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Iowa Indian Tribes
Part of
the Chippewa, together with the
Potawatomi and
Ottawa, ceded lands in this
State in 1846. (See Minnesota.)
After the
Iowa Indians moved from the northern part of the present
State of Iowa, the Dakota occupied much of the territory
they had abandoned until the Sauk and
Fox settled in their neighborhood
shortly before and immediately after the Black Hawk War of 1832 and
harassed them so constantly that they withdrew. (See
South Dakota.)
This
tribe began moving into Iowa sometime after 1804 and by
the end of the Black Hawk War all were gathered there.
In 1842 they parted with their Iowa lands and most of
them removed to Kansas with the Sauk, but shortly after
the middle of the nineteenth century some began to
return to the State and by 1859 nearly all had come
back. They bought a tract of land near Tama City to
which they added from time to time and where they have
lived ever since. (See Wisconsin.)
Franquelin (1688) seems to locate the Peoria on the upper Iowa River, but
Marquette, on his descent of the Mississippi in 1673, found that tribe and
the Moingwena near the mouth of the Des Moines. When he returned he found
that they had moved to the neighborhood of Peoria, Ill. The name Des
Moines is derived from that of the Moingwena. (See
Illinois.)
Apparently borrowed by the French from Ayuhwa, the Dakota term applied to
them, which, according to Riggs, signifies "sleepy ones." Skinner (1926)
states that Iowa is their own name, but I feel sure that it has been
borrowed in later years.
Also called:
Nadouessioux Maskoutens, Algonkin name meaning "Dakota of the
Prairies."
Nez Percé, a traders' nickname.
Pahodja, own name, meaning "dusty noses." Skinner (1926) gives a
different translation, but I am inclined to accept that furnished by J. O.
Dorsey.
Pashóhan, Pawnee name.
Pierced Noses, traders' name.
Wa-ótc', Winnebago name.
Connections. The
Iowa were a tribe of the Siouan linguistic stock and of the
Chiwere
subdivision, which included also the
Oto, and Missouri.
Location. The Iowa moved
about a great deal but mainly within the boundaries of the State which
bears their name. (See also Kansas,
Minnesota,
Missouri,
Nebraska,
Oklahoma, and
Wisconsin.)
Subdivisions
and Villages.
The only subdivisions mentioned are those of the moieties and gentes.
But one village, the Wolf village, appears in the historical narratives.
History. In the earliest
historical period the Iowa were living on a western affluent of the
Mississippi conjectured by Mott (1938) to have been the Upper Iowa. Later
they moved into the northwestern part of the present State of Iowa about
the Okoboji Lakes and probably extended into southwestern Minnesota to the
neighborhood of the Red Pipestone Quarry and to the Big Sioux River. In
the latter part of the eighteenth century they passed over to the Missouri
and settled south of the spot where Council Bluffs now stands and on the
east side of the river. About 1760 they moved east and came to live along
the Mississippi between the Iowa and Des Moines Rivers. Their principal
town was on the Des Moines River and for a long time at a spot in the
northwestern part of Van Buren County. Early in the nineteenth century
part of them seem to have moved farther up the Des Moines while others
established themselves on Grand and Platte Rivers, Mo. At this time they
seem to have come into contact with the Dakota and to have suffered
considerably in consequence. There is a tradition that they were defeated
by Black Hawk in 1821. In 1814 they were allotted lands in what was known
as "the Platte Purchase" extending from the Platte River of Missouri
through western Iowa even to the Dakota country. By treaties signed August
4, 1824, July 15, 1830, September 17, 1836, and November 23, 1837, they
ceded all of their claims to lands in Missouri and Iowa, and by that of
Prairie du Chien, signed August 19, 1825, they surrendered all claims to
land in Minnesota. The treaty of 1836 assigned part of them a reservation
along Great Nemaha River, in the present Richardson County, Nebr., and
Brown County, Kans., but it was considerably reduced by treaties of May
17, 1854, and March 6, 1861. Later part removed to Oklahoma to find homes
in the present Lincoln and Noble Counties. Tradition assigns to this tribe
a single origin with the
Winnebago, Oto, and
Missouri, and it is borne out by the close linguistic
relationship between them. Rather specific migration legends have been
preserved giving an account of the movements of this tribal complex and
the time and circumstances of the separation. If we are to believe these
traditions, after separation from the Winnebago, the Iowa-Oto-Missouri
mother tribe moved first to Rock River, Ill., near its junction with the
Mississippi, and thence to the Des Moines River some distance above its
mouth, after separating at the Iowa River into two bands, the one which
became the Iowa moving to the northwest while the Oto-Missouri went on to
the mouth of Grand River, where
part remained becoming the Missouri while the rest, the Oto, went on
westward up the Missouri. The historical documents do not bring the Iowa
so far south and they also seem to link the Oto and Iowa closely together.
