Osage Tribe Research Paper

Oklahoma is home to many Native American tribes that once flourished throughout the country and still have an important presence and history in our state. Of the many tribes and languages spoken by Native American’s in Oklahoma, the topic of this paper will be upon the Osage nation and its language, more formally known as Wazhazhe. To begin, a brief history of the Osage people must first be introduced in order to allow for better insight into the circumstances and events that have led to the current status of the Osage nation. Originally located in the areas of the Ohio-River valley including Missouri and areas near the Missouri and Osage rivers, the Osage Indians hunted small game including elk, deer and bison. The men of the Osage were in

Most scholars note that at their peak, the nation controlled areas of present day Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Kentucky. As early as 1808, the United States began revoking land from the Osage and they were slowly relocated to Kansas for a short period of time. Shortly thereafter, the Drum Creek Treaty was passed on July 15, 1870 and approved by the Osage on September 10, 1870. The treaty entailed that the remainder of Osage land in Kansas would be sold and the revenue would be utilized to relocate the tribe to Indian Territory in the Cherokee Outlet. “A reservation was formed for the Osage Indians in Southern Kansas in 1825” (“Osage Indians”, 2005) and as with many other tribes they were relocated to Oklahoma where today many Osage Indians still live

Other languages that fall into this family include Crow, Mandan, and Dakotan which are all spoken by Native American’s within North America. The Crow language is spoken by the Crow Nation and is located primarily in present day Montana while Mandan is an endangered language spoken by only one member who is currently living in Northern Dakota. Finally Dakotan or Sioux as it is more widely known as is spoken by about 30,000 Sioux Native Americans and is found mainly in the areas of present day Nebraska, North Dakota, Montana, and southern Canada in the Saskatchewan