Native American History Flashcards

Flashcards for Native American History Review

Pniese

A warrior or counselor among the Wampanoag and other Algonquian tribes, often serving as a mediator or advisor to the sachem (leader).

Mahicans

A Native American tribe originally from the Hudson River Valley, part of the Algonquian language family, who were displaced by European colonization and conflicts like the Mohawk Wars.

Josiah Winslow

The governor of Plymouth Colony during King Philip’s War (1675–1676); the first native-born colonial governor and a key figure in the conflict against Metacom (King Philip).

John Sassamon

A Wampanoag convert to Christianity who served as a translator for colonists. His murder in 1675, allegedly by Metacom’s supporters, sparked King Philip’s War.

Metacom (King Philip)

The Wampanoag sachem who led a pan-tribal resistance against English colonists in King Philip’s War (1675–1676), one of the deadliest conflicts in colonial North America.

Weetamoo

A female sachem of the Pocasset Wampanoag and ally of Metacom during King Philip’s War; she played a significant military and leadership role.

Proxy wars

Conflicts where Native nations allied with European powers (e.g., British or French) to advance their own interests, often as part of larger imperial struggles like the Seven Years’ War.

Virgin soil epidemics

Disease outbreaks (e.g., smallpox) that devastated Indigenous populations with no prior immunity, causing catastrophic demographic collapse after European contact.

Westos

A Native group in the Southeast who became notorious as slave raiders in the 17th century, trading captives to Europeans before being defeated by rival tribes.

"Young Brims"

A Creek leader (also known as Emperor Brims) who navigated alliances with Europeans in the early 18th century to maintain Creek autonomy in the Southeast.

Seepeycoffey

A Creek town leader who opposed ceding land to colonists in the 18th century, representing resistance to European expansion.

Malatchi

A Creek leader who sought to balance trade with the British while preserving Creek sovereignty in the mid-18th century.

Ethnogenesis

The process by which new Indigenous cultural identities emerge, often in response to colonialism (e.g., the Catawba or Seminole nations).

Revitalization Movements

Movements led by prophets or leaders (e.g., Neolin or Tenskwatawa) to restore Indigenous cultural and spiritual practices in response to colonialism.

"Master of Life"

A central deity in the spiritual teachings of Neolin, an 18th-century Delaware prophet whose ideas influenced Pontiac’s Rebellion.

Pontiac

An Ottawa leader who organized a pan-tribal resistance against British rule in the Great Lakes region (1763–1766) after the Seven Years’ War.

Chickamaugas

A faction of Cherokee who resisted U.S. expansion in the late 18th century, led by Dragging Canoe, and formed new settlements to continue fighting.

"Walking Purchase"

A 1737 land swindle by Pennsylvania colonists against the Lenape (Delaware), who were forced to cede land based on a fraudulent treaty.

Sir Jeffrey Amherst

A British general whose policies, including biological warfare (smallpox blankets), exacerbated tensions with Native peoples, contributing to Pontiac’s Rebellion.

Cockacoeske

A Pamunkey leader who negotiated with English colonists in Virginia after Bacon’s Rebellion (1676), securing limited autonomy for her people.

Battle of Fort Niagara (1759)

A pivotal conflict during the Seven Years’ War where the British seized the fort from the French, disrupting Native alliances in the Great Lakes.

Bacon’s Rebellion (1676)

A colonial uprising in Virginia led by Nathaniel Bacon against Indigenous tribes and the government; it intensified settler violence against Native peoples.

Prophetstown

A multi-tribal settlement founded by Tenskwatawa and Tecumseh in Indiana (early 1800s) as a center of Indigenous resistance to U.S. expansion.

Treaty of Greenville (1795)

An agreement where Ohio Valley tribes ceded much of modern Ohio to the U.S. after the Battle of Fallen Timbers, marking a shift in federal-Indigenous power dynamics.

Nancy Blue Jacket

A Shawnee woman who played a diplomatic role in the late 18th century, navigating relations between her people and U.S. settlers.

Proclamation Line of 1763

A British decree banning colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains to reduce conflict with Native nations, largely ignored by settlers.