of an albino buffalo was seen as a favorable sign from the gods, and the animal was held in great reverence. A magical animal that was accorded the power of shape-shifting, and could even apparently transform itself into a beautiful woman, the sacred status of this rare natural phenomenon meant that the white buffalo became the subject of many myths and stories. The hide of the animal, once it had died a natural death, was made as an offering to the gods.
BULL ROARER
A piece of wood, carved and polished into a flat oval shape. The ends were pierced to allow thread to be passed through. The size of the wooden part of the instrument could be anywhere from 4 inches to 6 feet long.
When the bull roarer was spun around the head, it emitted a loud roaring sound that was thought to emulate the sound made by the Thunderbird. It was used as a magical instrument, the sound of which was believed to call rain from the skies.
It’s still possible to buy souvenir versions of the bull roarer.
BULLBOAT
A circular boat, something like a coracle, used for short trips across (inland) water. The bullboat was made of rawhides stretched over a willow framework. The seams of the hide were made waterproof with rendered animal fat, and ashes from wood fires. It was used by the Mandan tribes—who, it was conjectured, were descended from the Welsh; its similarity to the coracle, used in Wales, lends a certain credence to this theory.
BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS
This organization officially started as part of the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1849, but was first founded in 1824 when it was called the Office of Indian Affairs, a part of the War Department. It was given its current name in 1947.
BURIAL OF THE DEAD
Across the many tribes of Native American Indians, there were many different approaches to the disposal of the remains of a lost loved one. But it’s safe to say that the two main differences were whether the corpse was buried in the ground or left in the open air.
The latter was the preferred way among the Arapaho, Chippewah, Gros Ventre, Mandan, Siksika, and Sioux tribes. All these peoples placed the corpse either in the branches of a tree, or at the top of a framework that was specially constructed for the purpose. In northwestern America the body was put into a boat or canoe, the entire canoe then suspended in a tree.
The underground burial, though, was really the most widely used method. The corpse might be wrapped in matting made of cane, and buried in the ground. Some tribes embalmed the body prior to burial. Seminole and Creek Indians dug circular holes into which the corpse was inserted in a sitting position, whilst the Mohawk used the same method except the corpse would be squatting.
The buried bones of the tribes belonging to the Great Lakes region would be disinterred periodically and placed in a common pit.
Lots of tribes placed items near the burial place, such as weapons. The belief was that these worldly goods would be needed in the world that was to come. And sometimes the horse of the dead person was slain with him, so that the two might go into the afterlife together.
All tribes mourned their dead, but again, the methods of displaying that grief varied. Cutting the hair off, slashing the body or arms with blades, wailing and fasting; all these were ways of expressing grief to the rest of society. Among some tribes, if a person died in a tipi, then the tipi would be sealed up, marked as unlucky.
The Comanche, expert horsemen, placed the corpse on the back of a horse along with a (living) rider. The rider would then go in search of a suitable burial place, such as a cave. Once the body had been buried, stones were piled up to mark the spot.
If a member of the Creek tribe died while in bed, the corpse was buried underneath that bed.
Several prominent Native Americans, including Sitting Bull and Black Hawk, have been disinterred and moved to other places.
BURY THE HATCHET
When we “bury the hatchet,” we let go of irritations we might have with a neighbor or adversary in favor of peace.
The saying has its origins in a small piece of ritual belonging to the Native Americans. When chiefs of tribes met to discuss a problem, as soon as a solution was settled, the pact was sealed, symbolically, by the literal burying of the hatchet, which was a weapon of war. There are records to prove this, too: for example, in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register of 1870 is an account, first written in 1680, from a gentleman named Samuel Sewall:
“ … Meeting wth ye Sachem [the tribal leaders] the[y] came to an agreemt and buried two Axes in ye Ground; which ceremony to them is more significant & binding than all Articles of Peace the Hatchet being a principal weapon wth ym.”
CACIQUE
A word with Arawak origins (Kasseque), a cacique is another name for a chief or a head of a tribe and applies in the main to South American tribes as well as those of the Caribbean. Some Pueblo people applied the word to their spiritual leaders.
CADDO
This tribe originated in the Red River part of Louisiana, but moved to the Southern Plains area, following the great herds of buffalo, where they became buffalo hunters as well as horse traders. Caddo Indians were recognizable by their dark complexion, their pierced noses and nose rings, and tattoos. They lived in tall, elegantly conical houses made of a wooden framework covered in grasses and reeds. These houses looked a little like an elongated bee hive. Unusually, the Caddoans had furniture such as beds and chairs inside their houses, which possibly made the early Spanish explorers well-disposed toward the tribe. The Caddoans also had a covered house for winter, and a house with open sides and a ventilated raised flooring area for the hot summers.
The white men referred to a “Caddo confederacy” which encompassed the Kichai, Tawakoni, Waco, and Wichita peoples. During the Civil War the Caddo tribes stayed loyal to the Union Government and escaped to Kansas to seek sanctuary. Because of their loyalty, in 1902 each tribal member was accorded citizenship of the United States.
The Caddo were a farming tribe, raising corn, beans, and squash in large clearings which they made in their forests. The tribe was split into two main groups. The Kadohadacho lived along the Red River in what is now the Oklahoma/Arkansas border. The other group were called the Tejas Caddo. The town Nagadoches is actually built on the site of one of the most ancient Tejan settlements. The word Tejas
