Siouan tribes which included the Iowa, Kansa, Missouri, Omaha, Osage, Oto, and Ponca. These tribes differed from those of the Dakota group in that, besides being buffalo hunters, they also were farmers and did not live in tepees except when on the march. Their regular houses were oven shaped, covered with earth, and grouped into villages. It is notable that three or these tribes gave their names to states.
The Iowa Indians at one time lived on the Platte River in Iowa. In 1824 they ceded all their lands to the Government and moved sometime later to reservations. The Oto were closely associated with the Iowa. The Kansa, sometimes called the Kaw, formerly lived on the Kansas River. The Missouri roamed that section of the Missouri River near the mouth of the Grand River. Warfare and disease almost wiped out this tribe.
The Omaha were at the mouth of the Missouri River for a time and later crossed into Iowa with the Ponca, but both were driven back by the powerful Dakota. The Ponca went into the Black Hills and the Omaha settled in Nebraska.
The Osage were once on the lower Missouri River but later ceded their lands, including most of Missouri and part of Arkansas, to the whites. This tribe became one of the richest in the United States. By 1906 they had $8,562,690 in the United States Treasury after oil had been discovered on their Oklahoma reservation. For a time their individual income was greater than that of any other person on the earth.
The Iowa gave their name to the state, to two rivers, and a county; to places in Wisconsin, Kansas, California, Louisiana, and Texas.
The Kansa Indians furnished the names for the river and state as well as cities, and to places in Alabama, Illinois, Ohio, and Oklahoma; as Kaw, to places in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wisconsin. The Omaha Indians provided the name for Omaha, Nebraska; and for places in Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Texas, Kentucky, and Virginia.
The name of the Osage Indians is preserved in that of the Osage River in Kansas and Missouri; a county in Oklahoma; places in Arkansas, Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia; Osage Beach and Osage City, both in Missouri; Osage City, Kansas. One of the popular names for bois d'arc, the favorite wood for making bows among the tribes of the southern Plains, is Osage orange.
The Oto Indians have places in Iowa and Missouri named for them; and in the form of Otoe, the name is given to a county and a village in Nebraska. The Ponca Indians gave their name to the Ponca River in South Dakota and Ponca City, Oklahoma; as well as places in Arkansas and Nebraska.
The name of the Missouri Indians is associated without the river and state; also Missouri City, Missouri; Missouri City, Texas; Missouri Valley, Iowa, and Missouri Branch, West Virginia.
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