Quapaw
Encyclopedia
The Quapaw people are a tribe of Native Americans
who historically resided on the west side of the Mississippi River
in what is now the state of Arkansas
.
They are federally recognized as the Quapaw Tribe of Indians.
in Ottawa County, Oklahoma
, where there is a 13000 acres (52.6 km²) Quapaw tribal jurisdictional area
, which includes the Tar Creek Superfund site
. John L. Berrey is their tribal chairman, currently serving a two-year term.
branch of the Siouan language family
. Although it is no longer commonly spoken, Quapaw is documented in fieldnotes from 19th-century linguist James Owen Dorsey
, and, in the 1970s, by linguist Robert Rankin. Classes in the Quapaw language are taught at the tribal museum. Other efforts at language preservation and revitalization are undertaken such as the Dhegiha Gathering which occurred on August 2 and 3, 2011. The Osage Language program hosted and organized the gathering which was located at the Quapaw tribe's Downstream Casino. Language learning techniques and other important points of interest were discussed at the conference between the five cognate tribes.
as a result of wars with invading Iroquois
from the north. They moved to their historical territory, the area of the confluence
of the Arkansas
and Mississippi
rivers, by the mid-17th century. The state of Arkansas was named after the Quapaw, who were called Akansea or Akansa, meaning "land of the downriver people", by other Native Americans. This exonym was adopted by the French explorers Jacques Marquette
and Louis Jolliet
and others following. During years of colonial rule of New France
, many of the French
traders and voyageurs
had an amicable relationship with the Quapaw, as with many other tribes. Many Quapaw women and French men married and had children together. Pine Bluff, Arkansas
was founded by Joseph Bonne, a man of half-Quapaw and half-French ancestry.
French colonists were important in the history of South Arkansas, as it was first part of New France
. Écore Fabre (Fabre's Bluff) was started as a trading post by the Frenchman Fabre and was one of the first European settlements in South Central Arkansas. Later it was renamed Camden
, after increased American settlement following the Louisiana Purchase
. Chemin Couvert (French for "covered way or road") was later mispronounced "Smackover" by Anglo-Americans. They used this name for a local creek. Founded by the French, Le Petit Rocher became Little Rock
after it passed into United States control following the Louisiana Purchase
.
There were numerous variations in accounts of tribal names. Some sources listed Ouachita
as a Choctaw
word, whereas others list it as a Quapaw word. Either way, the word spelling reflects transliteration into French.
The Quapaw, under the name of Capaha or Pacaha
, first encountered Europeans in 1541, when they met the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto
. He led an expedition that came across their chief town, between the Mississippi River
and a lake on the Arkansas (west) side, apparently in present-day Phillips County. His party describe the village as strongly palisade
d and nearly surrounded by a ditch. archaeological
remains and local conditions bear out the description.
The first encounter was reported as hostile, but the parties arranged peace. The town was described as having a population of several thousand. They were free of interference by Europeans for more than 130 years. In 1673, the Jesuit Father Jacques Marquette
, accompanied the French commander Louis Jolliet
in making his famous voyage down the Mississippi. He reportedly went to the villages of the Akansea, who gave him warm welcome and listened with attention to his sermons, while he stayed with them a few days. In 1682 La Salle
passed by their villages, then five in number, of which one was on the east bank of the Mississippi. The Recollect father, Zenobius Membré
, accompanying La Salle, planted a cross
and attempted to give the American Indians some idea of the Christian
's God
. The commander negotiated a peace with the tribe and took formal possession of the territory for France
. Then, as always, the Quapaw were uniformly kind and friendly toward the French. In spite of frequent shiftings, the Quapaw villages in this early period were generally reported as four in number. They corresponded in name and population to four sub-tribes still existing, viz. Ugahpahti, Uzutiuhi, Tiwadimañ, and Tañwañzhita, or, under their French forms, Kappa, Ossoteoue, Touriman, and Tonginga.
