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The Missouri Indians were a small tribe that lived around the Great Lakes before merging with the Otoe Indians and being resettled by the US government to Oklahoma. They originally spoke Chiwere, part of the Sioux language family, and were plagued by wars and disease. The tribe split into the Otoe and Missouri tribes in the 1600s, with the Missouri eventually reuniting with the Otoe to become the Otoe-Missouria tribe. They were forcibly settled on a reservation in northern Kansas in the mid-1800s before eventually reuniting and relocating to federal land in Oklahoma, where they currently have a population of approximately 1,300 and own several casinos.
Missouri Indians, also known as Missouria Indians, are among the ancestors of the Otoe-Missouria Native American tribe based on a federal reservation in Oklahoma near the town of Red Rock. Never a very large people, the Missouri Indians trace their history to a tribe that lived around the Great Lakes before Europeans came to North America. Between the 1700s and late 1800s, Missouri was ravaged by wars with other Indian tribes and disease, eventually merging with the Otoe Indians and accepting forced resettlement by the US government from northern Missouri to Kansas and finally Oklahoma .
Native American tribes are typically divided into language groups. Missouri Indians originally spoke Chiwere, part of the Sioux language family. Chiwere is no longer used as a language in everyday Missourian life and is spoken by only a few older members.
The Missouri tribe left the Great Lakes region for an area in what is now the northwestern part of the state of Missouri, giving that region its name. Settled primarily where the Grand and Missouri rivers meet, the tribe split into the Otoe and Missouri tribes in the 1600s. According to tribal legend, a romantic relationship between a son and daughter of two chieftains of the tribe led to the split. The Otoe, with whom Missouri would eventually reunite, settled in the extreme northwest corner of what is now Missouri.
Wars with other tribes plagued Missouri in the 1700s, particularly attacks by the Fox tribe. In the mid-1700s, repeated attacks decimated the remaining Missouri Indians forcing reunification with the Otoe into what became known as the Otoe-Missouria tribe. Missouri also lost other tribe members to smallpox. In 1800, some estimates place the total number of Missouri Indians in the Otoe-Missouria tribe at less than 100.
In the mid-1800s, the united tribe was forcibly settled on a reservation in northern Kansas. For about 10 years in the late 1800s, the tribe divided into those who wished to integrate into the larger US population and those who wished to maintain tribal traditions. The groups settled on different reservations until 1890 when they reunited. After relocating to federal land in Oklahoma, the tribe has a total population of approximately 1,300, including those living on and off the reservation, and owns several casinos on its property.
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