We should, therefore, be inclined to dismiss the native traditions
altogether were it not that we have to account for the Missouri who are
not mentioned in early times in close conjunction with the other two but
had reached the mouth of Grand River as early as 1687. It is, of course,
possible that the Missouri separated from the Iowa-Oto or Iowa at Upper
Iowa River instead of Iowa River, but it is also possible that the entire
tribal complex moved somewhat farther south before their separation. The
later stages of Iowa history given in the tradition already noted conform
sufficiently well with the known historical facts to give us some
confidence regarding the rest of the story though it varies in details.
According to this, the Iowa went from the neighborhood of the Red
Pipestone Quarry to the mouth of the Platte, and then in succession to the
headwaters of the Little Platte River, Mo., to the west bank of the
Mississippi slightly above the mouth of the Des Moines, to a point a
little higher up on the same side of the Mississippi, southwestwardly to
Salt River and up it to its extreme headwaters, to the upper part of
Chariton River, to Grand River, and thence to Missouri River opposite Fort
Leavenworth, where they lived in 1848 at the time when this narrative was
related and the map accompanying it drawn.
By agreement, the Oklahoma tract held by the Iowa was
granted to its occupants in severalty.
Population. In 1702
Iberville estimated that the war power of the Iowa was about 300 "good
men." In 1736 Chauvignerie placed it as low as 80. An estimate made in
1760 gives the total population as 1,100 souls. In 1777 Cruzat reported
that there were 250 warriors, and Lewis and Clark, in 1804, 200 warriors
and a total population of 800. In 1829 we find an estimate of 1,000, and
in 1832 Catlin gives one of the highest, 1,400. In 1836, however, an
attempted census returned 992 but only 7 years later the United States
Indian Office reported only 470. In 1885 there were 138 in Kansas, and 88
in Oklahoma. In 1905 the figures were 225 and 89 respectively. The census
of 1910 returned 244 of whom 124 were in Kansas, 79 in Oklahoma, and 38 in
Nebraska. The United States Indian Office Report of 1923 gave 338 in
Kansas and 82 in Oklahoma, a total of 420. The census of 1930 returned 10
in Brown County, Kans.; 83 in Richardson County, Nebr.; 32 in Lincoln
County, Okla.; 24 in Noble County, Okla.; and 5 in other States, or a
total of 154. In 1937 there were 112 in Oklahoma. Although we have
estimates of Iowa population higher than any above given, in one case as
high as 8,000, it is evident that the figure suggested by Mooney (1928) as
giving the probable population in 1780, i. e., 1,200, is nearer the
truth-too high if anything.
Connection in which they have
become noted. The Iowa were relatively inconspicuous in the early
days, but their name will always be prominent because it was adopted as
that of one of the great agricultural States of the Middle West. Iowa
City, two rivers, a county, and several smaller places in the same State
bear the name. There is also a county so designated in Wisconsin and
villages in Kansas and California. There is a place of the name in
Calcasieu Parish, La.; Iowa Falls in Hardin County, Iowa; Iowa Colony in
Brazoria County, Tex.; Iowa Park in Wichita County in the same State, and
Iowa Hill in Placer County, Calif.
This
tribe is said to have had the same origin as the Iowa
and to have moved with them and the Oto to
Iowa River, where the Iowa remained while the others continued on to the
Missouri. (See Missouri.)
See Illinois above.
While the
Omaha usually lived west of the Missouri, they wandered
for a time in western Iowa before moving over into
Nebraska. (See
Nebraska.)
See
Missouri above, and Missouri
Representatives of this tribe were a party to a treaty
made in 1846, ceding Iowa lands to the Whites. (See Michigan.)
See Illinois above.
The Ponca accompanied the Omaha
while they were in western Iowa. (See
Nebraska.)
The Prairie Potawatomi settled in
western Iowa before removing to Kansas. They ceded their lands in 1846. (See
Michigan.)
The Sauk moved into Iowa after
the Black Hawk War and from there to Kansas in 1842. (See Wisconsin.)
In 1840 this tribe went to the
Neutral Ground in Iowa assigned to them by treaty of September 15, 1832, whence
they removed in 1848 to Minnesota. (See Wisconsin.)
Additional Resources
Notes About the Book:
Source: The Indian Tribes of North America, by John R. Swanton, 1953, Bureau of
American Ethnology, Bulletin 145, US Government Printing Office, Washington DC.
Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and then ocr'd. Minimal editing
has been done, and readers can and should expect some errors in the textual
output.
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