In 1683 the French commander, Tonti
, built a post on the Arkansas, near its mouth and the later Arkansas Post
. This began European occupation of the Quapaw country. Tonti arranged also for a resident Jesuit
missionary
, but apparently without result. About 1697 a smallpox
epidemic killed the greater part of the women and children of two villages. In 1727 the Jesuits, from their house in New Orleans, again took up the work. In 1729 the Quapaw allied with the French against the Natchez
, resulting in the practical extermination of the Natchez.
Shortly after the transfer of the territory to the United States
in 1803, the Quapaw were officially reported as living in three villages on the south side of Arkansas River about twelve miles (19 km) above Arkansas Post. In 1818 they made their first treaty with the US government, ceding all claims from Red River
to beyond the Arkansas and east of the Mississippi, with the exception of a considerable tract between the Arkansas and the Saline
, in the south-eastern part of the state. In 1824 they ceded this also, excepting 80 acres (323,748.8 m²) occupied by the chief Saracen (Sarrasin) below Pine Bluff
. They expected to incorporate with the Caddo
of Louisiana
, but were refused permission. Successive floods in the Caddo country about Red River pushed many toward starvation and they wandered back to their old homes. In 1834, under another treaty, they were removed to their present location in the north-east corner of Oklahoma
. Sarrasin (alternate spelling Saracen), their last chief before the removal, was a Catholic
and friend of the Lazarist
missionaries (Congregation of the Missions) who arrived in 1818. He died about 1830 and is buried adjoining St. Joseph's Church, Pine Bluff, where a memorial window preserves his name. The pioneer Lazarist missionary among the Quapaw was Rev. John M. Odin, afterward Archbishop
of New Orleans.
In 1824 the Jesuits of Maryland
, under Father Charles Van Quickenborne, took up work among the native and immigrant tribes of the present Kansas
and Oklahoma. In 1846 the Mission of St. Francis
was established among the Osage, on Neosho River
, by Fathers John Shoenmakers and John Bax, who extended their services to the Quapaw for some years. The Quapaw together with the associated remnant tribes, the Miami, Seneca, Wyandot and Ottawa
, are now served from the Mission of "Saint Mary of the Quapaws", at Quapaw, Oklahoma
. From perhaps 5000 souls when first known they have dwindled by epidemics, wars, removals, and consequent demoralization to approximately 3200 in 1687, 1600 in 1750, 476 in 1843, and 307 in 1910, including all mixed bloods.
Besides the four established divisions already noted, the Quapaw have the clan
system, with a number of gentes
. Polygamy
was practiced, but was not common. Like the kindred Osage
they had a rich mythology and elaborate rituals. They were agricultural
. When the Europeans first met them, they judged their architecture
and general culture
far in advance of that of the northern tribes. Their towns were palisade
d. Their "town houses", or public structures, sometimes of timbers dovetailed together, and roofed with bark, were frequently erected upon large artificial mounds to guard against the frequent inundations. Their ordinary houses were rectangular, and long enough to accommodate several families each.
They dug large ditches, constructed fish weirs, and excelled in pottery
and in the painting of skins for bed covers and other purposes. The dead were buried in the ground, sometimes in mound
s or in the clay floors of their houses, being frequently strapped to a stake in a sitting position and then carefully covered with earth. They were uniformly friendly to the Europeans, while at constant war with the Chickasaw
and other southern tribes. Early explorers described them as better built, polite, liberal, and of cheerful humour than the northern Indians.
By the early 20th century, their modern descendants were described as "fairly prosperous farmers, retaining little of their former habit or belief." Of the Quapaw dialect proper, little was recorded beyond some brief vocabularies and word lists. The Dhegiha language, including the dialects of the Omaha, Ponca, Osage, Kansa, and Quapaw, received more extended study and publication of its elements, especially by Rev. J.O. Dorsey under the auspices of the Bureau of American Ethnology
(see Pilling, Siouan Bibliography).
period is known...An hypothesis which developed quite early in my contact with Kinkead-Mainard site materials was that the site was one of the Quapaw phase...'"
The Arkansas Gazette
wrote on April 17, 1979 that, "There was an archeological dig (in 1932) from the University of Arkansas working near the Natural Steps (Natural Steps, Arkansas
). They found bodies of three Indians who had been buried there. They were buried sitting up." Pottery and other artifacts were found during the dig in the 1930s.
