Osage Nation
| Osage |
|---|
| 272px |
| Total population |
| 16,000 [1] |
| Regions with significant populations |
| United States (Oklahoma) |
| Languages |
| English, Osage |
| Religions |
| Christianity, other |
| Related ethnic groups |
| other Siouan peoples |
The Osage Nation is a Native American tribe in the United States, which is mainly based in Osage County, Oklahoma, but can still be found throughout America.
The Osage call themselves Ni-U-Kon-Ska, and were originally called Wazházhe by Europeans, both meaning "Children of the Middle Waters." The name Osage comes from a French corruption of the tribal name. Early settlers reported that the Osages were the largest Native people in North America, with many Osage men averaging over 6 feet tall. Warlike, they were feared by neighboring tribes.
The Osage language belongs to the Dhegihan branch of the Siouan stock of Native American languages, now spoken in Nebraska and Oklahoma. They originally lived among the Kansa, the Ponca, the Omaha, and the Quapaw in the Ohio Valley. The tribe probably separated from the closely-related Kansa not long before Europeans first encountered them.
History
Many of the Osage had migrated to the Osage River in western Missouri by 1673, living near the Missouri River. Alongside the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache, they dominated western Oklahoma. They also lived with the Quapaw and Caddo in Arkansas.
The Osage held high rank among the old hunting tribes of the Great Plains. From their traditional homes in the woodlands of present-day Missouri and Arkansas, the Osage would make semi-annual buffalo hunting forays out into the Great Plains to the West as well as hunt deer, rabbit, and other wild game in the central and eastern parts of their domain. But, also they would grow corn, squash, and other vegetables near their villages as well as harvest nuts and wild berries. So, in this sense, the Osage's lifestyle did not conform to either a strictly woodland Native American tribe nor a Great Plains people.
European encounters
The French encountered the tribe in Missouri during the late 1600s. As experienced warriors, the Osage allied with the French against the Illiniwek during the early 1700s.
Friendly relations with the Osage enabled French fur trader René Auguste Chouteau to extend his business, and he monopolized trade with the tribe from 1794 to 1802.
Lewis and Clark reported that in 1802, the tribe comprised the Great Osage on the Osage River, the Little Osage upstream, and the Arkansas band on the Vermillion River, a tributary of the Arkansas River. The tribe then numbered some 5,500.
Wealthy fur trader Jean Pierre Chouteau, a half-brother of René Auguste Chouteau, became the United States agent for the tribe in 1804. He founded the Saint Louis Missouri Fur Company in 1809 with a family member, Auguste Pierre Chouteau. The Spanish imprisoned Auguste in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1817, but released him after several months. He actively traded with the Osage and made his home at Salina, Oklahoma.
Osage Indian wars
The Osage prohibited the hostile Kickapoo from entering onto their Missouri reservation, keeping them in ceded lands in Illinois. Choctaw chief Pushmataha had a notable career as a warrior against the Osage tribe. The Five Civilized Tribes removed to the Indian Territory clashed briefly with the Osage after arriving on the Trail of Tears.
In 1833, the Osage clashed with the Kiowa near the Wichita Mountains in modern day south central Oklahoma in an incident known as the Cutthroat Gap Massacre. The Osage cut off the heads of their victims and arranged them in rows of brass cooking buckets. Not a single Osage died in this attack. Later, Kiowa warriors, allied with the Comanche, raided the Osage and others.
In 1867, due to their scouting expertise, excellent terrain knowledge, and military prowess, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer employed Osage scouts in his campaign against Chief Black Kettle and his band of peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho in western Oklahoma near the Washita river. Although Chief Black Kettle and his band were trying to live a peaceful life on their reservation, they were surprise-attacked early in the morning by Custer and his soldiers, led there by Osage scouts. Chief Black Kettle and others were massacred, as well as some soldiers who died, in this incident known to history as the Washita Massacre. Although the Cheyenne and Arapaho in the past had been traditional Plains enemies of the Osage, it is not known what the Osage scouts' motives were other than pay for their role in this sad chapter of American history. It may have been due to the Osage scouts' superior scouting abilities, knowledge of the terrain, and military acumen that Custer was able to achieve his big, surprise victory (massacre) against Chief Black Kettle and his band of peaceful Cheyenne-Arapahos, since up until that time Custer had had limited success in his fights against the Plains tribes.
Treaties
The Tribe began concluding treaties in 1810 that eventually ceded their tribal territory across Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. They first moved onto a southeast Kansas reservation, on which the later city of Independence, Kansas now sits.
The Osage began treaty-making with the United States in 1808 with the first cessation of lands in Missouri (Osage Treaty). Subsequent treaties and laws through the 1860's reduced the lands of the Osage and finally provided for a reservation in the Cherokee Outlet in 1870. The Osage moved from their homelands on the Osage River in 1808 and moved to western Missouri. The major part of the tribe had moved to the Three-forks region of what would become Oklahoma soon after the arrival of Lewis and Clark. Since this part of the tribe did not participate in the negotiations for the treaty of 1808, their assent was obtained in 1809.
American Civil War
During the American Civil War the Osage tribe was split between supporters of the Union and the Confederacy.
Little House on the Prairie
It was at this time that the family of Laura Ingalls Wilder moved to the territories. Laura recalled her family's encounters with the Osage in Little House on the Prairie, especially the visit of a French-speaking Osage chief she calls Soldat du Chêne.
Reservation living
The Nation later settled onto the Osage Indian Reservation that comprises Osage County, Oklahoma, in the north-central portion of the state between Tulsa, Oklahoma and Ponca City, Oklahoma. The tribal leaders orchestrated a deal with the Federal government to move onto their own hunting ground on the prairie lands. The Osages had experience with the government and negotiated in 1907 to maintain mineral rights to their new homeland. They were unyielding and held up Statehood for Oklahoma before signing an Allotment Act.
Unlike most other tribes, the Osage prospered on their reservation lands. Substantial oil reserves were discovered in the 1900s. This new wealth caused many Osages to die as a result of murders for money in increasing numbers between 1921 and 1923, until the FBI stepped in and ended the Osage Indian Murders.
Today
Ballerina Maria Tallchief, an Osage born in 1925 in Fairfax, Oklahoma, contributed greatly to the success of ballet dance in America. Her younger sister, Marjorie Tallchief, also performed as a dancer.
Today, the Osage Nation claims more than 10,000 members. The Osage Museum in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, the oldest extant tribal museum in the country, documents their history.
External links
All Links Retrieved December 2, 2007.
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