lvania. But by far the most important branch was the renowned
confederacy called the Five Nations. This included the Senecas,
Onondagas, Cayugas, Oneidas, and Mohawks. These five tribes occupied
territory in a strip extending through the lake region of New York. At a
later date a kindred people, the Tuscaroras, who had drifted down into
Carolina, returned northward and rejoined the league, which thereafter
was known as the Six Nations. This confederacy was by far the most
formidable aggregation of Indians within the territory of the present
United States. It waged merciless war upon other native peoples and had
become so dreaded, says Dr. Fiske, that at the cry "A Mohawk!" the
Indians of New England fled like sheep. It was especially hostile to
some alien branches of its own kindred, the Hurons and Eries in
particular.

South of the Algonquins was the _Maskoki_ group of Indians, of a
decidedly high class, comprising the Creeks, or Muskhogees, the Choctaws,
the Chickasaws, and, later, the Seminoles. They occupied the area of the
Gulf States, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi River. The {10}
building of the Ohio earthworks is by many students attributed to the
ancestors of these southern tribes, and it was they who heroically fought
the Spanish invaders.

The powerful _Dakota_ family, also called Sioux, ranged over territory
extending from Lake Michigan to the Rocky Mountains and covering the most
of the valley of the Missouri.

The _Pawnee_ group occupied the Platte valley, in Nebraska, and the
territory extending thence southward; and the _Shoshonee_ group had for
its best representatives the renowned Comanches, the matchless horsemen
of the plains.

On the Pacific coast were several tribes, but none of any special
importance. In the Columbia and Sacramento valleys were the lowest
specimens of the Indian race, the only ones who may be legitimately
classed as savages. All the others are more properly known as barbarians.

In New Mexico and Arizona is a group of remarkable interest, the _Pueblo
Indians_, who inhabit large buildings (pueblos) of stone or sun-dried
brick. In this particular they stand in a class distinct from all other
native tribes in the United States. They comprise the Zunis, Moquis,
Acomans, and others, having different languages, {11} but standing on the
same plane of culture. In many respects they have advanced far beyond
any other stock. They have specially cultivated the arts