On August 26, 1999, the National Park Service wrote: "In 1932, human remains representing a minimum of 19 individuals were recovered from the Kinkead-Mainard site (3PU2), Pulaski County, Arkansas during excavations conducted by the University Museum. No known individuals were identified. The 117 associated funerary objects include ceramic
vessels, ceramic sherds, a clay ball, lithic debris, copper
beads, a copper band, a copper nugget, pigment, animal bones, a tortoise
carapace, an antler
pendant, antler projectile point
s, bone awl
s, shell beads, a mussel
shell, and leather fragments."
"Based on the associated funerary objects, and skeletal and dental morphology, these human remains have been identified as Native American. Based on ceramic styles and construction, this site has been identified as a manifestation of the Menard Complex during the protohistoric period (1500-1700 AD). French historical documents from 1700 indicate only the Quapaw tribe had villages in the area of the Kinkead-Mainard site. In 1818, the Quapaw ceded the central Arkansas River valley, including the Kinkead-Mainard site, to the United States. Based on historical information and continuity of occupation, these human remains have been affiliated with the Quapaw Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma."
, which at one time was considered to be the worst environmental disaster in the country. This issue was keystone to the environmental documentary Tar Creek
, made in 2009 by Matt Myers. Tar Creek tells the full story of the Tar Creek Superfund Site and discusses the environmental and governmental racism that led to the creation of this disaster, at the center of which are the Quapaw.
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
who historically resided on the west side of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
in what is now the state of Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
.
They are federally recognized as the Quapaw Tribe of Indians.
Government
They are headquartered in QuapawQuapaw, Oklahoma
Quapaw is a town in Ottawa County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 984 as of the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land.-History:...
in Ottawa County, Oklahoma
Ottawa County, Oklahoma
Ottawa County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 33,194. Its county seat is Miami. It was named for the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma.Ottawa County was established in 1907.-Geography:...
, where there is a 13000 acres (52.6 km²) Quapaw tribal jurisdictional area
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
, which includes the Tar Creek Superfund site
Tar Creek Superfund site
Tar Creek Superfund site is a United States Superfund site located in Picher and Cardin, Oklahoma. Chat piles left behind by the mining companies contain lead dust that has blown around the city. Elevated lead levels in Picher children have led to learning disabilities and other problems...
. John L. Berrey is their tribal chairman, currently serving a two-year term.
Language
Their language is of the DhegihaDhegihan
The Dhegihan languages are a group of Siouan languages that include Kansa–Osage, Omaha–Ponca, and Quapaw. Their historical region included parts of the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys, the Great Plains, and southeastern North America....
branch of the Siouan language family
Siouan languages
The Western Siouan languages, also called Siouan proper or simply Siouan, are a Native American language family of North America, and the second largest indigenous language family in North America, after Algonquian...
. Although it is no longer commonly spoken, Quapaw is documented in fieldnotes from 19th-century linguist James Owen Dorsey
James Owen Dorsey
James Owen Dorsey was an American ethnologist, linguist, and Episcopalian missionary who contributed to the description of the Ponca, Omaha, and other southern Siouan languages. He also collected much material on beliefs and institutions, although most of his manuscripts have not been published...
, and, in the 1970s, by linguist Robert Rankin. Classes in the Quapaw language are taught at the tribal museum. Other efforts at language preservation and revitalization are undertaken such as the Dhegiha Gathering which occurred on August 2 and 3, 2011. The Osage Language program hosted and organized the gathering which was located at the Quapaw tribe's Downstream Casino. Language learning techniques and other important points of interest were discussed at the conference between the five cognate tribes.
