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Tribal Names and Their Meanings

EDITOR'S NOTE: It is an unfortunate fact that most of the names native tribes are known by today were actually words given to those tribes by their enemies. It was not the name the tribe gave themselves. For example, the word "Iroquois" is a French variation of an Abenaki word which meant "rattlesnake." The term is used to represent the six aboriginal nations who united to form a confederacy. The result was what some people call "The Iroquois Confederacy." The correct designation should be Haudenosaunee, or the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. This "article" is a list of most commonly known tribal names and their meanings.

The following list is in alphabetical order. Where known, the self-identifying name or names of the tribe or nation is listed in parentheses. Following the names are definitions of the meanings of those names. Please notify Native History of any needed corrections, clarifications, or additions. Research continues and the information will be updated frequently.

  1. Abenaki (Abnaki, Alnonba) --- Those living at the sunrise (In the East, near coast)
  2. Achomawi --- River
  3. Acolapissa --- Those who listen and see
  4. Adai (Nateo)
  5. Ahtena --- Ice People
  6. Akwesasne --- Land where the partridge "drums"
  7. Alabama (Alibamu) --- I clear the thicket
  8. Aleut (Alutiiq) ---
  9. Anadarko (Nadaco) ---
  10. Anishinibeg aka Chippewa and Ojibwe or Objibwa ---
  11. Apache (Dine, Dineh, Tinde, Inde) --- Enemy (A Zuni word)
  12. Apalachicola --- People of the other side
  13. Apalachee --- People of the other side
  14. Arapahoe (Inunaina or Atsina) ---
  15. Arikara --- Horns or elk people, or corn eaters
  16. Assiniboin (Hohe) --- Ones who cook using stones (ojibwa word)
  17. Atakapa --- Man Eater
  18. Athapaskan (Dene) ---
  19. Atikamekw --- White fish
  20. Atsina aka Gros Ventre (Haaninin) White clay people
  21. Atsugewi --- Hat Creek Indians
  22. Avoyel --- People of the rocks
  23. Aztec (Nahuatl, Nahua) ---
  24. Bannock (Panaiti) ---
  25. Bayogoula --- People of the bayou
  26. Bidai --- Brushwood (A Caddo word)
  27. Blackfoot (Piegan, Peigan, Nitsi-Tapi, Sarcee)
  28. Blood (Kainai or Kainaiwa) ---
  29. Brule --- Burned thighs, also burned wood (skin description)
  30. Caddo (Natchitoches, also Adai, Hasinai, Kadohodacho)--- True chiefs
  31. Cayuga --- Place locusts were taken out, people at the mucky land
  32. Cayuse --- Stones or rocks (A French-Canadian word)
  33. Catawba (Esaw) ---
  34. Chakchiuma --- Red crawfish people
  35. Chehalis --- Sand
  36. Cherokee (Ani-Yun-Wiya)--- Cave people ( A Choctaw word), people of different speech (Creek word)
  37. Chetco --- Close to the mouth of the stream
  38. Cheyenne (Dzi-Tsi-Stas) --- Red talkers (Dakota word)
  39. Chickahominy --- Hominy people
  40. Chickamauga --- Dwelling place of the chief (A Creek word)
  41. Chippewa aka Oneida (Anishinabeg) ---
  42. Chipwyan --- Pointed skins (A Cree word)
  43. Chitimacha --- They have cooking vessels
  44. Chontal --- Stranger (Nahuatl word)
  45. Choula --- Fox
  46. Chowanoc --- People at the south
  47. Chumash --- People who make the shell bead money
  48. Clakamas (Guithlakimas) ---
  49. Clallam (S'Klallam, Nusklaim, Tlalem) --- Strong people
  50. Clatsop --- Dried salmon
  51. Cocopah (Xawitt Kunyavaei) --- River people
  52. Coeur D'Alene (Skitswish) ---
  53. Comanche (Detsanayuka, Kotsoteka, Nermernuh, Noconi) --- Anyone who wants to fight me all the time (ute word)
  54. Coushatta (Kopano, Quevenes) ---
  55. Cowichan (Khowutzun) --- Basking in the sun that warms your back or warm land
  56. Cree (Kenistenoag, Iyiniwok) ---
  57. Creek (Muskogee, Abihika, Abeika, Hitchit)
  58. Crow --- Crow, sparrowhawk, bird people
  59. Dakota --- Friend or ally
  60. Deleware aka Lenni-Lenape (Wampanoag, Munsee, Unami, Unalachitgo)
  61. Dine --- The Apaches' word for themselves
  62. Erie --- Log tail or cat people (Iroquoian word)
  63. Eskimo (Inuit, Inupiat, Inuvialuit, Yupik) ---
  64. Fox (Mesquaki) --- Red earth people
  65. Git' Lissums --- People of the Lissums
  66. Gitksan --- People of the Northern Skena
  67. Gros Ventre (Atsina, in the prairie region; Hidatsa, in the Missouri area) --- Big bellies, one who cooks with a stone, cooks by roasting
