Society and Culture
The Osage traditionally spent most of the year in villages built in river valleys. Families lived in longhouses, which had pole frames covered with grass mats or animal hides. Nearby they planted fields of corn (maize), beans, squash, and pumpkins.
After acquiring horses the Osage were able to head west on expeditions to hunt buffalo (bison) on the Great Plains. Several times a year the hunters left their villages and lived in hide-covered tepees. The buffalo meat was dried or smoked.
The Osage believed in a creative spirit called Wah'Kon-Tah. The Osage divided themselves into the Tzi-sho (Sky People) and the Hunkah (Earth People). Each village was ruled by two chiefs, one from each group.
History
In 1673 the French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet became the first non-Native Americans to come in contact with the Osage. The tribe soon became trading partners with the French, offering them skins and furs in exchange for European goods such as fabrics, guns, and metal tools. By controlling trade along the Missouri River, the Osage became one of the most powerful tribes in the region. Their influence spread through parts of present-day Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.
In the French and Indian War (1754–63) some Osage joined their French allies in battling the British. But the French were defeated and forced to leave the region. The Osage then began trading first with the British and the Spanish and later with the Americans. In the early 19th century the United States government compelled the Osage to give up their traditional territory and move to present-day Kansas. The tribe was relocated again in 1871 to a reservation in northern Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).
In the 1890s oil was discovered on the Osage reservation. The United States Congress gave oil rights to the tribe and distributed the revenues among tribe members. By the 1920s oil revenues had made many Osage wealthy. Criminals cheated some tribespeople out of the money, however.
Although Osage oil income dropped after the 1920s, the wealthiest tribe members continued to control tribal affairs. In 1994 a new tribal constitution was adopted that opened the voting rolls to many more people. At the end of the 20th century more than 7,500 Osage lived in the United States, mostly in Oklahoma.