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Mosopelea Indian Tribe
Location
Mosopelea. Significance uncertain, though probably from an Algonquian
language.
Also called:
Chonque, by Tonti in 1690, probably the Quapaw name.
Ofo, own name, perhaps an abbreviation of the Mobilian term, Ofogoula,
though this last may mean simply "Ofo people." Ofogoula may also be
interpreted Ofi okla, "Dog People."
Ouesperie, Ossipe, Ushpee, names by which they were known to other tribes
and evidently shortened forms of Mosopelea, which has a variant in r.
Connections
The Mosopelea spoke a Siouan dialect
most closely related to Biloxi and
Tutelo and
secondarily to Dakota.
Location
When the French
first heard of them, they were in southwestern Ohio, but their best-known
historical location was on the lower Yazoo, close to the Yazoo and Koroa
Indians. (See also
Arkansas,
Indiana,
Kentucky, and
Tennessee.)
Villages
Anciently they had eight villages,
but none of the names of these have been preserved.
History
After abandoning southwestern Ohio some time before 1673, the
Mosopelea appear to have settled on the Cumberland, driven thither probably by
the Iroquois, and to have given it the name it bears in Coxe's map (1741), Ouesperie, a
corruption of Mosopelea. By 1673 they had descended to the Mississippi and
established themselves on its western side below the mouth of the Ohio.
Later they appear to have stopped for a time among the Quapaw, but before
1686 at least part of them had sought refuge among the Taensa. Their
reason for leaving the latter tribe is unknown, but Iberville found them
in the historic location above given in 1699. He inserts their name twice,
once in the form Ofogoula and once as "Ouispe," probably a corruption of
Mosopelea. When their neighbors, the Yazoo and Koroa, joined in the
Natchez uprising, the Ofo refused to side with them and went to live with
the Tunica, who were French allies. Shortly before 1739 they had settled
close to Fort Rosalie, where they remained until after 1758. In 1784 their
village was on the western bank of the Mississippi 8 miles above Point
Coupée, but nothing more was heard of
them until 1908, when I found a single
survivor living among the Tunica just out of Marksville, La., and was able
to establish their linguistic connections.
Population
In 1700 the
Mosopelea are said to have occupied 10-12 cabins, but some years later Le
Page du Pratz (1758) gives 60. In 1758 they are reported to have had 15
warriors and in 1784, 12.
Connection in which they have become noted
The most noteworthy circumstance connected with this
tribe is its romantic history and the recovery of the knowledge of the
same.
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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