Extinct Tribes B

Extinct Tribes, Forgotten Names, or Alternate Names of North American Indians

An alphabetical list of extinct native american indian tribes of the United States B.

Each tribal profile explains who they were, where they lived, how they lived, an account of first contact with Europeans, population if known, and a brief explanation of what happed to them.

A | B | C | D-E | F-G | H-J | K | L | M | N | O | P-Q |  R-S |  T-V | W-Z 

Believed to be Extinct or Absorbed Into Other Tribes

B

Bahacecha – A tribe visited by Spanish explorer Don Juan de Oñate Salazar in 1604. At that time, the Bahacecha were living on the Colorado River in Arizona, between Bill Williams fork and the Gila.

Their language was described as being almost the same as that of the Mohave, whose territory was to the north of them and with whom they were friendly. They lived in low wood houses covered with earth.

Though the Yuman tribes also inhabited that region, they are not identified with them.

Bankalachi –  A small Shoshonean tribe who lived on upper Deer Creek, which drains into Tulare Lake in Southern California. With the Tubatulabal, they constitute one of the four principal coordinate branches of the Shoshonean family.

Bayougoula – Their name meaning “bayou people, the Bayougoula were a Muskhogean tribe located on the west side of the Mississippi River in Iberville Parish, Louisiana. They spoke a Choctaw dialect. 

Living in thatched roof houses, the tribe kept flocks of turkey and farmed corn, bean, squash, melons, sunflowers and tobacco. In 1700 they were said to have numbered about 200-250. In this period, the Bayogoula almost exterminated the Mugulasha as the result of a dispute between the chiefs of the two tribes.

In 1706, they received the Tonica into their village but were surprised and almost all massacred by their guests. Smallpox destroyed most of the remainder, so that by 1721 not a family was known to exist.

Beothuk –  Alternate names: Beathunk, Betoukuag, Macquajeet, Red Indians, Skraelling, Ulno. The Beothuk or “Red Indians” were the original inhabitants of Newfoundland, Canada. The Beothuk loved the color red, hence the name.

They covered their bodies, faces, hair, clothing and personal possessions with red paint made from a powdered ochre mixed with fish oil or animal grease. Through displacement, disease and killings by the white man, the tribe died out in the 1800’s.

Bidai – The Bidai tribe name is the Caddo word for “brushwood,” probably referring to the peculiar growth characteristic of the region. Extinct today, they belonged to the Caddoan stock, whose villages were scattered over a wide territory, but principally about the Trinity River in Texas, while some were as far north as the Neches River or beyond.

Biloxi – A small Siouan speaking tribe who were located on the Gulf of Mexico in 1699 near the city in Mississippi that now bears their name. Their long lodges had walls made of mud and roofs of bark. After the defeat of the French in 1763, the Biloxi moved into Louisiana, some going as far west as Texas (near Biloxi Creek in Angelina County) 

Possibly Extinct? Some May be Canadian tribes? Or Alternate Names?

BEDIES, on Trinity River, La., about 60 m. S. of Nacogdoches; 100 in 1805.

BIG-DEVILS, (Youktons,) 2,501 in 1836; about the heads of Red River.

BLANCHE, (Bearded, or White,) upper S. branches of the Missouri in 1820.

Boothroyd – Alternate name: Chomok – The Boothroyd First Nation is a First Nations governmentof the  Fraser Canyon area of the Central Interior of the Canadian province of British Columbia. Located near Boston Bar, it is a member of the Nlaka’pamux Nation Tribal Council along with the Boston Bar First Nation, also located in Boston Bar, and the Ashcroft First Nation near the town of Ashcroft. Other Nlaka’pamux bands belong to the Nicola Tribal Association or the Fraser Canyon Indian Administration.