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Oto Indian Tribe History
Oto (from Wat`ota, 'lechers'). One of the three Siouan
tribes forming the Chiwere group, the others being the
Iowa and Missouri. The languages differ
but, slightly. The earliest reference to this tribe is found in the
tradition which relates to the separation of the
Chiwere group from the
Winnebago. This tradition is given by Maximilian, who states that it was
communicated to Maj. Bean, the Indian agent, by an old Oto chief. He
related that, before the arrival of the whites a large band of Indians,
the Hotonga ('fish-eaters'), who inhabited the lakes, migrated to the
southwest in pursuit of buffalo. At Green Bay, Wis., they divided, the
part called by the whites Winnebago remaining, while the rest continued
the journey until they reached the Mississippi at the mouth of Iowa river,
where they encamped on the sand beach and again divided, one band, the
Iowa, concluding to remain there, and the rest continuing their travels
reached the Missouri at the mouth of Grand river. These gave themselves
the name of Neutache (`those that arrive at the mouth'), but were called
Missouri by the whites. The two chiefs, on account of the seduction of the
daughter of one by the son of the other, quarreled and separated one from
the other. The division led by the father of the seducer became known as
Waghtochtatta, or Oto, and moved farther up the Missouri. While the
Winnebago settled in Wisconsin, the Iowa, after they ceded to the United
States all the lands on which they first settled, moved west between
Missouri river and the Little Platte. The Missouri, having been
unfortunate in a war with the Osage, divided, and a part of them lived
with the Iowa and a part with the Oto. The Oto continued up the Missouri
until they crossed the Big Platte and lived for some time a short distance
above its mouth; later they resided on Platte river, about 80 miles by
water from the Missouri.
The same tradition was obtained by Maj. Long several
years before Maximilian's visit. Dorsey was informed by the Iowa chiefs
who visited Washington in 1883 that their people once formed part of the
Winnebago. The Oto seem to have been most intimately associated with the
Iowa. That they were ever at the mouth of Missouri river, where, according
to one tradition, they were with the Missouri, is not likely. The fact
that they were with the Iowa in the vicinity of Blue Earth river, Minn.,
immediately preceding Le Sueur's visit in 1700, indicates that their
movement was across the Mississippi into south Minnesota instead of down
that stream. Le Sueur was informed by some Sioux whom he met that "this
river was the country of the Sioux of the West, of the Ayavois [Iowa] and
the Otoctatas [Oto]." Messengers whom he sent to invite the Oto and Iowa
to settle near his fort at the mouth of Blue Earth river found that they
had moved west toward the Missouri river, near the Omaha.
Marquette, in1673,apparently locates the tribe on his
autograph map on upper Des Moines or upper Iowa river. Membré
(1680) places them 130 leagues from the Illinois, almost opposite the
mouth of the Wisconsin. Iberville (1700) said that the Otoand Iowa were
then with the Omaha between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, about 100
leagues from the Illinois. The last two statements agree substantially
with that of Le Sueur. It is therefore not probable, as given in one
statement, that the Oto were on Osage river in1687. That they were driven
farther south by the northern tribes at a later date will appear from the
list of localities given below. Lahontan claims to have visited their
village in 1690 on the "Otentas [Iowa or Des Moines] river at its junction
with the Mississippi," perhaps referring to a temporary camp.
In 1721, according to Charlevoix, the Oto were below
the Iowa, who were on the E. side of Missouri river, and above the Kansa
on the west side. Le Page du Pratz (1758) mentions the Oto as a small
nation on Missouri river. Jefferys (1761) placed them along the south bank
of "Panis river," probably the Platte between its mouth and the Pawnee
country; but in another part of his work he locates them above the Kansa
on the west side of Missouri river.
Lewis and Clark (1804) locate the tribe at the time of
their expedition on the south side of Platte river, about 30 miles from
its mouth, but state that they formerly lived about 20 miles above the
Platte, on the south bank of the Missouri. Having diminished, probably
through wars and smallpox, they migrated to the neighborhood of the
Pawnee, under whose protection they lived, the Missouri being incorporated
with them. From 1817 to 1841 they were on Platte river near its mouth. In the latter year
they consisted of 4 villages. In 1880 a part of the tribe removed to the
lands of the Sauk and Fox Indians in Indian Territory, and in 1882 the
remainder left their home in Nebraska and went to the same reservation.
The Oto tribe has never been important, their history being little more
than an account of their struggles to defend themselves against their more
powerful enemies, and of their migrations. That they were not noted for
their military prowess, notwithstanding Long's statement of the deeds of
bravery of some of their warriors, seems evident from their inability to
cope with their enemies, although, according to Lewis and Clark, they were
once "a powerful nation." They were cultivators of the soil, and it was on
this account, and because they were said to be industrious, that Le Sueur
wished them and the Iowa to settle near his fort. Lewis and Clark speak of
those they saw, at or near Council Bluffs, as almost naked, having no
covering except a sort of breechcloth, with a loose blanket or painted
buffalo robe thrown over their shoulders. Their permanent villages
consisted of large earthen lodges similar to those of the Kansa and Omaha;
when traveling they found shelter in skin tipis. One of their musical
instruments was a stick notched like a saw, over the teeth of which a
smaller stick was rubbed forcibly backward and forward.
The Oto and Missouri made a treaty of peace with the United States, June
24, 1817. They joined with other tribes in the treaty of Prairie du Chien,
Wis., July 15, 1830, by which were ceded all rights to lands east of
Missouri river up to the mouth of Big Sioux river. By the treaties of Oto
village, Nebr., Sept. 21,1833; Bellevue, Nebr., Oct. 15, 1836; Washington,
Mar. 15, 1854, and Nebraska City, Nebr., Dec. 9, 1854, they ceded to the
United States all their lands except their reservation on Big Blue river,
Nebr. Here they remained until about 1882, when, with the Missouri, they
were removed to Indian Territory and placed under the Ponca, Pawnee, Oto, and
Oakland agency. Their reserve contained 129,113 acres.
Lewis and Clark gave their number in 1805 as 500; Catlin, in 1833
(including the Missouri), as 1,200; Burrows, in 1849,
900; the Indian Report of 1843 (including the Missouri), as 931. In 1862
the two tribes numbered 708; in 1867, 511; in 1877, 457; in 1886, 334; in
1906, 390.
The books presented are for their
historical value only and are not the
opinions of the Webmasters of the site.
Handbook
of American Indians, 1906
Index of Tribes or Nations
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