWCATICIK-Pure river (or fresh river); from pa?~ke,
pure, and tuck, river.
SHAWOiMUT-A neck or close place. Warwick neck.
SUcKATUNKANUCK-Flint hill.
INDIAN NAMIES IN NEW IIAMPSHIRE.
KEARSARGE-High hill.
CONTOCOOK-Swelling stream.
MONADNOCK-Steep mountain.
PIScATAQUA —Rocky streamn, or a gap or breach
in high rocks, through which a stream flows. From
pisk or pisqulttta, rock;t and touwag or tauwi, a gap.
INDIAN NAMES IN MAINE.
PENOBSCOT-A rock.
KENEBECK-Long water.
PRESUTMPSCOT-Cliffs of rocks.      I
DAMrARISCOTTA-Where  we dry fish, or place for
drying fish.
ANDROSCOGGIN-TO fish both with a spear and a line.
This name is spelled in several ways, and each appears to
denote a certain mode of fishing.
* Where the mountain comes close to the river.
t There are more than sixteen different words used in Eliott's Indian Bible
to signify rock.
4