The Otoe (

Chiwere Chiwere (also called Iowa–Otoe–Missouria or ) is a Siouan language originally spoken by the Missouria, Otoe, and Iowa peoples, who originated in the Great Lakes region but later moved throughout the Midwest and plains. The language is close ...

: Jiwére) are a Native American people of the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

. The Otoe language,

, is part of the

Siouan Siouan ( ), also known as Siouan–Catawban ( ), is a language family of North America located primarily in the Great Plains, Ohio and Mississippi valleys and southeastern North America with a few other languages in the east. Name Authors who ...

family and closely related to that of the related

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

Missouria The Missouria or Missouri (in their own language, Niúachi, also spelled Niutachi) are a Native American tribe that originated in the Great Lakes region of what is now the United States before European contact.May, John D"Otoe-Missouria"''Oklah ...

, and

Ho-Chunk The Ho-Chunk, also known as Hocąk, Hoocągra, or Winnebago are a Siouan languages, Siouan-speaking Native Americans in the United States, Native American people whose historic territory includes parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois ...

tribes. Historically, the Otoe tribe lived as a semi-nomadic people on the Central Plains along the bank of the Missouri River in

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, and

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. They lived in elm-bark lodges while they farmed, and used

tipi A tipi or tepee ( ) is a conical lodge tent that is distinguished from other conical tents by the smoke flaps at the top of the structure, and historically made of animal hides or pelts or, in more recent generations, of canvas stretched on ...

s while traveling, like many other Plains tribes. They often left their villages to hunt buffalo. In the early 19th century, many of their villages were destroyed due to warfare with other tribes. European-American encroachment and disease also played a role in their decline. Today, Otoe people belong to the

federally recognized This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes are legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United States.

tribe, the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, headquartered in

Red Rock, Oklahoma Red Rock ( pronounced , meaning "Rock Red town") is a town in northern Noble County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 283 at the 2010 census, a decline from 293 at the 2000 census. The headquarters of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indi ...

History

The Otoe were once part of the

and

-speaking tribes of the Western

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

and Upper Midwest. Around the 16th century, successive groups split off and migrated west and south. These became distinct tribes, the Otoe, the

, and the

Ioway The Iowa, also known as Ioway or Báxoje (, "grey snow people"), are a Native American tribe. Historically, they spoke a Chiwere Siouan language. Today, they are enrolled in either of two federally recognized tribes: the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma ...

. The Otoe settled in the lower Nemaha River valley. They adopted the

horse culture A horse culture is a tribal group or community whose day-to-day life revolves around the herding and breeding of horses. Beginning with the domestication of the horse on the steppes of Eurasia, the horse transformed each society that adopted it ...

and semi-nomadic lifestyle of the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

, making the

American bison The American bison (''Bison bison''; : ''bison''), commonly known as the American buffalo, or simply buffalo (not to be confused with Bubalina, true buffalo), is a species of bison that is endemic species, endemic (or native) to North America. ...

central to their diet and culture.

European contact

When the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...

headed up the Missouri River to explore the new territory the Otoe were the first tribe they encountered. They met at a place on the west bank of the

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

that would become known as the

Council Bluff Council Bluff may refer to: * Council Bluffs, Iowa ** Council Bluffs Municipal Airport * Council Bluff, Nebraska, the site of Fort Atkinson * Council Bluff Lake and Council Bluff Recreation Area in Missouri * Council Bluff, a location in DeKalb ...

