History

Red Cloud

Geronimo

Sitting Bull

Chief Joseph

Favorite Natives

    Chief Dan George
    Will Sampson
    Russel Means

Favorite Native Music

    Blackfoot
    Brule
    Indigenous
    Jana

Famous Natives

    Bob Annesley
    Chrispus Attucks
    Spencer Asah
    James Auchiah
    Getrude Simmons Bonnin
    Philip "Yogie" Bread
    Richmond Branscombe
    Barney Bush
    Black Bear Francis Bosin
    Big Eyes
    Big Foot
    Black Hawk
    Ben Nighthorse Campbell
    Buffy Saint Marie
    Eddie Clearwater
    Cochise
    Joseph "Jocko" Clark
    Crazy Horse
    Woodrow "Woody" Wilson Crumbo
    Charles Curtis
    Alice Brown Davis
    Dekinawida
    Vane Degloria, Jr.
    Wilfred F. Denetclaw, Jr.
    Mario Dorian
    Dull Knife
    Gary D. Fife
    Tim Giago
    Geronimo
    Judy Gobert
    Rodney Grant
    Graham Greene II
    Michael S. Haney
    Ira Hamilton Hayes
    Hiwatha
    Jack Hokeah
    Ishi
    Chief Joseph
    Katlian
    Edmonia Lewis
    Marigold Linton
    Little Raven
    Little Wolf
    Dren Lyons
    Stephen Mopope
    Wilma Pearl Mankiller
    Juana Maria
    Maria Montoya Martinez
    Massasoit
    D'Arcy McNickle
    Billy Mills
    N. Scott Momaday
    Carlos Montezuma
    R. Carlos Nakai
    Mato Nanji
    Nana
    Doc Tate Nevaquaya
    Ely Samuel Parker
    Maria Pearson
    Leonard Peltier
    Elizabeth Jean Wanamaker Peratrovich
    Susan La Flesche Picotte
    Pocahontas
    Chief Pontiac
    Alfred H. Qoyawayma
    Red Cloud
    Allie P. Reynolds
    Burt Reynolds
    Robbie Robertson
    William Penn Adair Rogers
    Roman Nose
    John Ross
    Mary Ross
    Sacred White Buffalo
    Satanta
    Knifewing Segura
    Sequoyah
    Eric Schweig
    Jay Silverheels
    Sitting Bull
    Squanto
    Standing Bear
    Rennnard Strickland
    Wes Studi
    Stumbling Bear
    Kateri Tekakwitha
    Ted Thin Elk
    James (Jim) Francis Thorpe
    Lisa Lou Ella Tiger
    Monroe Tsatoke
    Two Guns White Calf
    Donald Vann
    Nancy Ward
    Stand Watie
    W. Richard West
    Floyd Red Crow Westerman
    Wetamoo

