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Definition: Modoc from Rourke's Native American History & Culture Encyclopedia

people lived in today's southern Oregon and northern California near the Klamath tribe in the Plateau Culture Area. Like the Klamath, they spoke a Penutian language. They lived in permanent earth lodges, except during the seasonal salmon run when they built temporary grass tents near the fishing grounds. Today, Modoc descendants live on the Klamath Reservation and in Oklahoma.

Modoc

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Member of an American Indian people who lived in northern California and southern Oregon until 1864. They spoke a Lutuamian language belonging to the Penutian family, and were closely related to the Klamath . Primarily hunter-gatherers, they lived in village settlements and practised a shamanist religion, based on the belief in guardian spirits who could be called on for assistance. After their confinement to an Oregon reservation with the Klamath in 1864, they resisted reservation life and most were killed by US troops in the Modoc War 1872–73. The survivors were sent to Oklahoma, but most later returned to Oregon, and Modoc communities now live in both states. The Modoc gathered wild plants and hunted a variety of animals using arrows tipped with obsidian (volcanic glass). Their winter homes were earth-covered lodges partly sunk into the ground; in the summer they used wickiups, domed houses made from pole frames covered with mats of tule thatch. Tule, a water plant, was also used to…
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Full text Article MODOC

From Cassell's Peoples, Nations and Cultures Full text Article The Americas
A Native North American nation of the California and Oregon border area, whose name comes from the KLAMATH and means ‘southerners’. Semi-sedentary hunters, fishers and gatherers, they spoke a Penutian language. From the 1840s settlers heading towards Oregon began to drive through their territory, …
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Full text Article Modoc

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(mō'dŏk), Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Sahaptin-Chinook branch of the Penutian linguistic stock (see Native American languages ). They formerly lived in SW Oregon and N California, particularly around Modoc Lake (also known as Lower Klamath Lake) and Tule Lake. Modoc culture…
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Full text Article Modoc

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
North American Plateau Indian people living mostly in Oregon, U.S. Their language is of Penutian stock, and their original homeland was south of the Cascade Range in northern California. Their traditional economy was based on hunting and gathering, and they lived much like their closely related…
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Full text Article Modoc

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Member of an American Indian people who lived in northern California and southern Oregon until 1864. They spoke a Lutuamian language belonging to the Penutian family, and were closely related to the Klamath . Primarily hunter-gatherers, they lived in village settlements and practised a shamanist…
| 351 words
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Current Locations: Oklahoma, Oregon Language Family: Penutian The Modoc are originally from what is today the Oregon-California border region, where they followed a seasonal cycle of gathering, fishing, and hunting. Although their band was very small, they successfully defended their territory from…
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Full text Article Modoc War

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
1872–73, series of battles between the Modoc and the U.S. army fought as a result of the attempt to force a group of the Modoc to return to the Klamath Reservation in S Oregon. Beginning in Nov., 1872, U.S. soldiers were engaged in sieges against the Modoc who were encamped in the lava beds near…
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Full text Article Modoc Plateau

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
High, semiarid plateau in northeastern California and southern Oregon, east of the Cascade Range and west of the Warner Mountains. The region is known for its extensive lava beds and caves. There is only one major natural waterway on the plateau – the Pit River – but it does contain a number of…
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Full text Article THE MODOC WAR OF 1872–1873

From Handy Answer: Native American Almanac: More Than 50,000 Years of the Cultures and Histories of Indigenous Peoples Full text Article CALIFORNIA
An illustration from the May 3, 1873, issue of...
The Modoc Indians were moved from their homeland in northeastern California to share a reservation in Oregon with longtime rivals, the Klamaths. Outnumbered and bullied, the Modoc, led by Kintpuash (Captain Jack) and Hooker Jim, returned to their homeland in 1870. The Modoc refusal to remain on the…
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Full text Article Modoc

From The American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language
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Full text Article Winema

From A to Z of Women: American Indian Women
Also known as: “strange child”; “strong-hearted woman”; Kaitchkona Winema; Kaitchkona Winema (“little woman-chief” or “woman of the brave heart”); Nan-ook-too-wa; Tobey Riddle (b. 1836–d. 1932) Modoc peacemaker, interpreter The courageous peacemaker of the Modoc War of 1872–73, Winema was born in…
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