Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians - History

History

The Otoe, or Oto, and Missouria, or Missouri, tribes both originated in the Great Lakes region. They are thought, along with the Ho-Chunk and Iowa tribes, to have once been a single tribe. In the 16th century, the Iowa, Otoe, and Missouria broke away from that tribe and moved to the south and west. By the late 17th century, the Missouria had settled near the Missouri and Grand Rivers in Missouri.

Meanwhile the Otoes settled along what is now the Iowa-Minnesota border. They first came into contact with Europeans in late 17th century. Jacques Marquette, the French explorer, included them in a 1673 map, placing the Otoe near the Des Moines and upper Iowa Rivers. Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville wrote in 1700 that the Otoe and the Iowa lived with the Omaha tribe, between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. After contact, they migrated to Nebraska and settled near the Platte River on what became the Otoe Reservation.

The 18th century was devastating for the Missouria people. Smallpox killed many in the tribe, as did constant warfare with enemies, such as the Sac and Fox. In 1796, some surviving Missouria joined the Osage and Kaw tribes, while 80 Missouria joined the Otoe.

In the 19th century, the Missouria and the Otoe established permanent villages consisting primarily of earth lodges, but also occasionally tipis and bark lodges. Their joined society was patrilineal and comprised seven to ten clans. Tribal members had to marry outside of their clan. Each clan had a leader, and together the clan chiefs formed a tribal council. The chief of the Bear Clan was the principal leader of the tribes. They hunted buffalo and grew such crops as squash, beans, corn, and pumpkins. In 1803, Lewis and Clark estimated their population to be 500. George Catlin estimated their population at 1200 in 1833. In 1830 there were an estimated 1500 Otoe-Missouria living in together. By 1886, only 334 Otoe-Missouria survived.

The first land cession treaty between the Otoe-Missouria and the United States was in 1830. These were followed by more treaties in 1833, 1836, and 1854. The 1854 Treaty established a reservation on the Kansas-Nebraska border, near the Big Blue River. The tribe split in factions of assimilationists and traditionalists. The assimilationist Otoe-Missouria were influenced by Quaker missionaries and became known as the Quaker Band. The traditionalists were known as the Coyote Band.

In 1876 Congress arranged the sale of 120,000 acres (490 km2) of the Otoe-Missouria reservation and sold the rest in 1881, when Congress forced the Otoe-Missouria into Indian Territory. The Coyote Band settled on the Sac and Fox reservation, while the Quaker Band settled on their own small, 113-acre (0.46 km2) reservation in present day Noble and Pawnee Counties.

The Coyote Band rejoined the Quaker Band, but their reservation was almost immediately broken up into individual allotments, as dictated by the Dawes Act, in the 1890s. A total of 514 Otoe-Missourias received individual allotments. Much later, in the 1960s the Otoe-Missouria people were compensated for their lands lost during the 19th century by the Indian Claims Commission.

The Curtis Act of 1898 disbanded the traditional tribal government. The tribe was not able to restore federal recognition until 1984, when they organized under the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act and ratified their constitution.