Note post, note 84 — Chapter VI

[84] The Quapaw belong to the Siouan family; the Omaha, Ponca, Osage, and Kansa being their nearest kindred. In prehistoric time, the Siouan stock dwelt east of the Mississippi. The five tribes mentioned constituted one nation, which dwelt near the Ohio River; the Illinois called them Arkansa. When, in the course of their migration westward, the Siouan tribes separated, at the mouth of the Ohio, those who turned down the Mississippi became known as the Quapaw, meaning “the down-stream people.” The rest, who went up the river, received the name Omaha, “those going against the current.” See Dorsey, “Migrations of Siouan Tribes,” in The American Naturalist, xx, p. 211.

Notwithstanding Nuttall’s account, the Quapaw are doubtless the same Indians whom De Soto encountered in this region. It is surprising that our author does not think of identifying them with the “Capaha” of La Vega. He may have been misled by the name “Pacaha,” which he takes (see Appendix) from the “Gentleman of Elvas” and Biedma (see post, note 87). The seat of the Quapaw in De Soto’s time is variously placed, by modern students, on the Red, White, St. Francis, and Mississippi rivers; but it is agreed that, roughly speaking, their territory was the lower Arkansas valley. In the early days of French exploration, they were still partly east of the Mississippi.

The Quapaw lands were purchased by treaties in 1818 and 1824 (see post note 102), and the tribe was removed during the winter of 1825–26 to a reservation in the extreme northeast corner of Indian Territory. At that time it numbered 158 men, 123 women, and 174 children; the present population is about 275, and the tribe is practically civilized.—Ed.