The Missouri tribe of Native Americans traditionally lived along the Missouri River near the mouth of the Grand River. By the 19th century, they had merged with the Oto Indians to form the Otoe-Missouria tribe.

Society and culture

The Missouri were once part of a large Indian group that lived in the Great Lakes region. Long ago, a group of these Indians moved southwest, leaving behind the people who later became known as the Winnebago. The group then broke into three independent tribes—the Missouri, the Oto, and the Iowa.

In their new homeland along the Missouri River in what is now north-central Missouri, the tribe obtained their food through a combination of farming, hunting, and gathering wild plants. They spent much of the year in permanent villages, which were built near their fields. After the fall harvest, they went on the hunt. Their favored game was deer until they acquired horses through trade. On horseback, they were able to travel onto the Great Plains to hunt buffalo (bison).

History

In 1673, French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet became the first Europeans to encounter the Missouri. Soon afterward, the Missouri became the trading partners of the French.

By the 18th century, the many of the Missouri died from Old World diseases. Warfare also reduced their numbers. In 1798, they were defeated in a war with the Sauk and Fox. The survivors fled their lands and went to live with several other tribes. In the early 19th century they were again attacked, this time by the Osage. The Missouri scattered, many settling among their Oto and Iowa relatives.

In 1817, the Missouri and the Oto were forced to sign a treaty with the United States, in which they gave up most of their land. In a second treaty, signed in 1854, they lost almost all their remaining territory. The Missouri and the Oto retained only a small reservation along the Big Blue River on the border of what are now Kansas and Nebraska. In the 1880s, they were compelled to move once again to a reservation in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). There, they became officially known as the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Oklahoma.

By the end of the 20th century, there were about 1,800 Otoe-Missouria Indians in the United States. Their tribal headquarters is located in Noble County, Oklahoma. Tribe members meet regularly for religious ceremonies and host the Otoe-Missouria Powwow every July.