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Indian Affairs, Bureau of

(Encyclopedia)Indian Affairs, Bureau of, created (1824) in the U.S. War Dept. and transferred (1849) to the U.S. Dept. of the Interior. The War Dept. managed Native American affairs after 1789, but a separate burea...

Abnaki

(Encyclopedia)Abnaki or Abenaki both: ăbnäˈkē [key], Native North Americans of the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). The name Abnaki was given to the...

Reuben

(Encyclopedia)Reuben ro͞oˈbən [key], in the Bible, Jacob's eldest son and eponymous ancestor of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. He interceded for his brother Joseph's life and guaranteed the safe return from Egy...

Shasta, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Shasta, Mount shăsˈtə [key], volcanic peak, 14,162 ft (4,317 m) high, N Calif., in the Cascade Range. Visited c.1827 by Peter Skene Ogden, a British fur trader and explorer, Mt. Shasta has long bee...

Colville, indigenous people of North America

(Encyclopedia)Colville kŏlˈvĭl [key], indigenous people of North America whose language belongs to the Salishan branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). Once one of the...

Gond

(Encyclopedia)Gond gŏnd [key], ethnic group of central India. The group is now found especially in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and in neighboring areas of Maharashtra, Telangana, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Uttar P...

Boleslav I

(Encyclopedia)Boleslav I bōˈləsläfˌ [key], d. 967, duke of Bohemia (929–67). He became duke by assassinating his elder brother, Duke Wenceslaus (see Wenceslaus, Saint). Although Boleslav was involved in cons...

Pentateuch

(Encyclopedia)Pentateuch pĕnˈtətyo͞ok [key] [Gr.,=five books], first five books of the Old Testament. In the Hebrew Bible these books are called the Torah. ...

Avars

(Encyclopedia)Avars äˈvärz [key], mounted nomad people who in the 4th and 5th cent. dominated the steppes of central Asia. Dislodged by stronger tribes, the Avars pushed west, increasing their formidable army by...

Lewis, Andrew

(Encyclopedia)Lewis, Andrew, 1720?–1781, American soldier, b. Ireland. As a boy he emigrated with his family to America and settled near Staunton, Va. Later, he became a leading frontier Indian fighter. In 1754, ...