Economic development
The tribe owns a smoke shop, and a motor fuel outlet. They issue their own vehicle tags. In 2007, their economic impact was $5,092,713. They have two casinos, the Quapaw Casino and the Downstream Casino Resort, both located in Quapaw.Culture
Despite the hardships and challenges the tribe has faced, the traditions and culture of the Quapaw tribe are rich and varied.Fourth of July
In modern times, the pinnacle of the year for Quapaw culture is the weekend of the Fourth of July. The Quapaw tribe conducts an annual dance on this weekend. This dance started shortly after the civil war, 2011 was the 139th anniversary of this dance. Common features of this powwow include Gourd dance, War dance, Stomp dance and 49's. This weekend is also when the tribe convenes the annual general council meeting, during which important decisions regarding the policies and resolutions of the Quapaw tribe are voted upon by tribal members over the age of eighteen.Throughout the Year
Other events happen throughout the year, primarily at the tribal museum. Examples include Indian dice games, traditional singings, finger weaving classes, shawl making classes, flute making classes, language classes and others.Background
The Quapaw tribe (known as Ugahxpa in their own language) are believed to have migrated from the Ohio River valley after 1200 CECommon Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
as a result of wars with invading Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
from the north. They moved to their historical territory, the area of the confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
of the Arkansas
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...
and Mississippi
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
rivers, by the mid-17th century. The state of Arkansas was named after the Quapaw, who were called Akansea or Akansa, meaning "land of the downriver people", by other Native Americans. This exonym was adopted by the French explorers Jacques Marquette
Jacques Marquette
Father Jacques Marquette S.J. , sometimes known as Père Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste. Marie, and later founded St. Ignace, Michigan...
and Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet , also known as Louis Joliet, was a French Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America...
and others following. During years of colonial rule of New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
, many of the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
traders and voyageurs
Voyageurs
The Voyageurs were the persons who engaged in the transportation of furs by canoe during the fur trade era. Voyageur is a French word which literally translates to "traveler"...
had an amicable relationship with the Quapaw, as with many other tribes. Many Quapaw women and French men married and had children together. Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Pine Bluff is the largest city and county seat of Jefferson County, Arkansas, United States. It is also the principal city of the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff, Arkansas Combined Statistical Area...
was founded by Joseph Bonne, a man of half-Quapaw and half-French ancestry.
French colonists were important in the history of South Arkansas, as it was first part of New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
. Écore Fabre (Fabre's Bluff) was started as a trading post by the Frenchman Fabre and was one of the first European settlements in South Central Arkansas. Later it was renamed Camden
Camden, Arkansas
Camden is a city in and the county seat of Ouachita County in the southern part of the U.S. state of Arkansas. Long an area of American Indians villages, the French also made a permanent settlement here because of its advantageous location above the Ouachita River. According to 2007 Census...
, after increased American settlement following the Louisiana Purchase
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
. Chemin Couvert (French for "covered way or road") was later mispronounced "Smackover" by Anglo-Americans. They used this name for a local creek. Founded by the French, Le Petit Rocher became Little Rock
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
after it passed into United States control following the Louisiana Purchase
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
.
There were numerous variations in accounts of tribal names. Some sources listed Ouachita
Ouachita tribe
The Ouachita are a Native American tribe from northeastern Louisiana along the Ouachita River.-History:The Ouachita were loosely affiliated with the Caddo Confederacy. Their traditional homelands were the lower reaches of the Ouachita River and along the Black River...
as a Choctaw
Choctaw
The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States...
word, whereas others list it as a Quapaw word. Either way, the word spelling reflects transliteration into French.
History
The following passage is taken from the public domain Catholic Encyclopedia, written early in the 20th century. It describes the Quapaw from the perspective of that time."A tribe now nearly extinct, but formerly one of the most important of the lower MississippiMississippi RiverThe Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
region, occupying several villages about the mouth of the ArkansasArkansas RiverThe Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...
, chiefly on the west (ArkansasArkansasArkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
) side, with one or two at various periods on the east (MississippiMississippiMississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
) side of the Mississippi, and claiming the whole of the Arkansas River region up to the border of the territory held by the OsageOsage NationThe Osage Nation is a Native American Siouan-language tribe in the United States that originated in the Ohio River valley in present-day Kentucky. After years of war with invading Iroquois, the Osage migrated west of the Mississippi River to their historic lands in present-day Arkansas, Missouri,...
in the north-western part of the state. They are of SiouanSioux languageSioux is a Siouan language spoken by over 33,000 Sioux in the United States and Canada, making it the fifth most spoken indigenous language in the United States or Canada, behind Navajo, Cree, Inuit and Ojibwe.-Regional variation:...
linguistic stock, speaking the same language, spoken also with dialectic variants, by the Osage and Kansa (KawKaw (tribe)The Kaw Nation are an American Indian people of the central Midwestern United States. The tribe known as Kaw have also been known as the "People of the South wind", "People of water", Kansa, Kaza, Kosa, and Kasa. Their tribal language is Kansa, classified as a Siouan language.The toponym "Kansas"...
