OSAGE INDIANS IN ARKANSAS

THE OSAGE NATION IS A SIOUAN LANGUAGE IN THE U.S. THAT ORIGINATED IN THE OHIO RIVER. MANY YEARS OF WAR BY INVADING IROQUOIS GOT THEM TO KANSAS. MISSOURI AND OKLAHOMA BY 1650'S. TODAY THEY ARE FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED BASED MAINLY IN OSAGE CITY, OKLAHOMA.

THEY WERE DESCRIBED AS A TALL RACE OF MEN OF NATIVE AMERICANS - 6 - 7 FEET TALL. AFTER LEAVING OHIO VALLEY THEY BECAME DIFFERENTIATED. THE OSAGE CALLED THEMSELVES NI-U-KON-SKA OR LITTLE CHILDREN OF THE WATERS. THE EARLIEST CONTACT BY ANGLE IS A JESUIT PRIEST IN 1673. THE DESCENDANTS OF THE OSAGE HAD BEEN IN U.S. FOR YEARS. BECAUSE OF WARS WITH THE IROQUOIS THEY MIGRATED TO THE WEST.

BY 1673 THEY SETTLED ON OSAGE RIVER IN MISSOURI. BY 1690 THEY ADOPTED HORSES BY RAIDS AND THEY TRADED WITH THE FRENCH. THEY ATTACKED THE CADDO TRIBE TO THE EAST WHO HAD DOMINANCE IN THE REGION FROM 1750 TO 1900. THEY LIVED WITH THE KIOWA, COMMANCHE, AND APACHE IN WEST OKLAHOMA. THEY MADE SEMI ANNUAL BUFFALO HUNTS. THEY ALSO ATE DEER, RABBIT, AND WILD GAME. WOMEN CULTIVATED CORN, SQUASH AND OTHER VEGETABLES. THEY GATHERED NUTS, AND BERRIES. IN 1800 THEY MADE TREATIES WITH THE U.S. IN MESOAMERICA. THEY HAD TO CEDE 52,000,00 ACRE TO THE U.S. IN 1808 THE OSAGE MOVED TO THE WEST OF MISSOURI THAT WOULD LATER BECOME OKLAHOMA.

SQUATTERS WERE A PROBLEM FOR THE OSAGE. THEIR TERRITORY BECAME FURTHER REDUCED. IN 1865 ANOTHER TREATY CEDED FROM THEM ABOUT 4 MILLION ACRES! BY 1870 THEIR LANDS IN KANSAS WERE SOLD AND THEY WERE RELOCATED TO INDIAN TERRITORY IN CHEROKEE OUTLET. THEY WERE THE FIRST OF THE FEW INDIANS TO BUY THEIR THEIR OWN RESERVATION OF 1,400,000 ACRES IN OSAGE COUNTY, OKLAHOMA. THEIR LAND WAS POOR FOR AGRICULTURE. THEY PRIMARILY LIVED BY SUBSISTENCE FARMING AND LATER ENHANCED BY SUBSISTENCE RAISING CATTLE. THEY THEN LEASED GRAZING RIGHTS TO CATTLE RANCHERS AND GOT A GOOD DEAL OF PROFIT. BY 1906 THE OSAGE COUNCIL WAS TO BE ELECTED THROUGH INHERITED SHARES OF MINERAL RIGHTS. BY 2004THEY HAD THEIR OWN FORM OF GOVERNMENT. THEY FOUND THEIR LANDS HAD A GOOD DEAL OF OIL THAT ALLOWED THEM TO PROSPER.

WIKIPEDIA.COM