  68. Hach Winik --- True people
  69. Han --- Those who live along the river
  70. Haudenosaunee (Hotinonshonni, Ongwanosionni) --- People of the Long House, We of the Extended Lodge
  71. Havasupai (Suppai) --- People of the blue-green water
  72. Hiute --- Bowmen
  73. Honniasont --- Wearing something around the neck
  74. Hopi (Hopitu, Hopitu Shinumu, Moqui, Hapeka) --- Peaceful ones or well-mannered people
  75. Houma --- Red
  76. Huchnom --- Mountain people
  77. Hunkpapa --- Campers at the opening of the circle
  78. Hupa --- Trinity River
  79. Huron (Wendat, Wyandot) --- Ruffian, head of a boar (French)
  80. Hwal'bay aka Hualapai --- People of the tall pines
  81. Ihanktonwan --- Dwellers at the end (Ihanktonwana - little dwellers at the end)
  82. Iowa (Pahodja) --- Sleepy ones (Dakota word)
  83. Iroquois --- Real adders, rattlesnake, (See Haudenosaunee)
  84. Jatibonicu --- People of the great sacred high waters (First spelling)
  85. Jatibonuco --- Great people of the sacred high waters (Second spelling)
  86. Jicaque --- Ancient person (Nahuatl word)
  87. Jicarilla (Tinde) --- Little basket weaver (Spanish word)
  88. Kainai --- Many chiefs
  89. Kakwchak Porcupine people
  90. Kan-hatki --- White earth
  91. Kanienkahaka --- People of the place of flint
  92. Kanza aka Kansa --- People of the south wind
  93. Karok --- Upstream
  94. Kato --- Lake
  95. Kawchottine --- People of the great hares
  96. Ketsei --- Going in wet sand
  97. Kickapoo (Kiwigapawa) --- He stands about
  98. Kiowa (Kwuda, Tepda, Tepkinago) --- Principal people
  99. Klallam --- Strong people
  100. Klamath (Eukshikni-Maklaks, Auksni) --- People of the lake
  101. Kickitat (Qwulhwaipum) ---
  102. Kootenai (Kuronoqa, Kutenai, Ansanka) ---
  103. Kotsoteka --- Buffalo eaters
  104. Kutcha-kutchin --- Those who live on the flats
  105. Kwuda --- People coming out
  106. Lakota --- Friend or ally
  107. Latgawa --- Those living in the uplands
  108. Lenni Lenape --- Genuine men
  109. Lillooet --- Wild onion
  110. Lipan (Naizhan) --- Warriors of the mountains
  111. Lumbee (Cheraw) ---
  112. Machapunga --- Bad dust
  113. Mahican aka Mohican, Mohegan --- Wolf
  114. Maucioa (Pipatsji) ---
  115. Makah (Kwenetchechat) --- Cape people
  116. Maliseet --- Broken talkers
  117. Mandan (Numakaki, Metutahanke) ---
  118. Massachuset --- At the hills
  119. Mdewankantonwan --- Dwellers of the spirit lake
  120. Menominee --- Wild rice men
  121. Miami (Twightwis, twahitwa, Wayatanoke) --- People on the peninsula, cry of the crane, pigeon
  122. Michigamea --- Great water
  123. Mi'kmaq aka Micmac --- family, friend, turtle
  124. Miniconjou --- Planters by water
  125. Missouri --- Great Muddy, people with wooden canoes
  126. Moapa (Moapariats) --- Mosquito creek people
  127. Moatokni --- Southerners
  128. Modoc aka Mohave (Tzinamaa, Ahamakav) --- Southerners
  129. Mohave aka Modoc --- Three mountains
  130. Mohawk (Kanienkahaka) --- Possessors of the flint, coward or man eater (Abenaki words)
  131. Mohegan aka Mahican, Mohican --- Wolf
  132. Moneton --- Big water people
  133. Munsee (Minasinink) --- At the place where the stones are gathered together
  134. Nahane --- People of the west
  135. Narragansett --- People of the small point
  136. Nanticoke --- People of the tidewaters
  137. Natsit-Kutchin --- Those who live off the flats
  138. Navajo --- Cultivated field in an arroyo (Tewa word)
  139. Nez Perce (Neemeepoo, Kamuinu, Sahaptin) ---
  140. Nipmuck --- Freshwater fishing place
  141. Nisga'a (Git'Lissums) --- People of the Nass River
  142. Nokoni --- Those who turn back
  143. Nooksack --- Mountain men
  144. Nootka --- Along the coast
  145. Ogallala (Okandanda) --- Scatters their own
  146. Ojibwa --- To roast till puckered up
  147. Okanago (Isonkuaili) ---
  148. Okelousa --- Blackwater
  149. Okmulgee --- Where water boils up
  150. Omaha --- Upstream people or people going against the current
  151. Oneida --- Aa boulder standing up, or the people of the standing stone
  152. Onondaga --- People on top of the hills
  153. Opata --- Hostile people (Pima word)
  154. Osage (Wakon, Wazhazhe Pahatsi) ---
  155. Ottawa --- To trade
  156. Otto (Chewayray) --- Lechers
  157. Pahodja --- Dusty ones
  158. Paiute (Numa) ---