) in the south and by the OmahaOmaha (tribe)The Omaha are a federally recognized Native American nation which lives on the Omaha Reservation in northeastern Nebraska and western Iowa, United States...
and PoncaPoncaThe Ponca are a Native American people of the Dhegihan branch of the Siouan-language group. There are two federally recognized Ponca tribes: the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma...
in NebraskaNebraskaNebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
. Their name properly is Ugakhpa, which signifies "down-stream people", as distinguished from Umahan or Omaha, "up-stream people". To the Illinois and other AlgonquianAlgonquian peoplesThe Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread North American native language groups, with tribes originally numbering in the hundreds. Today hundreds of thousands of individuals identify with various Algonquian peoples...
tribes, they were known as 'Akansea', whence their French name of Akensas and Akansas. According to concurrent tradition of the cognate tribes, the Quapaw and their kinsmen originally lived far east, possibly beyond the AllegheniesAllegheny MountainsThe Allegheny Mountain Range , also spelled Alleghany, Allegany and, informally, the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the eastern United States and Canada...
, and, pushing gradually westward, descended the Ohio RiverOhio RiverThe Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
-- hence called by the Illinois the "river of the Akansea" -- to its junction with the Mississippi, whence the Quapaw, then including the Osage and Kansa, descended to the mouth of the Arkansas, while the Omaha, with the Ponca, went up the MissouriMissouri RiverThe Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
."
Pacaha
Pacaha was a Native American tribe encountered in 1541 by the Hernando de Soto expedition. This tribe inhabited fortified villages in what is today the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Arkansas...
, first encountered Europeans in 1541, when they met the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto
Hernando de Soto (explorer)
Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who, while leading the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States, was the first European documented to have crossed the Mississippi River....
. He led an expedition that came across their chief town, between the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
and a lake on the Arkansas (west) side, apparently in present-day Phillips County. His party describe the village as strongly palisade
Palisade
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...
d and nearly surrounded by a ditch. archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
remains and local conditions bear out the description.
The first encounter was reported as hostile, but the parties arranged peace. The town was described as having a population of several thousand. They were free of interference by Europeans for more than 130 years. In 1673, the Jesuit Father Jacques Marquette
Jacques Marquette
Father Jacques Marquette S.J. , sometimes known as Père Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste. Marie, and later founded St. Ignace, Michigan...
, accompanied the French commander Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet , also known as Louis Joliet, was a French Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America...
in making his famous voyage down the Mississippi. He reportedly went to the villages of the Akansea, who gave him warm welcome and listened with attention to his sermons, while he stayed with them a few days. In 1682 La Salle
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, or Robert de LaSalle was a French explorer. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico...
passed by their villages, then five in number, of which one was on the east bank of the Mississippi. The Recollect father, Zenobius Membré
Zenobius Membre
Zenobius Membre was a French Franciscan missionary in North America.-Life:He was a member of the Franciscan province of St. Antony. He arrived in Canada in 1675, and in 1679 he accompanied Robert de La Salle to the country of the Illinois, of which he wrote a description...
, accompanying La Salle, planted a cross
Cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...
and attempted to give the American Indians some idea of the Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
's God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. The commander negotiated a peace with the tribe and took formal possession of the territory for France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Then, as always, the Quapaw were uniformly kind and friendly toward the French. In spite of frequent shiftings, the Quapaw villages in this early period were generally reported as four in number. They corresponded in name and population to four sub-tribes still existing, viz. Ugahpahti, Uzutiuhi, Tiwadimañ, and Tañwañzhita, or, under their French forms, Kappa, Ossoteoue, Touriman, and Tonginga.
