The Indians of Iowa

OTOE AND MISSOURIA

OTOE AND MISSOURIA Otoe Name means: “People of This Place” Other names: Oto, Otoe-Missouria They call themselves: Jiwere, “Arrived at the Place” or “People of This Place” Language spoken/language family: Chiwere Siouan Residence in Iowa: Prehistory to 1750s, hunting into 1830s Location today: Otoe-Missouria Tribe near Red Rock, Oklahoma Missouria Name means: “Dwellers on the River” Other names: Missouri, Otoe-Missouria They call themselves: Nyiudachi, “Dwellers on the River” Language spoken/language family: Chiwere Siouan ResidenceinIowa:Prehistorytoabout1798,huntinginto1830s Location today: Otoe-Missouria Tribe near Red Rock, Oklahoma    Originally, the Otoe and the Missouria were two distinct tribes. Decimation of the Missouria in the early 1800s caused them to join the Otoe. The name Otoe was historically derived from Wat’odatan, a name used by the related Missouria and Ioway to tease them because of an affair between an Otoe man and a Missouria woman. But the Otoe call themselves Jiwere, translated as “Arrived at the Place” or “People of This Place.” The Otoe were recorded by French explorers as being in Iowa, in the Des Moines River area, from about 1690 to 1700. The Otoe, the Otoe and Missouria 41 Missouria, the Ioway, and the Winnebago show up in the prehistoric record as the Oneota culture. The Otoe lived near the Ioway during both tribes’ earliest histories, the Otoe being especially connected to the Blue Earth area and southwestern Iowa. After leaving Iowa by the 1750s, they crossed the Missouri River to Nebraska. Along with other tribes, they continued to use western Iowa as hunting grounds into the mid 1800s. The Missouria’s name, Nyiudachi, has been translated many ways, but all have to do with the river, such as “Dwellers on the River” or “Floating Dead down the River” or “Came down the River.” The Missouria nation lived along the stretch of the Missouri from its junction with the Mississippi to southwestern Iowa. The Missouri River was named after the Missouria by French explorers. A series of disastrous wars with neighboring tribes, over diminishing resources and lands, ended with their near-annihilation by the Sauk and Meskwaki in about 1798. Most of the survivors sought refuge among the Otoe, although some also went among the Kansa, Osage, and other tribes. Living in villages along the Platte River in Nebraska by 1750, the Otoe and Missouria still retained hunting rights in western Iowa. After ceding their lands in Nebraska in 1854, the Otoe and Missouria were assigned the Big Blue River Reservation on the KansasNebraska border. After their lands there were sold without their consent in the 1880s, they bought their own reservation with their own money in Oklahoma; this land was subsequently allotted, most of it passing out of their hands. Now classified as one tribe, they are called the Otoe-Missouria of Oklahoma, with communities near Red Rock, Oklahoma, where the tribal offices are located. Traditional Culture Otoe and Missouria traditional culture was very much like that of the Ioway, as they had all shared a common past. Tribal life was based on the clan system, led by the Bear and Buffalo clans, with others 42 Otoe and Missouria such as the Beaver, Owl, and Eagle. The pipe bundle was the center of clan religious life. However, when the Otoe moved from Iowa to Nebraska, they located near the Pawnee and had more exposure to the open Plains lifestyle than did the Ioway. Thus the Otoe adopted the earthlodge and other Plains traits that were not noted among the Ioway. They were skilled buffalo hunters and farmers. Though joined politically, the Missouria families have kept some degree of cultural distinctiveness, such as the use of particular clan rights and names, until the present time. Famous Otoe and Missouria Some famous Otoe from the contact period were Chief Shaumonekusse (also called the Prairie Wolf or L’Ietan), his wife, Hayne Hudjihini, and Chiefs Shunkapi, White Horse, and Nowaykesugga. Truman Dailey was an Otoe-Missouria who dedicated himself to language and culture preservation. Anna Lee Walters, Otoe-Pawnee, is a noted writer. ...