Native Languages*

   Algonquian
     Algonquin
     Arapaho
     Abenaki
       Penobscot
     Alenaki
     Blackfeet
     Cheyenne
     Chippewa-Ojibwa
       Ottawa
       Saulteaux
     Cree
     Delaware
       Munsee
       Unami
       Unalachtigo
     Fox
       Kickapoo
       Sac/Sauk
     Illinois
       Miami
     Massachusett
     Malecite
     Menominee
     Micmac
     Montagnais
     Munsee
     Nanticoke
     Narragansett
     Naskapi
     Passamaquoddy
     Pottawattamie
     Powhatan
     Shawnee
   Atakapa
   Caddoan
     Arikara
     Ouachita/Washita
     Pawnee
     Wichita
   Coastanoan
   Havasupai
   Iroquois
     Cherokee
     Iroquois
     Mohawk
     Oneida
     Tuscarora
   Karamkawa
   Kutenai
   Lutuamian
     Klamath
     Modoc
   Muskogee
     Chickasaw
     Chocataw
     Creek
       Seminole
     Mikasuki
       Seminole
   Na-Dene
     Eyak
     Haida
     Tlingit
     Athabaskin
       Apache
          Chiricahua
       Chipewyan
       Jacarilla
       Kaska
       Koyukon
       Kutchin
       Navajo
     Nicoleño
   Numic
     Shoshone
       Comanche
   Oto-Manguean
     Mazatec
     Mixtec
     Otomi
     Zapotec
   Penutian
     Costanoan
     Maidu
     Miwok
     Wintu
     Yokuts
   Sahaptin
     Nez Percé
   Salishan
     Bella Coola
     Chinook
     Coeur d'Alêne
     Flatheads
     Kalispel
     Puyallup
     Salish
   Seneca
     Cayuga
     Onandaga
     Seneca
     Tuscaroras
   Siouian
     Crow
     Dakota/Lakota
       Assiniboin
       Yankton
       Santee
         Mdewakanton
         Sisseton
         Wahpekute
         Wahpeton
     Hidatsa
     Iowa
     Dhegihi Siouan
       Kansa
       Omaha
       Osage
       Ponca
       Quapaw
     Pawnee
     Mandan
     Miniconju
     Ogalala
     Oto/Otoe
     Sioux
     Teton
       Hunkpapa
     Winnebago
   Toanoan
     Tewa
   Uto-Aztecan
     Bannock
     Cahuilla
     Northern Paiute
     Pagado
     Papago
     Paiute/Piute
     Pima
     Southern Paiute
     Ute (Shoshoean stock)
   Wakashan
     Kwakiutl
     Makah
   Wintun
     Patwin
   Yuman
     Maricopa
     Mohave (Mojave)
     Yavapai

   Hokan (regrouping)
     Chumash
     Pomo
     Yana
   Yuman

   Unknown
     Anasazi
     Gros Ventre
     Hopi
     Hohokam
     Pueblo
     Tonkawa
     Walla Walla
     Wanapam

Omaha & Neighbors

    Omaha
    Bellevue
    Council Bluffs
    Dundee
    Florence
    Papillion
    Plattsmouth
    Lincoln
    Sioux City
    Sioux Falls
    Columbus
    Grand Island
    Kearney
    Des Moines
    Ames
    Davenport
    Cedar Rapids
    Iowa City
    North Platte
    Sidney
    Scottsbluff
    Kansas City
    St. Louis

NE Neighbors

    Nebraska
    Iowa
    Missouri
    Kansas
    Colorado
    Wyoming
    South Dakota

History

European Descendants  

Possibly thousands of years before any white man set foot on the Great Plains, the area was inhabited by several Native American nations.  The nations were descendants of early Europeans that migrated across the Bering Strait by foot, eons before modern civilization developed in Europe.  All nations did not descend from one migratory crossing.  Instead, at several times, more migrations crossed the same passages and developed into entirely different cultures or what eventually became known as nations.

The migrations didn't stop in the Great Plains area of course, they continued on south to Tierra del Fuego.  South American natives developed into powerful, sophisticated cultures that we still have trouble fully comprehending even today.  As sophisticated as they were, they were no match for Spanish explorers carrying diseases that they had not developed a natural immunity to, and even worst, when entire communities were wiped out by the Spaniards using force.  The explorer's journals tell of eliminating large communities and leaders.  This lead to the eventual end of some of these civilizations as the remainder fled, joined other native civilizations peacefully, some being captured as slaves to other native civilizations, and some, without leadership or size to sustain reproduction levels to sustain them eventually died out.

Our North American natives, also developed sophisticated civilizations.  Several of these civilizations died off or descended into different cultures through merging, capture and slavery by rival societies, disease and reduction of sufficient numbers to sustain the culture or nation.  Some left their mark more prominently than others, some hardly at all.  Some remains of the “mound people” of Iowa was all that was left when white man encountered the modern natives that ranged the Great Plains.  The French and Spanish explorers carried diseases that they had developed an immunity to that the natives had not.  When the two met and mingled, these diseases were passed on.

By the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition, natives of North and South America were not a lot different in the sense of sophistication, however, there were great differences in lifestyles.

In Search of Native Wealth

Spanish  

When the Spanish landed in South America (1500s), they brought their own ideals, disease, and cultures.  They also brought something else, a desire for riches, and gold was at the top of the list.  Gold was universally recognized as a non-corrosive, rare, and therefore special metal.  It was a commodity in the Americas the same as it was in Europe.  The search was on.