In 1683 the French commander, Tonti
Henri de Tonti
Henri de Tonti was an Italian-born soldier, explorer, and fur trader in the service of France.-Early life:Henri de Tonti, a Sicilian, was mostly likely born near Gaeta, Italy in either 1649 or 1650. He was the son of Lorenzo de Tonti, a financier and former governor of Gaeta...
, built a post on the Arkansas, near its mouth and the later Arkansas Post
Arkansas Post National Memorial
Arkansas Post National Memorial, located about 8 miles southeast of Gillett, Arkansas, commemorates key events related to European-American history that occurred on site and in the vicinity: the trading post was the first successful French settlement in the Lower Mississippi River Valley ; site...
. This began European occupation of the Quapaw country. Tonti arranged also for a resident Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
, but apparently without result. About 1697 a smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
epidemic killed the greater part of the women and children of two villages. In 1727 the Jesuits, from their house in New Orleans, again took up the work. In 1729 the Quapaw allied with the French against the Natchez
Natchez people
The Natchez are a Native American people who originally lived in the Natchez Bluffs area, near the present-day city of Natchez, Mississippi. They spoke a language isolate that has no known close relatives, although it may be very distantly related to the Muskogean languages of the Creek...
, resulting in the practical extermination of the Natchez.
Shortly after the transfer of the territory to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1803, the Quapaw were officially reported as living in three villages on the south side of Arkansas River about twelve miles (19 km) above Arkansas Post. In 1818 they made their first treaty with the US government, ceding all claims from Red River
Red River (Mississippi watershed)
The Red River, or sometimes the Red River of the South, is a major tributary of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers in the southern United States of America. The river gains its name from the red-bed country of its watershed. It is one of several rivers with that name...
to beyond the Arkansas and east of the Mississippi, with the exception of a considerable tract between the Arkansas and the Saline
Saline River (Ouachita River)
The Saline River is a tributary of the Ouachita River in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Arkansas.The Saline River begins in the eastern foothills of the Ouachita Mountains in Saline and Garland counties and is one of the last free-flowing rivers in the Ouachita River Basin...
, in the south-eastern part of the state. In 1824 they ceded this also, excepting 80 acres (323,748.8 m²) occupied by the chief Saracen (Sarrasin) below Pine Bluff
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Pine Bluff is the largest city and county seat of Jefferson County, Arkansas, United States. It is also the principal city of the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff, Arkansas Combined Statistical Area...
. They expected to incorporate with the Caddo
Caddo
The Caddo Nation is a confederacy of several Southeastern Native American tribes, who traditionally inhabited much of what is now East Texas, northern Louisiana and portions of southern Arkansas and Oklahoma. Today the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma is a cohesive tribe with its capital at Binger, Oklahoma...
of Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, but were refused permission. Successive floods in the Caddo country about Red River pushed many toward starvation and they wandered back to their old homes. In 1834, under another treaty, they were removed to their present location in the north-east corner of Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. Sarrasin (alternate spelling Saracen), their last chief before the removal, was a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
and friend of the Lazarist
Lazarists
Congregation of the Mission is a vowed order of priests and brothers associated with the Vincentian Family, a loose federation of organizations who claim St. Vincent de Paul as their founder or Patron...
missionaries (Congregation of the Missions) who arrived in 1818. He died about 1830 and is buried adjoining St. Joseph's Church, Pine Bluff, where a memorial window preserves his name. The pioneer Lazarist missionary among the Quapaw was Rev. John M. Odin, afterward Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of New Orleans.
In 1824 the Jesuits of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, under Father Charles Van Quickenborne, took up work among the native and immigrant tribes of the present Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
and Oklahoma. In 1846 the Mission of St. Francis
St. Francis
St. Francis may refer to a number of Roman Catholic saints:*St Francis of Assisi , Italian founder of the Order of Friars Minor *St Francis of Paola , Italian founder of the Order of the Minims...
was established among the Osage, on Neosho River
Neosho River
The Neosho River is a tributary of the Arkansas River in eastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma in the United States. Its tributaries also drain portions of Missouri and Arkansas. The river is about long. Via the Arkansas, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed.- Course :The Neosho's...
