Otoe
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FOUR
DIRECTIONS INSTITUTE
Otoe |
| Ethnie: | OTOE (OTO) |
| Dialect: | Iowa-Oto |
| Language: | Chiwere |
| Family | Central Mississippi Valley Siouan |
| Stock: | Siouan Proper |
| Phylum: | Siouan |
| Macro-Culture: | Great Plains |
|
| The Otoe were a sedentary hunter/farmer nation but became nomadic buffalo hunters in the summer. They were closely associated and related to the Iowa tribe and located in central Iowa on the Des Moines River upon White arrival, but soon moved to the lower Platte and neighboring Missouri Rivers. |
| Tradition states that they were once one nation which included the Iowa, Missouria, and Winnebago . They first split from the Winnebago, and later from the Iowa. A later fission from the Missouri resulted from a quarrel between two chiefs over the seduction of one's daughter by the son of the other. Linguistic evidence concurs with the order and timing of these events. |
| White pressure and inter-tribal wars forced numerous relocations and large population losses in the 19th century. They were finally rejoined by remnants of their closest relatives, the Missouria. |
| Aboriginal Locations (Subdivisions) |
| IA |
|
| Year | History |
| 1655 | Met by Radisson with a party of French traders on the Mississippi, north of the mouth of the Wisconsin |
| 1683 | Included on Marquette's map as being on the Des Moines River |
| 1680 | Two Otoe chiefs visited La Salle in Illinois, told him of fighting Spaniards far to the west |
| 1700 | On Blue Earth River per Le Sueur |
| 1804 | Had town on the Platte near its mouth when visited by Lewis and Clark |
| 1830 | Ceded Missouri and Iowa land by treaty, joined by Missouria tribe |
| 1836 | Ceded remaining Missouri and Iowa lands |
| 1854 | Ceded all remaining land except for that on the Big Blue River by treaty, them exchanged for land taken by from the Kaw |
| 1876 | Sold west end of reserve |
| 1881 | Sold remainder of land for Oklahoma reserve |
| Year | Total Population | IA | NE | OK | Source | |
| Arrival | 2,000 | 2,000 | ||||
| 1700 | 1,000 | 1,000 | NAHDB calculation | |||
| 1780 | 900 | Mooney estimate | ||||
| 1800 | 900 | 900 | NAHDB calculation | |||
| 1804 | 500 | Lewis and Clark | ||||
| 1843 | 931 | US Indian Office | ||||
| 1849 | 900 | Burrows estimate | ||||
| 1862 | 708 | US Indian Office | ||||
| 1867 | 511 | US Indian Office | ||||
| 1877 | 457 | US Indian Office | ||||
| 1886 | 334 | US Indian Office | ||||
| 1900 | 350 | 350 | NAHDB calculation | |||
| 1906 | 390 | US Indian Office | ||||
| 1910 | 332 | Census | ||||
| 1930 | 627 | Census | ||||
| 1937 | 756 | US Indian Office | ||||
| 1981 | 1,156 | BIA | ||||
| 1989 | 1,306 | BIA estimate | ||||
| 2000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | NAHDB calculation |
| Other speakers of the same language: |
| Iowa, Missouria |
Last updated 04/04/05 Copyright © 2005 by Four Directions Press