#missouria

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Otoe-Missouria Delegation, attributed to John K. Hillers, 1881

[rabbitcruiser]

Lewis and Clark met the Otoe and Missouria tribe on August 3, 1804.

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Erica Moore

Gender: Female

DOB: 11 January 1993

Nationality: American

Ethnicity: Osage-Otoe-Missouria-Pawnee-Sauk-Meskwaki-Potawatomi

Gif Hunt tag

Erica Moore, also known as Erica Pretty Eagle or Erica Pretty Eagle Moore, is an American model who was crowned Standing Bear Princess at the 60th Annual Tulsa Powwow.

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[rabbitcruiser]

Lewis and Clark met the Otoe and Missouria tribe on August 3, 1804.

[soliloquyinthedark]

War Shirt made by the Missouria people of the United States (circa 1830/1840)

[winkawpo]

Man’s Coat, c. 1895. Otoe-Missouria artist, Oklahoma. Wool cloth, glass beads, silk ribbon, metal sequins, brass buttons. Collection of Williams Lewis Knight. Photo: Joshua Ferdinand.

Prairie style adapted in the service of late-19th-century religious movement known as Faw Faw, advocating a return to tradition and native Ways.

[muspeccoll]

Earlier this month, the MU Libraries welcomed Dr. Aaron Gawhega, the spiritual elder of the Otoe-Missouria tribe, and his son Michael Gawhega, the tribe's Executive Director, to Ellis Library.  The event drew a large crowd to a standing-room-only presentation by Dr. Gawhega on his life, language, and heritage. Dr. Gawhega’s visit was co-sponsored by the Mizzou student group Four Directions: Indigenous Peoples and Allies.

Special Collections and Rare Books teamed up with the library’s Government Documents department to provide a tabletop display of Native American portraits and first-hand accounts in conjunction with the presentation.  Since the Libraries have been a federal depository for over 150 years, the Government Document collections have a wealth of primary sources recording firsthand accounts from Native Americans in the nineteenth century. The centerpiece of the table, literally, was this volume from Special Collections’ three-volume set of Thomas Loraine McKenney’s History of the Indian tribes of North America. The photo below gives an idea of its size.

McKenney was Superintendent of Indian Trade from 1816-1822 and the first Superintendent of Indian Affairs from 1824-1830.  He commissioned artist Charles Bird King to paint portraits of Native Americans visiting Washington between 1822 and 1837, resulting in a gallery of 147 portraits in all.  In 1829, McKenney contracted with historian James Hall, publisher Samuel F. Bradford, and lithographer Henry Inman to publish reproductions of the images as part of the ambitious publishing project that resulted in this three-volume book.  The work as a whole included historical essays by Hall and over 100 color lithographed portraits of individuals, each accompanied by a short biographical note. 

The people shown here are native Missourians named Choncape (like Dr. Gawhega, a member of the Otoe tribe) and Mohongo (a member of the Osage tribe). Mohongo is also known as Sacred Sun; see her page in Famous Missourians from the State Historical Society of Missouri for a much more complete story of her life.  Of Choncape, Hall confesses he knows little, but then remarks:

That Choncape had won trophies in war is no more to be doubted than that he had been in contact with the grizzly bear, whose claws he wore as an ornament around his neck, in token of his victory over that animal. But, while he was at Washington, he was peaceful in his looks, and orderly in his conduct. 

Hall also makes reference to various treaties of peace and friendship with the Otoe, but by the 1850s, the tribe was confined to a reservation in Nebraska.  In the 1880s, they were moved to Oklahoma.  Read more about their history on the Otoe-Missouria Tribe’s website.

- Kelli