, by Fathers John Shoenmakers and John Bax, who extended their services to the Quapaw for some years. The Quapaw together with the associated remnant tribes, the Miami, Seneca, Wyandot and Ottawa
Ottawa (tribe)
The Odawa or Ottawa, said to mean "traders," are a Native American and First Nations people. They are one of the Anishinaabeg, related to but distinct from the Ojibwe nation. Their original homelands are located on Manitoulin Island, near the northern shores of Lake Huron, on the Bruce Peninsula in...
, are now served from the Mission of "Saint Mary of the Quapaws", at Quapaw, Oklahoma
Quapaw, Oklahoma
Quapaw is a town in Ottawa County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 984 as of the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land.-History:...
. From perhaps 5000 souls when first known they have dwindled by epidemics, wars, removals, and consequent demoralization to approximately 3200 in 1687, 1600 in 1750, 476 in 1843, and 307 in 1910, including all mixed bloods.
Besides the four established divisions already noted, the Quapaw have the clan
Clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...
system, with a number of gentes
Gens
In ancient Rome, a gens , plural gentes, referred to a family, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps . The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the...
. Polygamy
Polygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
was practiced, but was not common. Like the kindred Osage
Osage Nation
The Osage Nation is a Native American Siouan-language tribe in the United States that originated in the Ohio River valley in present-day Kentucky. After years of war with invading Iroquois, the Osage migrated west of the Mississippi River to their historic lands in present-day Arkansas, Missouri,...
they had a rich mythology and elaborate rituals. They were agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. When the Europeans first met them, they judged their architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
and general culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
far in advance of that of the northern tribes. Their towns were palisade
Palisade
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...
d. Their "town houses", or public structures, sometimes of timbers dovetailed together, and roofed with bark, were frequently erected upon large artificial mounds to guard against the frequent inundations. Their ordinary houses were rectangular, and long enough to accommodate several families each.
They dug large ditches, constructed fish weirs, and excelled in pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
and in the painting of skins for bed covers and other purposes. The dead were buried in the ground, sometimes in mound
Mound
A mound is a general term for an artificial heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. The most common use is in reference to natural earthen formation such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. The term may also be applied to any rounded area of topographically...
s or in the clay floors of their houses, being frequently strapped to a stake in a sitting position and then carefully covered with earth. They were uniformly friendly to the Europeans, while at constant war with the Chickasaw
Chickasaw
The Chickasaw are Native American people originally from the region that would become the Southeastern United States...
and other southern tribes. Early explorers described them as better built, polite, liberal, and of cheerful humour than the northern Indians.
By the early 20th century, their modern descendants were described as "fairly prosperous farmers, retaining little of their former habit or belief." Of the Quapaw dialect proper, little was recorded beyond some brief vocabularies and word lists. The Dhegiha language, including the dialects of the Omaha, Ponca, Osage, Kansa, and Quapaw, received more extended study and publication of its elements, especially by Rev. J.O. Dorsey under the auspices of the Bureau of American Ethnology
Bureau of American Ethnology
The Bureau of American Ethnology was established in 1879 by an act of Congress for the purpose of transferring archives, records and materials relating to the Indians of North America from the Interior Department to the Smithsonian Institution...
(see Pilling, Siouan Bibliography).
Natural Steps, Arkansas
The Pinnacle Mountain Community Post wrote in 1991, "Concerning the first Natural Steps inhabitants, the University of Arkansas Museum, in 1932, excavated several Indian burials near the site. In the report, entitled "The Kinkead-Mainard Site, 3PU2: A Late Prehistoric Quapaw Phase Site Near Little Rock, Arkansas", Michael P. Hoffman writes, 'The site represents the only scientific excavation conducted by the University of Arkansas between the mouth of the Arkansas River and Oklahoma in which detailed information of the MississippianMississippian culture
The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....
period is known...An hypothesis which developed quite early in my contact with Kinkead-Mainard site materials was that the site was one of the Quapaw phase...'"