  159. Pakiutlema --- People of the gap
  160. Pamunkey --- Rising upland
  161. Pantch-Pinunkansh --- Men altogether red
  162. Papagos (Tohono-Odham, Akchin) --- Desert people, the bean people
  163. Papinashuash --- The ones who like to laugh
  164. Pascagoula --- Bread people
  165. Passamaquoddy (Peskedemakddi) --- Plenty of pollock (pollock is a fish)
  166. Paugusset --- Where the narrows open out
  167. Pawnee (Pariki, Chahiksichahiks, Awah) --- Horn people, look like wolves, men of men,
  168. Penateka --- Honey eaters
  169. Pennacook --- Down hill
  170. Penobscot (Pannawanbskek) --- people of the forks on the white rocks, the descending ledge, of the stone place
  171. Pensacola --- Hair people
  172. Peoria --- Carrys a pack on his back
  173. Pequot --- Fox people, destroyers
  174. Piegan --- Scabby robes
  175. Piekuakamit --- The ones from the flat lake
  176. Pikani --- Poor robe
  177. Pilthlako --- Big swamp
  178. Pima (A'atam) --- River people
  179. Pojoaque --- Drinking place
  180. Potawatomi --- People of the place of fire, keepers of the fire, fire people
  181. Powhatan --- Falls in a current of water
  182. Pshwanwapam --- Stony ground
  183. Puyallup --- Shadow
  184. Quahadi --- Antelope
  185. Quapaw (Ouaguapas) --- Downstream people
  186. Quinnipiac --- Long water country
  187. Red River Metis (Slotas) ---
  188. Sac aka Sauk (Meshkwakihug) --- People of the yellow earth, people of the outlet
  189. Salish (Okinagan) --- Flatheads
  190. Sans Arc (Itazipco) --- Without bows (French)
  191. Sarcee (Tsuu-T'ina) ---
  192. Schaghticoke --- At the river forks
  193. Sekani --- dwellers on the rocks
  194. Seminole --- Separatist, runaways, peninsula people
  195. Seneca --- Keepers of the Western Door, Place of stone, people of the standing rock, Great hill people
  196. Serrano (Cowangachm, Mohineyam) ---
  197. Shawnee --- South or southerners
  198. Shoshone --- Snake
  199. Sihasapa Sioux --- Blackfoot
  200. Siksika --- Blackfoot
  201. Sioux --- Snake (French)
  202. Sisitonwan --- Dwellers of the fish ground
  203. Skokomish (Twana) --- River people
  204. Susquehanna (Susquehannock) ---
  205. Taino --- We, the good people
  206. Takelma --- Those living along the river
  207. Tanima --- Liver eaters
  208. Tangipahoa --- Corn gatherers
  209. Tantawats --- Southern men
  210. Tatsanottine --- People of the copper water
  211. Tawakoni --- River bend among red hills
  212. Tejas --- Friendly
  213. Tenawa --- Downstream
  214. Tennuth-Ketchin --- Middle people
  215. Teton --- People of the Mountains (French)
  216. Tewa --- Moccasins
  217. Thlingchadinne --- Dog-flank people
  218. Tinde --- Dwellers of the prairie
  219. Titonwan --- Dwellers of the plains
  220. Tonawanda --- Confluent stream
  221. Tonkawa (Tonkaweya, Titskanwatich) --- They all stay together, the most human of people
  222. Tsattine --- Lives among the beavers
  223. Tsetsaut --- People of the interior
  224. Tsimshian --- People of the river
  225. Tsuu t'ina --- Great amount of people
  226. Tubatulabal --- Pinenut eaters (Shoshone word)
  227. Tuscarora (Skarure) --- Hemp gatherers, shirt wearing people
  228. Two Kettle (Oohenonpa) --- Two boilings
  229. Unalachtgo --- Tidewater people
  230. Ute (Noochi) ---
  231. Vunta-Ketchin --- Those who live among the lakes
  232. Wahpekute --- Shooters in the leaves
  233. Wahpetonwan --- Dwellers among the leaves
  234. Wailaki --- North language
  235. Wakokai --- Blue heron breeding place
  236. Walapai --- Pine tree people
  237. Wallawalla --- Little river
  238. Wampanoag (Pokanoket) --- Eastern people
  239. Wappo --- Brave, couragous
  240. Waptailmin --- People of the narrow river
  241. Wasco --- Cup, people who have the cup
  242. Wichita (Kitikiti'sh) --- Big arbor (Choctaw word), raccoon eyes
  243. Winnebago --- Filthy water people
  244. Wiwohka --- Roaring water
  245. Wyandot --- People of the peninsula
  246. Yakama --- Runaway, the pregnant people, people of the narrows
  247. Yamparika --- Root eaters
  248. Yavapai --- (Mohave Apache) People of the sun, crooked mouth people
  249. Yoncalla ---
  250. Yuchi --- Located yonder
  251. Yuki --- Stranger
  252. Yuma (Chisa) ---
  253. Yurok --- Downstream
  254. Zuni (Ashiwi, Ashiwani) ---

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