 White Cloud, Chief of the Iowa, byGeorge Catlin (1845), National Gallery of Art | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| estimated 2,567[1][2] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 United States ( Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma) | |
| Languages | |
| English, formerlyChiwere | |
| Religion | |
| traditional tribal religion,Native American Church,Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Otoe,Missouria,Ho-Chunk, and otherSiouan peoples |
| People | Báxoje |
|---|---|
| Language | Báxoje ich'é, Hand Talk |
| Country | Báxoje Máyaⁿ |
TheIowa, also known asIoway, and theBah-Kho-Je orBáxoje (English: grey snow;Chiwere: Báxoje ich'é),[3] are aNative AmericanSiouan people. Today, they are enrolled in either of twofederally recognized tribes, theIowa Tribe of Oklahoma and theIowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska.
The Iowa,Missouria, andOtoe tribes were all once part of theHo-Chunk people,[4] and they are allChiwere language-speaking peoples. They left their ancestral homelands in SouthernWisconsin for EasternIowa, a state that bears their name. In 1837, the Iowa were moved from Iowa toreservations inBrown County,Kansas, andRichardson County,Nebraska. Bands of Iowa moved toIndian Territory in the late 19th century and settled south ofPerkins, Oklahoma, to become the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma.
The Ioway tribe is also known as the Báxoje tribe.[3] Their name has been said to come from the Siouxayuhwa ("sleepy ones."). Early European explorers often adopted the names of tribes from theethnonyms which other tribes gave them, not understanding that these differed from what the peoples called themselves. Thus,ayuhwa is not an Ioway word. The word Ioway comes from Dakotanayuxbe via Frenchaiouez.[5] Theirautonym (their name for themselves) isBah-Kho-Je, pronounced[b̥aꜜxodʒɛ] (alternate spellings:pahotcha,pahucha,báxoje[6]), which translates to "grey snow".[3]Báxoje has been incorrectly translated as "dusted faces" or "dusty nose".[6]
The state ofIowa, where they once lived, was named after this tribe. Their name has been applied to other locations, such asIowa County,Iowa City and theIowa River.
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(April 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Their estimated 1760 population of 1,100 dropped to 800 and by 1804, a decrease caused mainly bysmallpox, to which they had no naturalimmunity. Their numbers were reduced to 500 by 1900. In 1960, 100 Iowa lived in Kansas and 100 in Oklahoma.
By 1980 their population had recovered to 1,000 (of which only 20 spoke Iowa). In 1990 there were 1,700 people. According to theBureau of Indian Affairs, in 1995 there were 533 individuals living in the Iowa reservations of Kansas and 44 in Nebraska (Horton Agency), while 857 people lived in the Oklahoma Iowa Tribe (Shawnee Agency), amounting to a total of 2,934 people. According to the 2000 census, 1,451 people identified as full-blood Iowa, 76 were of mixed-Indian descent, 688 of mixed-race descent, and 43 of mixed-race and tribe descent, amounting to 2,258 people.
| This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(April 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The Iowa have had customs similar to those of the otherSiouan-speaking tribes of theGreat Plains, such as the Omaha, Ponca andOsage. They were a semi-nomadic people who had adopted horses for hunting, but they also had an agricultural lifestyle similar to the tribes inhabiting theEastern woodlands. They plantedmaize and manufacturedalum pipes, which they traded along with furs with theFrench colonizers.
Historically, their houses included bark lodges (chakiruthan),tipis, and at times,earth lodges—oven-shaped buildings covered with earth for protection from extremes of temperature and oriented to a cardinal direction. A smoke hole enabled ventilation from a central hearth. During the hunting season or in warfare, they used the portable tipi. Like the Osage or Kansa, Iowa men traditionally shaved their heads and decorated them with deer hide. LikeGreat Plains tribes, they valued three feats during a battle.
| This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(April 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In prehistoric times, the Iowa emigrated from theGreat Lakes region to present-day Iowa. In the 16th century, they moved from theMississippi River to the Great Plains, and possibly then separated from the Ho-Chunk tribe.
From the 15th to 18th centuries, they lived in theRed Pipestone Quarry region (Minnesota). In the early 19th century, the Iowa had reached the banks of thePlatte River, where in 1804Lewis and Clark visited their settlements. There they engaged in trading with the French and local tribes, thanks to their advantageous situation regarding the alum deposits.
Between 1820 and 1840, the Iowa ceded their Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri lands to theU.S. government. By 1837 most were relocated to a reservation along the Kansas-Nebraska border, led by their chiefChief Mahaska (Mew-hew-she-kaw, "White Cloud"; archaicIowayMaxúshga pronounced[mõxuʃꜜkɐ]; contemporaryMaxúhga). They surrendered the Little Platte territory in Missouri in 1836. Other Missouri lands had been ceded in 1824.
In 1837 they settled in a strip of land in Kansas, south of the Big Nemaha River, along with theSauk and theMeskwaki, tribes with which they had long had friendly relations (though speaking unrelatedAlgonquian languages). Some 45 Iowa fought in theAmerican Civil War in theUnion Army, among them Chief James White Cloud, grandson ofMahaska.
In 1883 a number of Iowa moved to Indian Territory preferring to live in the older community village way of life. The new reservation was located inLincoln,Payne andLogan counties in theIndian Territory. However, despite their efforts to block allotment, their lands were divided anyway. Today theIowa Reservation in Nebraska and Kansas is approximately 2,100 acres (8.5 km2) in size, and has more than 150 residents.
In 2007, a documentary filmLost Nation: The Ioway (2007; written and directed by Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle) was made, and followed by sequels 2 and 3.[7]
The Ioway Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska operates the Casino White Cloud atWhite Cloud, Kansas, on theIoway Reservation.[8]
Jacob Keyes is the current tribal chairperson of the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma.[9] The tribes operates the Cimarron Casino in Perkins, Oklahoma,[10] and the Ioway Casino in Chandler, Oklahoma.
| Historic and present tribes | |
|---|---|
| Present languages | |
| Present reservations | |
| Present tribal colleges and universities | |
| Historic figures | |
| Historic events | |
| Historic reservations | |
| Historic communities | |
| Historic sacred places | |
| Other historic places | |
| Precontact peoples | |
| Precontact communities |
|
| Other precontact places |
|
| Other topics | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
