Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Navajo or Navaho, language belonging to the Athabascan branch of the Nadene linguistic family, or stock, of North America (including Mexico). See Native American languages. ...

(Encyclopedia) Siouan so͞oˈən [key], branch of Native American languages belonging to the Hokan-Siouan linguistic family, or stock, of North and Central America (including Mexico). See Native American languages. ...

(Encyclopedia) bison, large hoofed mammal, genus Bison, of the cattle family. Bison have short horns and humped, heavily mantled shoulders that slope downward to the hindquarters. The European bison, or wisent, Biso...

(Encyclopedia) Thomas, Cyrus, 1825–1910, American anthropologist and entomologist, b. Kingsport, Tenn. He was a lawyer, then a minister (1865–69) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. He was associated with the U....

(Encyclopedia) Perley, Sir George Halsey, 1857–1938, Canadian statesman, b. Lebanon, N.H. As a child, he moved with his parents to Ottawa. In 1904 he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a Conservative,...

(Encyclopedia) Chateaugay shătˈəgē, –gāˌ [key], river, c.50 mi (80 km) long, rising in Chateaugay Lake in the Adirondacks, NE N.Y., and flowing through Quebec to empty into the St. Lawrence 10 mi (16 km) bel...

(Encyclopedia) Wakashan wäkăshˈən, wôˈkəshänˌ, –shônˌ [key], branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic family, or stock, of North America and spoken by Native Americans of W Canada and the state of W...

(Encyclopedia) Sauvé, Jeanne Mathilde Benoit zhän mätēldˈ bənwäˈ sōvāˈ [key], 1922–93, Canadian government official, b. Prud'homme, Saskatchewan. Sauvé, who studied at the universities of Ottawa and Pa...

(Encyclopedia) Salishan sāˈlĭshən, sălˈ– [key], branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic family, or stock, of North America and spoken by Native Americans of the NW United States and W Canada. See Native...

(Encyclopedia) bee balm, name for several herbs, especially Melissa officinalis and Monarda didyma, both typical perennials of the family Labiatae (mint family) named for their fragrance, attractive to bees and humm...