. Like other

tribes, the Otoe periodically left their villages to hunt for bison. Between 1817 and 1841, the Otoe lived around the mouth of the

Platte River The Platte River () is a major American river, in the state of Nebraska. It is about long; measured to its farthest source via its tributary, the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, w ...

in present-day

Otoe County, Nebraska Otoe County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 15,912. Its county seat is Nebraska City, Nebraska, Nebraska City. The county was formed in 1854 and was name ...

still bears their name. During this time, the Missouria families that survived European diseases and encroachment rejoined them to form the Otoe-Missouri tribe. They gathered with others to trade for European goods. In the 1830s, European-American traders tried to influence tribal members through alcohol. As their dependence on alcohol grew, the men no longer hunted, but resorted to looting vacant

Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...

villages while the people were out hunting. Christian missionaries built a mission there. In 1854 the Otoe-Missouria ceded most of their lands south of the Platte River in eastern Nebraska to the U.S. by treaty. They retained the

Oto Reservation The Otoe Reservation was a twenty-four square-mile section straddling the Kansas-Nebraska state line. The majority of the reservation sat in modern-day southeast Jefferson County, Nebraska. As early as 1834, the Oto relinquished land to the gover ...

along the Big Blue River on the present Kansas-Nebraska border. They struggled to adapt to reservation life.

Move to Indian Territory

During the 1870s, the tribe split into two factions. The Coyote band favored an immediate move to

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

, where they believed they could better perpetuate their traditional tribal life outside the influence of the whites. The

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

band favored remaining on the Big Blue River land. They were willing to sell the western half of the reservation to whites to gain income for a tribal

annuity In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals based on a contract with a lump sum of money. Insurance companies are common annuity providers and are used by clients for things like retirement or death benefits. Examples ...

. By the spring of 1880, about half the tribe had left the reservation and taken up residence with the

Sac and Fox Nation The Sac and Fox Nation (Sauk language: Thâkîwaki) is the largest of three federally recognized tribes of Sauk and Meskwaki (Fox) Indian peoples. They are based in central Oklahoma. Originally from the Lake Huron and Lake Michigan area, they ...

in Indian Territory. By the next year, in response to dwindling prospects of self-sufficiency and continued pressure from white settlers, the remaining Otoe members in Nebraska sold the Big Blue reservation. They migrated to Oklahoma. With the Otoe-Missouria already there, they purchased a new reservation in the

Cherokee Outlet The Cherokee Outlet, or Cherokee Strip, was located in what is now the state of Oklahoma in the United States. It was a parcel of land south of the Oklahoma–Kansas border between 96th meridian west, 96 and 100th meridian west, 100°W. The Che ...

in the Indian Territory. This is in present-day

Noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

and

Counties, Oklahoma. Today the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians is federally recognized. It is based in

Notable Otoe

* Annette Arkeketa, poet and playwright *

Carol Channing Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019) was an American actress, comedian, singer and dancer who starred in Broadway and film musicals. Each of her characters typically possessed a fervent expressiveness and an easily ide ...

, actress *

Chono Ca Pe Chono Ca Pe was a Native American chief of the Otoe tribe The Otoe ( Chiwere: Jiwére) are a Native American people of the Midwestern United States. The Otoe language, Chiwere, is part of the Siouan family and closely related to that of ...

, early 19th-century leader * Hayne Hudjihini, or Eagle of Delight (c. 1795–1822), wife of Sų Manyi Kathi *

Johny Hendricks Johny Hendricks (born September 12, 1983) is an American former mixed martial artist and collegiate wrestler. He competed in the welterweight and middleweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and is a former UFC Welterwei ...

, MMA fighter *

Tommy Morrison Tommy Morrison (January 2, 1969 – September 1, 2013) was an American professional boxer and mixed martial artist who competed from 1988 to 2009. Best known for his left hook (boxing), hook and formidable punching power, Morrison won the World ...

, former heavyweight boxer and co-star in ''Rocky V'' movie * Sų Manyi Kathi, or Prairie Wolf (c. 1785–1837), sub-chief and diplomat * Anna Lee Walters, author *

Della Warrior Della Warrior (born 1946) is the first and only woman to date to serve as chairperson and chief executive officer for the Otoe-Missouria Tribe. She later served as the president of the Institute of American Indian Arts, finding a permanent home ...

, director, New Mexico Museum of Indian Arts and Culture

References

External links