The Spaniards landing in South America found riches, however, it belonged to the natives.  These Europeans took what they wanted, killing any natives that resisted or stood in their way.  The Spaniards were a nuisance to natives at the very least yet there was no chance of asking them to leave and expect results.

North America was free of such encounters until Coronado* arrived in the southwest around 1541. Traveling on borrowed money (from the wife), he had to return with the undiscovered bounty from the north.  In search of the Seven Cities of Cibola, Coronado was accompanied by 2,000 soldiers.  Possessing questionable information, unknowingly, Coronado was convinced his future was looking bright.  It was not to be as he wished.  In the wake, he had attacked North America, at the time inhabited only by Natives.  Read more on Coronado's attack

The Spanish approached the Midwest from two different directions.  Hernando de Soto started in Florida, then worked his way into the southern parts of North America.  He made it past the Mississippi in 1541 and even explored upstream some distance, some speculating that he may have discovered where the Missouri River joined the Mississippi and traveled upstream, possibly as far as the Kansas Nebraska region.  Regardless of how far he made it, he wasn't immune to disease, fell sick, and subsequently died while still exploring.  His body was buried at sea, the sea in this case being the Mississippi River.  His followers returned home reporting what they found but without the gold.

French  

The French explorer Sieur de La Salle* approached the Midwest from the south around the Louisiana area in the 1680s.  La Salle also laid claim to the lands and named it Louisiana in honor of the king of France, Louis XIV.

In spite of the fact that the natives were the true owners of the land, it was now claimed by both the French and the Spanish explorers.  The French had it, lost it, and got it back during the French and Spanish wars.

The Paris Treaty of 1803, which allowed for the Louisiana Purchase of these lands from the French, didn't solve the native's problems.  Forced to fight for their homeland with the onset of more and more intruders of lighter skin, the natives were soon reduced to living on reservations.  Often pooled together with rival nations in close quarters, those tribal grievances subsided due to the more major universal concern of regaining the freedom of the wild.  That time hasn't come yet.

Horses  

As we all know from our Cowboy movie education, Indians rode horses bareback and far better than any white man could ever dream of.  The movies rarely show natives moving from one location to another using dog power (the energy source used before horses), to pull tent poles loaded with goods.  Our experience is based on the skills observed when settlers headed west.  By that time, the natives had become experienced horsemen.  The earliest record of natives on horseback is from the 1570s, way before the era covered by western movies.

Until the Spaniards arrived, the North American natives had never encountered horses.*  The fastest animal of that size previously was the mighty buffalo (actually bison), which took cunning and skill to sneak up on to bring down.

In the John C. Ewes book Horsemen of the Plains, he tells how the natives were afraid of Coronado's conquistadors on horseback but impressed never-the-less..  Ewes reports that in 1730, a Plains Cree recalled his nation's first encounter with a dying horse.  “A number of us went to see him, and we all admired him.  He put us in mind of a stag that lost his horns, and we did not know what name to give him.  But as he was a slave to man, like the dog, which carried our things, he was named the Big Dog.”

More often than not, the Spaniards came out on top in skirmishes, however, some resulted in total or near total losses due to a smaller Spanish exploration party being outnumbered.  In these cases, the Spanish were not able to retreat with the bodies or with the horses. These captured horses were the first acquired by the natives, who became expert riders arguably unparalleled by any other since.  Some horses were not captured; there are places in the southwest where their descendants have continued to live free since the 1500s.

The horse drastically changed the life of the natives.  Bison were a resource requiring no upkeep, natives only had to keep up with the bison.  Now, the Indians had an animal they had to take care of, such as feeding, breeding, and keeping track of a valuable commodity.  Hunting bison became a much easier task.  When the natives moved camp, the horse replaced the dog in pulling supplies.  The horse could pull the same load that had required 5 dogs before.  Soon the native's wealth was measured in horses.

