Otoe-Missouria

​

Before the 16th century, the Missouria, Otoe, Ioway, and Winnebago Tribes comprised one large tribe in the northern Great Lakes region. The group eventually migrated south and separated into four distinct tribal entities. The Otoe and Missouria Tribes settled near the confluence of the Missouri and Grand Rivers, where they lived for several hundred years.  The state of Missouri owes its name to the Chiewre people of the Missouria Tribe. The name ‘Missouri’ stems from Oumessourit, a term assigned to the Tribe by early French explorers. The Missouria referred to themselves as Nuitachi (noo-TAH-chi) which, when loosely translated, means “People of the River Mouth” As semi-nomadic hunter gatherers, the Missouria planted beans, corn, and squash in their villages during springtime, traveled to hunt buffalo throughout the summer, and harvested their crops after they returned in the fall. Early Nodaway County records attest to their migratory life-style, as the Missouria “were often seen coming and going as the seasons provided food and diversions.” Much of the Missouria society’s structure was influenced by their deep spirituality. For example, their belief in the “duality and balance of the universe” prompted the division of each Missouria village into Sky and Earth people. The Missouria, like many other Indigenous groups, maintained a rich oral tradition by verbally passing their history and knowledge on to later generations. However, with no written historical accounts by the Missouria, all that remained of their culture, following the devastation wrought by European colonization, were the fragments of their oral history.

 

​