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The Quapaw Tribe of Indians, historically from Arkansas, now reside in Oklahoma. Their language belongs to the Siouan language family. The Quapaw tribe signed a treaty in 1818 ceding much of their territory to the United States government and were subjected to epidemics, warfare, and forced displacement.
The Quapaw Tribe of Indians – “Ugahxpa” in the Quapaw language – are a group of Native Americans historically located in present-day Arkansas west of the Mississippi River at its confluence with the Arkansas River. Their language belongs to the Siouan language family, branch of Dheiga. The Quapaw language is no longer spoken, but was documented twice in the 20th century. The Quapaw Tribe inhabit the Quapaw Tribal Jurisdictional Area in Ottawa County, Oklahoma. This area includes the Tar Creek Superfund site, parts of which have been designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as one of the most toxic areas in the country, largely because years of pollution from mining companies have left elevated levels of lead in groundwater.
The Quapaw tribe is believed to have moved from the Ohio River Valley into its traditional region at the confluence of the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers. The state of Arkansas gets its name from the Quapaw, who were known to other Native American groups as “Akansa” or “Akansea,” names meaning “land of the downstream people.” Their migration is thought to have been the result of wars with the Iroquois who invaded from the north sometime after the year 1200 and settled at the confluence of the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers in the mid-1600s. Prior to this settlement in the their own historical region, the Quapaw had encountered a Spanish expedition led by Hernando de Soto. The meeting was initially hostile, the two sides managed to reach a peace agreement.
During French colonial rule in the region, French explorers and settlers had a friendly relationship with the Quapaw, and many French men married Quapaw women and fathered offspring. During French explorer Louis Jolliet’s expedition up the Mississippi River, Jesuit Father Jacques Marquette recorded a hospitable welcome from the Quapaw. After the region was transferred to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase, the Quapaw tribe signed a treaty in 1818 ceding much of their territory to the United States government.
Following the treaty, the Quapaw tribe was subjected to epidemics, warfare, and forced displacement, during which their population declined exponentially throughout the 19th century. After several more treaties, in which they ceded more land, the Quapaw tribe was relocated to its present location in northeastern Oklahoma. In 1910, the Quapaw were just a remnant of a tribe with 1910 members, including those of mixed blood. In the early 20th century, the remaining Quapaw engaged in farming on the land of the Quapaw Reservation.
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