The White Man Cometh

Open Arms  

By the 1800s, Native American nations in North America had stabilized for the most part.  There were some rivalries among nations over lands or local disputes sometimes coming down to personalities of leaders, but mostly, all nations belonged to the same civilization or culture of North American Native nations.  The Great Plains is often thought of as a constant war among native nations and between natives and the settlers.  Simply not true.  The natives got a bum rap due to sensationalized reporting, and because we see it all condensed into one period.  For the most part, the natives were a docile peaceful people no different from what we consider our modern civilizations to be.  We certainly cannot claim any bragging rights along these lines.  That is not to say there were no problems.  There were many, too many.  How many is too many when someone is taking your lands?

Our civilizations today are constantly in battle over borders or beliefs somewhere in the world.  The frequency of native differences were no more than what we have today.  In Europe where there are more nations in a smaller area, there seems to be more rivalries.  American natives had different nations as neighbors also and for the majority of the time they got along.  They fought over the same things we do today, borders (thought of as hunting lands more than of property), and beliefs.  Borders were usually shared as part of the land and sky.  It was only when the cultures were so different between nations that shared a border that skirmishes broke out.  When the light skinned explorers and trappers ventured into Indian country, they were met with open arms and gifts were exchanged, the gift exchange was a native custom.  This is the way it was for a long time.

The first reports reaching Europe about North American natives mentioned how wonderful and peaceful they were.  Europeans first arrived on the east coast in the 1500s, but the Great Plains area or Midwest wasn't settled until the 1800s (after the Louisiana Purchase).  This means the natives had over two-hundred years of exposure to the fairer skinned folks settling down or passing through.  More and more arrived, the numbers never went down; some nice, some thinking they were better than the Native Americans.  Over a hundred years or so, it became common knowledge that the two were not alike.  At first, the natives had no problem with that, but they thought differently than the Europeans, who considered themselves the cream of the crop of the hominoids; some of that comes across sooner or later.  It was inevitable that resentment developed between the two cultures, especially since the fairer skin seemed to think they owned the land these people had lived on for thousands of years.  I can't imagine modern man of any nation acting any differently to outsiders imposing their culture, rules, and going so far as to state where the original natives will have to live.

As the numbers increased, and the respect for the lands was not the same, and even the respect for the natives waned, anyone would start to stand up and say enough is enough.  Naturally, some heated disagreements developed, finally to the point of battles.  On their way back east, reports of these encounters got exaggerated with each retelling.  When later put into print, one side was civilized, and the other were savages.  Keep in mind which side was doing the reporting on paper, what ultimately ended up in the history books.

Exploration and Settler History  

The area closer to the Missouri River was not heavily populated with natives for a couple reasons.  First, there wasn't a lot there.  In the native's eyes, it wasn't all that desirable.  The second reason was the water.  The Missouri River was fast moving making it difficult to traverse with canoes compared to the slower waters of the Platte River.  Faster moving waters such as the Missouri left sandbars in some spots and steep banks at its edges in other areas.  Animals, especially larger ones such as the bison, lived closer on the plains on both sides of the Platte River.  It is understandable that the natives also preferred to be near the better gamelands.

The natives were a little inland from the Missouri and the mouth of the Platte, but they did cover the area occasionally.  If a campfire's smoke was visible near the river, there was a good chance that it would be investigated.  As more and more fur trappers/traders ventured west of the Missouri, the campfires became more commonplace and since the fur traders posed no real threat, they were often ignored. Some fur trappers/traders bought, traded for, or were given native girls.  The custom was to marry the native and that very often meant that by accepting the women, you were then married.  Some fur trappers/traders lived with the natives, even adopting native ways. After the Louisiana Territory purchase of 1803, there were several French fur trappers and traders that still mingled with the natives.  The Lewis and Clark Expedition journal entry describing the first meeting with natives (near Ft. Calhoun) by Charles Floyd on August 2, 1804, states, “Capt. Lewis and Clark met them at Shakeing Handes we fired another Cannon thare wase 6 Chiefs and 7 men and one French man with them who has Lived with them for som yeares and has a familey with them” (spelling left and period omitted as in original journal entry).

After the Louisiana Purchase (April 30, 1803), a new history started with the explorers, Lewis and Clark, who came through the area on their way to the Pacific Northwest and back.  Coming up the Missouri, Lewis and Clark first encountered natives in what was considered “Indian Country,” in the area west and north of the Missouri and Kansas borders.  The first mention of a sign of Indians is seeing a dog at the edge of the river.  It was assumed to be a dog that had been separated from its native owner.  A journal reference made by Clark a short time later listing pets included “Indian dog” so it is assumed the same dog was collected.

