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| Total population | |
|---|---|
| No longer a distinct tribe, merged into theTunica-Biloxi[1][2] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| United States (formerlyOhio,Louisiana) | |
| Languages | |
| Ofo,English,French | |
| Religion | |
| Native tribal religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Biloxi,Tunica[1] |
TheMosopelea orOfo (alsoOfogoula) were aSiouan-speakingNative American people who historically lived near the upperOhio River. In reaction toIroquois Confederacy invasions to take control of hunting grounds in the late 17th century, they moved south to the lowerMississippi River. They finally settled in central Louisiana, where they assimilated with theTunica and the Siouan-speakingBiloxi. They spoke theOfo language, generally classified as aSiouan language.[1]
According to the 1684 French map ofJean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin, the Mosopelea had eight villages just north of the Ohio River, between theMuskingum andScioto rivers, within the present-day state of Ohio, corresponding with the heart ofOhio Hopewell country.[3] (TheMiami-Illinois nameMosopeleacipi ("river of the Mosopelea") referred to what is now called the Ohio River. Shortened in theShawnee language, the name evolved to "Pelisipi" or "Pellissippi" and was also later applied to what is now called theClinch River inVirginia andTennessee.)[4]
Franquelin noted the villages on the map as "destroyed".La Salle recorded that the Mosopelea were among the tribes conquered by theSeneca and other nations of theIroquois Confederacy in the early 1670s, during the laterBeaver Wars.[5] In 1673,Marquette,Joliet, and other early French explorers found that the Mosopelea likely abandoned Ohio and moved south along theMississippi River.[1] They briefly lived with theQuapaw before joining theTunica, who were allied with the French colonists.[1]
In 1699, the Ofo/Mosopelea were referred by French Jesuits as theHouspé, and were encountered living among the Tunica.[6][7]
Around 1700, French travelers reported Ofo villages in Mississippi on theYazoo River. Refusing to join the Natchez in their war against the French in the 1710s and 1720s, the Ofo moved further south. They and other remnant peoples became assimilated into the Biloxi and Tunica. Their language became extinct.
TheU.S. Department of the Interior determined that: "The contemporaryTunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe is the successor of the historicalTunica, Ofo, andAvoyel tribes, and part of theBiloxi tribe. These have a documented existence back to 1698. The component tribes were allied in the 18th century and became amalgamated into one in the 19th century through common interests and outside pressures from non-Indian cultures."[2]
The Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe has a reservation inAvoyelles Parish, Louisiana.
