The Native American Tribes of Arkansas

by Catherine Jones

Hernando de Soto• First encounter with Europeans in 1541, by

Hernando de Soto.• Found Indians growing groves of nut and fruit

trees and extensive fields of corn. • Systems of roads and trails connected the

towns and cities to one another

Rivers and Streams were an essential source of travel and use for transportation

of traded items

French Trading

Arkansas Post was the first and most significant European Establishment

in Arkansas Henri de Tonti received

land from a trading concession at the

juncture of the Arkansas and the Mississippi Rivers Arkansas Post was established to exchange

beaver furs with the French

Three Main Tribes of Early Arkansas

1.Quapaw

2.Osage

3.Caddo

Quapaw – people who live downstream

Quapaw natives were highly sophisticated agrarian cultures that lived along the rivers in the eastern part of the state, they are called the Mississippian Tribes too.

Quapaw communities were larger than other native tribes of Arkansas

Our state is named after the Quapaw Natives

Quapaw Distinctions Native Americans had

tattoos depending on their tribe and distinction, the tattoos had religious distinctions

Native Americans believed in animism which meant that spirits and deities cans from plants, animals, and the earth. Thunder was s significant God.

Quapaw Children Quapaw Children were

carried around on a cradleboard so the mothers could tend to their work, sometimes the cradleboard caused the head of the babies to become flat and elongated.

Children did many chores but got to play with dolls and play games – cricket is a worldwide sport that was originally Native American

Quapaw Pottery

Quapaw Homes Homes of the Quapaw

were sophisticated, they took time to build and were made of wood, vine, river cane, and had a thatched roof of grass or tree bark.

Communities were fortified with fencing to keep neighboring rivals out of the Quapaw villages

Quapaw Distinguishing Characteristics

The Quapaw were masters at pottery making, they used clay and shell to make there arts and vessels used for utilitarian reasons and for funeral rites

The Quapaw used dogs to travel by using a sled or travois or sled when traveling with heavy loads

They ate corn, beans, squash, and small game, bear and buffalo.

Storytelling was the primary source of passing along historical lineage, they unfortunately had no written language and much history is unknown because of this.

Caddo Natives of ArkansasThe Caddo Indians lived in the Ouachita

Mountains Area and also inhabited parts of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas

Dwelling areas were not has populous as the Quapaw, they had sustenance farms and not farming on a large scale

Caddo were excellent weavers and potters

The rivalries among the Caddo’s were probably not as fierce as with the Quapaw during the 1500’s

Caddo Homes Caddo homes could

house more than one family, sometimes they could house as many as 30 people.

The homes were tall dome shape dwellings and made of grasses and bark. They looked like woven bee hives

Depictions of the Caddo Indian

Caddo CustomsDiet of the Caddo

The Caddo diet consisted of squash, corn, beans, and pumpkins.

For meat they would eat fish, small game such as deer, fish

The Caddo also made salt from salt water brines and traded it for other goods

Traditions of the Caddo

The Caddo to stories handed down from generation to generation.

They used drums for dancing and for religious rituals

Men wore their hair long in a style called a scalplock. Women wore their hair in a bun.

TransportationThe Caddo

preferred to travel on land but also

used dug out canoes made from large Cyprus trees

for traveling on rivers,

Osage Indians• The Osage tribes were more

nomadic in nature and would establish camps for shorter periods of time.

• The Osage di have gardens, eat corn squash, beans and pumpkins but they were more likely to follow herding patterns of animals.

• The Osage moved further east as the Quapaw began to decline and die out.

Characteristics of the Osage

• The Osage preferred to travel on land and used a travois which is a sled with dogs to help carry the heavy loads

• The Osage used bows and arrows

• Osage homes were called a lodge, and were made of elm bark

• The Osage were masters of a native flute like instrument

What happened to the Native Americans of Arkansas?

Much speculation has been named as to why the Native Americans disappeared. Only factor I that Europeans brought with them devastating diseases such a influenza, smallpox, measles, mumps and other diseases. Native American had no immunity to the newly introduced disease. Up to 80% of Native Americans died upon contact with the European settlers.

After the purchase of the Louisiana Territory the desire for land made men greedy for what once belonged to the Native inhabitants. Treaties pushed American Indians off of their land.

Enslavement was also not uncommon, new settlers would kidnap Native Americans and force them to become slaves.

CreditsSpecial thanks to the Arkansas Heritage

Commission for pictures and information.

Arkansasheritage,com