When the Lewis and Clark Expedition reached the Omaha area, they were getting into more and more Indian country.  It was decided that a meeting of peace explaining their purpose was in order.  The first meeting with the natives was between the Omaha-Council Bluffs area and the Ft. Calhoun area.  Keep in mind that at that point, the present day Council Bluffs didn't exist, much less Omaha or Ft. Calhoun as this was back in 1804.  The meeting place was referred in the expedition journals in three variants of Council Bluff(s).

Language differences were overcome but was clearly a difficulty that needed to be solved.  A solution was not had until the spring of the following year.

After the expedition, the natives continued to live on their same lands.  As settlers from the east moved west, lands west of the Mississippi were encroached upon.  Eventually, the natives were driven west of the Missouri River.  This meant that Iowa, Missouri, and parts of Minnesota were settled with the increasing number of palefaces.  Over a period of 50 years, tensions were increasing when the natives were constantly told that the land belonged to the paleface and that the natives were only being “allowed” to continue to live there.

By 1845, the area east of the Mississippi, previously known as “Indian Territory” had been broken into states.  The state of Illinois had rich fertile soils perfect for farming and rural pioneer life.

Iowa was being settled all the way to the Missouri River, mostly in the southern half with the overflow crossing over the Missouri River into what is now the state of Missouri.

Mormons were the earliest settlers  

The Mormons had left upper New York after being persecuted, settling in Ohio but still had some persecution problems.  Moving to the area around Independence, Missouri was no better in terms of persecution.  In search of a place that they would not be further persecuted, the church chose an area of swampland along the Mississippi.  In this place they named Nauvoo, they drained the swamps, built homes, and planted crops.  Soon they were persecuted once more.  Their leader, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were assassinated by a “lynch mob”  The church continued to live in Nauvoo for two more years as things continued to deteriorate with neighbors.  They again decided to move further west, leaving a town they had built from scratch.

The Mormons crossed the state of Iowa and arrived at the Missouri River with a dream but no home.  They were now at the edge of Indian country.  Beyond the Missouri was a place known to very few, they just had to get there.  The west coast was owned by the Spanish, and its future would be decided by the Mexican War.  Somewhere in between was a dream.

The Mormons needed a place to stay for the winter before continuing on.  Against the Treaty of 1834, the U.S. Government made arrangements with the natives west of the Missouri, to allow them to camp on their lands for two years.  Local nations at the time were the Omaha, Oto, Ponca, and Missouri Indians.

As spring approached, the Mormons started preparing, and started moving on to the west through the summer.  The white man had been allowed to pass through to places beyond before; the fact that the white man was allowed to live west of the Missouri (especially settle for a couple years on Indian land) was a signal that the Great Plains were changing.

Our country was growing.  The eastern states were starting to have their own problems.  Economic issues were starting to separate the north and south on taxation and the financial impact of freeing slaves.  The Midwest and the lands beyond were the only place to escape the issues.  The natives, now outnumbered were ready for a place they could call their own and not be hassled.

In 1854, the treaty ended with the natives, and a deal was made to cede their land and move to Kansas.  Kansas-Nebraska was now a territory on its own.  The territory was now open for settlement.  Not all natives moved to Kansas and peaceful co-existence was beneficial to both sides.  For the most part there weren't any problems.  There was one exception that stands out and that was the Pawnee War of 1859.

The war was the major topic of discussion in Omaha during the rest of the summer of 1859, the only other topic getting as much attention being the discovery of gold to the west.  The Pawnee War turned out to be the last major uprising.  A couple of years later, in 1861, Kansas was admitted to the union.  In 1867 Nebraska followed suit.  The natives were no longer in control.  The natives would never regain ownership of these lands except in small parcels called reservations.

Continue Reading  

Native Intro
Coronado's Attack on the Natives
Sacagawea and the Lewis & Clark Expedition
Pawnee War of 1859
Native Nations
Omaha Nation

External Reading  

American Bison History

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