The Arkansas Gazette
Arkansas Gazette
The Arkansas Gazette, known as the oldest newspaper west of the Mississippi River, and located from 1908 until its October 18, 1991 closing at the now historic Gazette Building, was for many years the newspaper of record for Little Rock and the State of Arkansas...
wrote on April 17, 1979 that, "There was an archeological dig (in 1932) from the University of Arkansas working near the Natural Steps (Natural Steps, Arkansas
Natural Steps, Arkansas
Natural Steps is an unincorporated census-designated place in Pulaski County, Arkansas, United States, just 18 miles northwest of Little Rock along the southern bank of the Arkansas River, on Arkansas Highway 300. As of the 2010 census, its population is 426. Today, it is a small farming community...
). They found bodies of three Indians who had been buried there. They were buried sitting up." Pottery and other artifacts were found during the dig in the 1930s.
On August 26, 1999, the National Park Service wrote: "In 1932, human remains representing a minimum of 19 individuals were recovered from the Kinkead-Mainard site (3PU2), Pulaski County, Arkansas during excavations conducted by the University Museum. No known individuals were identified. The 117 associated funerary objects include ceramic
Ceramic
A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
vessels, ceramic sherds, a clay ball, lithic debris, copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
beads, a copper band, a copper nugget, pigment, animal bones, a tortoise
Tortoise
Tortoises are a family of land-dwelling reptiles of the order of turtles . Like their marine cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The tortoise...
carapace, an antler
Antler
Antlers are the usually large, branching bony appendages on the heads of most deer species.-Etymology:Antler originally meant the lowest tine, the "brow tine"...
pendant, antler projectile point
Projectile point
In archaeological terms, a projectile point is an object that was hafted to a projectile, such as a spear, dart, or arrow, or perhaps used as a knife....
s, bone awl
Stitching awl
A stitching awl is a simple tool with which holes can be punctured in a variety of materials, or existing holes can be enlarged. It is also used for sewing heavy materials, such as leather or canvas. It is a thin, tapered metal shaft, coming to a sharp point, either straight or slightly bent....
s, shell beads, a mussel
Mussel
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
shell, and leather fragments."
"Based on the associated funerary objects, and skeletal and dental morphology, these human remains have been identified as Native American. Based on ceramic styles and construction, this site has been identified as a manifestation of the Menard Complex during the protohistoric period (1500-1700 AD). French historical documents from 1700 indicate only the Quapaw tribe had villages in the area of the Kinkead-Mainard site. In 1818, the Quapaw ceded the central Arkansas River valley, including the Kinkead-Mainard site, to the United States. Based on historical information and continuity of occupation, these human remains have been affiliated with the Quapaw Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma."
Documentary Film
The Quapaw Reserve Lands are centered around the Tar Creek Superfund SiteTar Creek Superfund site
Tar Creek Superfund site is a United States Superfund site located in Picher and Cardin, Oklahoma. Chat piles left behind by the mining companies contain lead dust that has blown around the city. Elevated lead levels in Picher children have led to learning disabilities and other problems...
, which at one time was considered to be the worst environmental disaster in the country. This issue was keystone to the environmental documentary Tar Creek
Tar Creek
Tar Creek is a feature-length environmental documentary about the Tar Creek Superfund Site, which at one time was considered the worst environmental disaster in the United States. The land within the perimeters of this environmental disaster was bad enough that the federal government bought out the...
, made in 2009 by Matt Myers. Tar Creek tells the full story of the Tar Creek Superfund Site and discusses the environmental and governmental racism that led to the creation of this disaster, at the center of which are the Quapaw.
See also
- Quapaw, OklahomaQuapaw, OklahomaQuapaw is a town in Ottawa County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 984 as of the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land.-History:...
- Quapaw Indian AgencyQuapaw Indian AgencyThe Quapaw Indian Agency was a territory which was merged with other territories to form the Territory of Oklahoma. Established in the late 1830s as part of the Cherokee Nation in what was then Indian Territory, the agency was disbanded in 1890...
- List of sites and peoples visited by the Hernando de Soto Expedition
External links
- Quapaw Tribe, official website
- Quapaw, Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
- The Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma and The Tar Creek Project, EPA
- Quapaw Indian Tribe History, Access Genealogy
- Tar Creek, Tar Creek documentary website