Tribal Names of the Americas

How to Use This Book
1. Use the Header
Tribal name [Designation] Approximate
Location Parent Group (Source)
An entry may contain some or all of the
above elements. They are distinguished typographically
and appear in the order above.
Their meanings are as follows:
A. “Tribal name” denotes the name of the
group.
B. “Designation” indicates a name for something
other than a band or a tribe; for example,
it might be a language or a clan.
C. “Approximate Location” is the original
physical location of the tribe given in the
source material.
D. “Parent Group” is a larger group with
which this group is affiliated.
E. “Source” is the original material in which
this group was found by this author. To
find the complete entry, the user is directed
first to the abbreviations and then
to the bibliography.
2. Use the Abbreviations
Main entries: For example, the entry
“Apwaruge [Lang] [Atsugewi] (CA-8)” is interpreted
to be “Apwaruge is a language of
the Astsugewi group. This information was
taken from The Handbook of North American
Indians, volume 8.”
“See” entries: For example, “Aleche
(H) see Eyeish (BE)” means that to find information
on the Aleche as cited in (H) or
Hodge, the reader must look under the Eyeish
in (BE), the publication by Swanton.
“See also” entries: For example,
“Acoma (Hdbk10) see also Arahomo
(Hdbk10)” means that although Acoma has
a separate identity and is treated as such in
the source, The Handbook of North American
Indians, volume 10, the editors of the source
want the researcher to find more information
under “Arahomo.”
3. Use the Saint Section
In the S section beginning where the
word “saint” would appear, the user will find
all “saint” entries regardless of the abbreviations
used. This includes S., Saint, San, Sant,
Santa, Sante, Sn., St., Ste., and Sto. To find
information in this section, the user will look
for the saint name first. For example, when
searching for “Saint Felipe,” one will look
for “Felipe” first, and will then look between
“Felipe, S.” and “Felipe, San.” This not only
allows the user to find all Felipes together
without skipping around through pages of
material, but it allows him to choose which
entry is the appropriate one.
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