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Missouri Indian
Tribes
Caddo. Within historic times no Caddoan tribe is known to have
lived within the limits of the present State of Missouri, but occupancy by
Caddo is indicated by certain archeological remains in the extreme
southwestern section. (See Texas.)
Dakota.
Representatives of this tribe were a party to a treaty made in 1830,
relinquishing lands in Missouri to the Whites. (See
South Dakota.)
Delaware.
In 1818 a grant of land in southern Missouri was made to some of the
Delaware Indians but it was re-ceded by them in 1829. (See
New Jersey.)
Foxes. Representatives of this tribe were a party to treaties with
the United States Government concerning Missouri lands made in 1804 and
1830. (See Wisconsin.)
Illinois.
Some of the tribes of the Illinois group at one time lived close to, and
probably for a short time within, the eastern boundaries of Missouri. (See
Illinois.)
Iowa. The
Iowa perhaps lived for a time in that part of Missouri north of Missouri
River. (See Iowa.)
Kickapoo.
The Kickapoo lived in Missouri for awhile after they had sold their lands
in Illinois but soon passed on to Kansas. (See
Wisconsin.)
Missouri.
Meaning either "(people having) dugout canoes," or "(people having) wooden
canoes," which amounts to the same thing. Through a misunderstanding, the
name has been supposed to apply to the river which now bears the name, and
it has been interpreted as meaning "big muddy." They were also called:
Niúachi, their own name.
Waçux¢a, by the Osage.
Wa-ju'-xd¢ǎ, by the Quapaw.
Location. The best-known historical location of
the Missouri was on the river which bears their name on the south bank
near the mouth of Grand River. Berry and Chapman (1938) have recently
sought to identify this site,, and probably correctly, with what they call
the Utz site at a place called The Pinnacles in Saline County, Mo., a few
miles above the mouth of the Grand. (See also Iowa,
Kansas, Minnesota,
Nebraska,
Oklahoma, and
Wisconsin.)
Connection. The Missouri
belonged to the Chiwere division of the Siouan linguistic family, the
other tribes under this head being the Iowa and Oto. According to
tradition, the Missouri, Iowa, and Oto separated from the Winnebago at
some indefinite period in the past and moved southwest to Iowa River where
the Iowa remained, the others continuing to the Missouri, which they
reached at the mouth of Grand River. Here, in consequence of a dispute
between two chiefs, the tribe split again, the Missouri remaining where
they were, while the Oto continued on up the Missouri River. From what we
know of the relationship between the tribes in question, such successive
fissions are not inherently improbable, though they may not have occurred
at the places indicated. No doubt, events that happened gradually have
been represented as occurring abruptly within limited periods. (For a
further discussion of the Chiwere migration legends, see Iowa under Iowa
and Oto under Nebraska.) Whatever their earlier history Marquette (1698)
reported their presence on the Missouri River in 1673, and they were
probably at the point above indicated, though his map is too inaccurate to
place this beyond question. Here, or in the immediate neighborhood, they
remained until 1798, when they suffered a terrible defeat at the hands of
the Sauk and
Fox Indians and scattered to live
for a time among the Osage,
Kansa, and
Oto. By 1805 they had recovered to
some extent, and Lewis and Clark found them in villages south of the River
Platte. As a result of another unfortunate war, however, this time with
the Osage, part joined the Iowa but the greater part went to the Oto to
live, and followed their fortunes, participating with them in all treaties
from 1830 onward.
Population. Mooney (1928)
estimates that there were 1,000 Missouri in 1780. In 1702 there were
supposed to be 200 families. In 1805 Lewis and Clark placed the entire
population of the tribe at 300 souls, but in 1829, when they were with the
Oto, they counted but 80. Only 13 Indians of the Missouri tribe were
returned by the census of 1910, and in 1930 they were not separated from
the Oto
Connection in which they have become noted.
Historically the Missouri tribe itself is remembered particularly for the
tragic manner in which it was almost destroyed, but, as in many other
cases, its name has attained a distinction out of all proportion to the
aboriginal standing of the people. It is associated with that of the
largest branch of the largest river of North America and to one of the
great States of the American Union. There is a post town in Clay County,
Mo., called Missouri City; another Missouri City in Fort Bend County,
Tex.; and a city in Harrison County, Iowa, known as Missouri Valley,
besides a Missouri Branch in Wayne County, W. Va.
Omaha. Representatives of this tribe were party to a treaty made
in 1830 relinquishing lands in Missouri to the United States Government.
(See Nebraska.)
Osage (See
Osage)
Oto.
As stated in treating of the Missouri, the Oto accompanied that tribe into
this State, left them when they were both on the Missouri River near Grand
River, and moved northeast into Kansas. (See
Nebraska.)
Sauk.
Representatives of this tribe were parties to the treaties involving
Missouri land cessions made in 1804 and 1830. (See
Wisconsin.)
Shawnee.
A part of the Shawnee Indians settled about Cape Girardeau in southeastern
Missouri early in the nineteenth century. They ceded their lands to the U.
S. Government in 1825. (See Tennessee.)
Additional Missouri Indian Resources
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