Native Americans Tribes

Canadian Region: Tribal History

Below are brief descriptions about the tribes that artist Dave McGary focuses on in his bronze sculptures of the people of the Canadian region of Native America:

Algonquian Family

Tribes of the Algonquian Family: In the West – Siksika, Kainah, and Piegan; Arapaho and Cheyenne; in the North – Chippewa group, Ottawa, Chippewa, Missisauga, Algonkin group, Nipissing, Temiscaming, Abittibi, and Algonkin; Northeast – the Montagnais group, composed of the Nascapee, Montagnais, Mistassin, Bersiamite, Papinachois, Micmac, Malecite, Passamaquoddy, Arosaguntacook, Sokoki, Penobscot, and Norridgewock; Central – Menominee, Sauk, Fox, Kickapoo, Mascouten, Potawatomi, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Tamaroa, Michigamea, Miami, Piankashaw, and Wea; Eastern – Pennacook, Massachuset, Wampanoag, Narraganset, Nipmuc, Montauk, Mohegan, Mahican, Wappinger, Delawares, Shawnee, Nanticoke, Conoy, Powhatan, and Pamlico
Home Territories: Eastern Canada, Quebec, Maine, New England, Ohio, the Great Lakes, Mississippi, Tennessee, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Upper Michigan, the Rocky Mountains, Western Ontario and the Canadian Prairies
Languages: Multiple
Enemies: Iroquoian Confederacy
Point of Interest: They were a mobile group who would move to areas with the most resources.

Arapaho

Tribal Origin: Algonquian Family
Native Name: Iñunaina, means 'our people'
Home Territories: Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska and Oklahoma
Language: Arapaho
Enemies: Pawnee and Comanche
Point of Interest: In later years became fur traders

Assiniboin

Tribal Origin: Siouan Family
Also known as: Asiniibwaan, means 'Stone Sioux'
Native Name: Hohe Nakota
Home Territories: Northern Great Plains of America and Canada
Language: Lakota
Alliances: Cree
Enemies: Atsina and Blackfeet
Point of Interest: A semi-nomatic tribe that hunted bison and sold their hides

Atsina

Tribal Origin: Algonquian Family
Tribes of the Atsina: Also known as the Gros Ventres
Native Name: A'ani or A'aninin, means 'white clay people'
Home Territories: Montana and South Saskatchewan
Language: Atsina
Alliances: Blackfeet and then later allied with the Crow; possibly with the Arapaho
Enemies: Assiniboine, Cree and Blackfeet (when the Atsina allied themselves with the Crow)
Point of Interest: Due to the acquisition of guns by their enemies, they were forced north into Canada.

Chippewa

Tribal Origin: Algonquian Family
Also known as: Ojibwa, Ojibway, Ojibwe and the Chippeway
Native Name: Bāwa'tigōwininiwŭg, means 'people of the Sault'
Home Territories: Michigan, northern Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota
Language: Anishinaabemowin or Ojibwemowin
Alliances: Ottawa and Potawatomi peoples
Enemies: Iroquois Confederacy and the Sioux
Point of Interest: Known for birch bark canoes, wild rice, copper points, and their use of guns from the British to defeat the Dakota and the Sioux

Cree

Tribal Origin: Algonquian Family
Also known as: Iliniw, means 'person'
Native Name: Nēhilawē, means 'those who speak our nation's language'
Home Territories: Canada, Minnesota, North Dakota and eventually Montana
Language: Cree
Alliances: Navaho
Point of Interest: Known to be one of the largest tribes in North America

Crow

Tribal Origin: Siouan
Also known as: Absaroka or Apsáalooke, means 'children of the
large-beaked bird'
Native Name: Crow
Home Territories: North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming
Language: Crow
Enemies: Siksika and the Dakota
Point of Interest: Known for very large tipis that could accomodate mattresses and a fire pit

Dakota

Tribal Origin: Siouan Family
Also known as: Eastern Sioux, Nakota and Lakota
Native Name: Dakota, means 'Allies' or 'Friends'
Home Territories: Dakotas, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Carolina, Manitoba and southern Saskatchewan
Language: Lakota
Alliances: Sioux Nation
Points of Interest: Known for their bravery

Haida

Tribal Origin: Skittagetan family
Also known as: Iliniw, means 'person'
Native Name: Xa'ida, means 'people'
Home Territories: British Columbia and Alaska
Language: Haida
Enemies: Other indigenous tribes, Canada and the United States
Point of Interest: Known for skill in boat-based warfare

Hidatsa

Tribal Origin: Siouan
Native Name: Nuxbaaga, means 'original people'
Home Territories: North Dakota
Language: Hidatsa
Alliances: Mandan
Enemies: Lakota
Point of Interest: Often intermarried with their Mandan ally

Huron

Tribal Origin: Wendat Conferacy
Native Name: Wendat, or 'Dwellers of the Peninsula' or 'Islanders'
Home Territories: Ontario, Quebec, Ohio, Oklahoma, Michigan and Kansas
Language: Wendat
Alliances: Delawares and Munsees
Enemies: Iroquois
Point of Interest: Consisted of 4 tribes (Attignaouantan – 'Bear people', the Attigneenongnahac – 'Cord people', the Arendahronon – 'Rock people', and the Tohontaenrat – 'White-eared' or 'Deer people')

Iroquois Confederacy

Tribal Origin: Iroquoian Family
Native Name: Haudenosaunee, means 'People of the Longhouse'
Home Territories: Northeast United States and Midwest
Language: Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora
6 Nation Alliance: Tuscarora, Oneida, Mohawk, Seneca, Onondaga and Cayuga
Enemies: The Huron and the Algonquin
Point of Interest: Through conquering other tribes, thy sought to incorporate these conquered peoples into the Iroquois Confederacy

Kutenai

Tribal Origin: Shoshonean
Native Name: Kútonâqa, possibly means 'the water people'
Home Territories: Idaho, Montana, Washington and British Columbia
Language: Kootenai
Enemies: Blackfeet
Point of Interest: Were forced into the mountains by the Blackfeet and famine

Tionontati

Tribal Origin: Iroquois
Also known as: Petun
Native Name: Tionontati
Home Territories: Canada (near the Great Lakes)
Language: Iroquoian
Alliances: Huron
Enemies: Iroquois
Point of Interest: The Tionontati eventually blended completely in with the Huron to form the Wyandot

 

 

For more information regarding the Native American tribes that Dave McGary focuses on in his bronze sculptures, we recommend the following resources: encarta.msn.com; accessgenealogy.com; Handbook of American Indians, 1906; Handbook of American Indians, 1912, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 30, part 1 and 2; wikipedia.org; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ojibwa; mohawktribe.com