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Kansa Indian Tribe History
Kansa. A southwestern Siouan tribe;
one of the five, according to Dorsey's arrangement, of the Dhegiha group.
Their linguistic relations are closest with the Osage, and are close with
the Quapaw. In the traditional migration of the group, after the Quapaw
had first separated therefrom, the main body divided at the month of Osage
r., the Osage moving up that stream and the Omaha and Ponca crossing
Missouri r. and proceeding northward, while the Kansa ascended
the Missouri on the s. side to the mouth of Kansas r. Here a brief halt
was made, after which they ascended the Missouri on the s. side until they
reached the present N. boundary of Kansas, where they were attacked by the
Cheyenne and compelled to retrace their steps. They settled again at the
month of Kansas r., where the Big Knives, as they called the whites, came
with gifts and induced them to go farther w. The native narrators of this
tradition give an account of about 20 villages occupied successively along
Kansas r. before the setth'mentat Council Grove, Kans., whence they were
finally removed to their reservation in Indian Ter. Marquette's autograph
map, drawn probably as early as 1674, places the Kansa a considerable
distance directly w. of the Osage and some distance s. of the Omaha,
indicating that they were then out Kansas r. The earliest recorded notice
of the Kansa i± by Juan de Oflate, who went from San (labriel, N. Mex., in
1601, till he met the " Escansaques," who lived 100 leagues to the N. F.,
near the "Panana," or Pawnee. It is known that the Kansa moved up Kansas
r. in historic times as far as Big Blue river, and thence went to Council
Grove in 1847. The move to the Big Blue must have taken place after 1723,
for at that date Bourgmont speaks of the large village of the Quans
(Kansa) as on a small river flowing from the north 30 leagues above Kansas
river and near the Missouri. The village of the Missouri tribe was then 30
leagues below Kansas river and 60 leagues from the Quans village.
Iberville estimated them at 1,500 families in 1702. A treaty of peace and
friendship was made with them by the United States, Oct. 28, 1815. They
were then on Kansas river at the month of Saline river, having been forced
back from the Missouri by the Dakota. They occupied 130 earth lodges, and
their number was estimated at 1,500. According to Lewis and Clark, they
resided in 1804 on Kansas river, in two villages, one about 20 and the
other 40 leagues from its mouth, with a population of 300 men. These
explorers say that they formerly lived on the south bank of Missouri river
about 24 leagues above the mouth of the Kansas, and were more numerous,
but were reduced by the attacks of the Sauk
and the Iowa. O' Fallon estimated their number in 1822 at 1,850. By the
treaty of St Louis, June 3, 1825, they ceded to the United States their
lands in north Kansas and south east Nebraska, and relinquished all claims
they might have to lands in Missouri, but reserving for their use a tract
on Kansas river. Here they were subject to attacks by the Pawnee, and on
their hunts by other tribes, whereby their number was considerably
reduced. Porter estimated their number in 1829 at 1,200; according to the
Report of the Indian Office for 1843 the population was 1,588. By treaty
at Methodist Mission, Kans., Jan. 14, 1846, they ceded to the United
States 2,000,000 acres of the east portion of their reservation, and a new
reservation was assigned them at Council Grove, on Neosho river, Morris
county, Kans., where they remained until 1873. As this tract was overrun
by settlers, it was sold, and with the funds another reservation was
bought for them in Indian Territory next to the Osage; with the exception
of 160 acres, reserved for school purposes, all their lands have now been
allotted in severalty. The population diminished from about 1,700 in 1850
to 209 in 1905, of whom only about 90 were full-bloods. Much of this
decrease has been due to epidemics. In the winter of 1852-53 smallpox
alone carried off more than 400 of the tribe at Council Grove.
The Kansa figured but slightly in the history of the
country until after the beginning of the 19th century, and they never
played an important part in frontier affairs. During the 26 years which
the Kansa spent at Council Grove, efforts were made to civilize them, but
with little success. Mission schools were conducted by the Methodists in
1850-54, and by the Quakers in 1869-73, but, the conservatism of the
tribesmen prevented the attendance of the children, believing it to be
degrading and ruinous, to Indian character to adopt the white man's ways.
According to T. S. Huffaker, who lived among them, chiefly as teacher,
from 1850 to 1873, only one Indian of the tribe was converted to
Christianity during that period, while the influence of frontier settlers
and traders, with the introduction of liquor, stood in the way of the good
that the schools might otherwise have accomplished. While at Council Grove
they subsisted largely by hunting the buffalo, until the extinction of the
herds, when they took up desultory farming under the instruction of
Government teachers, because driven to it by necessity; but the houses
erected by the Government for their use they refused to occupy, regarding
their own lodges as more healthful and comfortable (G. P. Morehouse, inf'n,
1906).
Say's account, perhaps the most accurate of the earlier
notices (Long, Exped. Rocky Mts., 1823), describes the ordinary dress of
the men as consisting of a breech-clout of blue or red cloth secured in
its place by a girdle, leggings and moccasins without ornamentation, and a
blanket thrown over the shoulders. The hair of the chiefs and warriors,
except a small lock at the back, was scrupulously removed. The dress of
the females consisted of a piece of cloth secured at the waist by a
girdle, the sides meeting on the outside of the right thigh, the whole
extending downward to the knee. In cold weather or for full dress a
similar piece of cloth was thrown over the left shoulder, and leggings of
cloth, with a broad protecting border on the outside, and moccasins were
worn. They were cultivators of the soil. Tattooing was formerly practiced
to a limited extent. The chastity of the females was guarded to a greater
extent than was usual among the western tribes. The mode of constructing
their principal permanent dwellings is described by Say as follows: "The
roof is supported by two series of pillars, or rough vertical posts,
forked at top for the reception of the transverse connecting pieces of
each series; 12 of these posts form the outer series, placed in a circle;
and 8 longer ones, the inner series, also describing a circle; the outer
wall, of rude frame-work, placed a proper distance from the exterior
series of pillars, is 5 or 6 ft high. Poles as thick as the leg at base
rest with their butts upon the wall, extending on the cross pieces, which
are upheld by the pillars of the two series, and are of sufficient length
to reach nearly to the summit. These poles are very numerous, and,
agreeably to the position which we have indicated, they are placed all
round in a radiating manner, and support the roof like rafters. Across
these are laid long and slender sticks or twigs, attached parallel to each
other by means of bark cord; these are covered by mats made of long grass,
or reeds, or with the bark of trees; the whole is then covered completely
over with earth, which, near the ground, is banked up to the eaves. A hole
is permitted to remain in the middle of the roof to give exit to the smoke
[see Earth lodge]. Around the walls of the interior a continuous series of
vats are suspended; these are of neat workmanship, composed of a soft reed
united by bark cord in straight or undulated lines, between which lines of
black paint sometimes occur. The bedsteads are elevated to the height of a
common seat from the ground, and are about 6 ft wide; they extend in an
uninterrupted line around three-fourths of the circumference of the
apartment, and are formed in the simplest manner of numerous sticks or
slender pieces of wood, resting at their ends on crosspieces, which are
supported by short notched or forked posts driven into the ground; bison
skins supply them with a comfortable bedding." Restriction of marriage
according to gentes has always been strictly observed by the Kansa. When
the eldest daughter of a family married, she controlled the lodge, her
mother, and all her sisters, the latter being always the wives of the same
man. On the death of the husband the widow became the wife of his eldest
brother without ceremony; if there was no brother the widow was left free
to select her next husband.
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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