Osage
The Osage are a Native American tribe belonging to the Dhegiha group of the Siouan language family, with their name derived from the tribal term Wa-zha'zhe, meaning "water people." Historically, they inhabited areas of present-day western Missouri and were known for their agricultural practices and reliance on buffalo before being forcibly relocated to Oklahoma in the 1800s. The Osage traditionally organized themselves into two divisions, the Tzisho (Sky People) and Hunkah (Land People), consisting of various clans. Their early interactions with European explorers led to significant trade, but also to internal factionalism and conflicts over land cessions to the U.S. government.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the discovery of oil and gas on Osage territory transformed the tribe into one of the wealthiest Native nations, although this wealth brought challenges, including the infamous Osage Indian Murders during the "Reign of Terror." Today, the Osage Nation is governed by a tribal council and continues to balance modernity with the preservation of cultural traditions, language, and community values. Despite facing various challenges, the tribe has maintained its economic independence and commitment to cultural heritage, ensuring their identity remains vibrant in contemporary society.
Osage
Category: Tribe
Culture area: Plains
Language group: Siouan (Dhegiha)
Primary location: Oklahoma
Population size: 8,514 (2021 American Community Survey)
The Osage are one of five tribes in the Dhegiha group of the Siouan language family. Osage is a French corruption of the tribal name Wa-zha'zhe (Wazhazhe or "water people"). At the time of first White contact, the Osage lived primarily in what is present-day western Missouri. Tribal legend and archaeological evidence suggest, however, that the ancient Osage lived east of the Mississippi River. Forced to relocate by the US federal government in the 1800s, the group remains a federally recognized tribe with tribal land in Oklahoma. In the twenty-first century the Osage population is centered in Oklahoma, with other concentrations in Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri.
Traditional Life
Among early Plains peoples (before the introduction of the horse), the Osage held high rank. Although they depended heavily on the buffalo, the Osage also developed a strong agricultural base. They relied on dogs as beasts of burden before the horse was introduced to the region in the mid-1700s. Their villages were permanent. Their lodges were wood frames covered with woven mats or bark, and they ranged from 36 to 100 feet long. As bison grew scarce in the Mississippi Valley, bands were forced to extend hunting trips farther onto the Plains.
The Osage traditionally comprised two divisions (moieties): the Tzisho, or Sky People, and the Hunkah, or Land People. These moieties were then divided into twenty-one clans, with each person inheriting his or her father’s clan. The chief of the Tzisho division was the peace chief, while the war chief came from the Hunkah. Since the early nineteenth century, there also existed three political groups: the Great Osage, the Little Osage, and the Arkansas Osage. In marriage, spouses were required to be from opposite moieties, and a man who married an oldest daughter also held marriage rights to his wife’s younger sisters, a form of polygamy. Osage traditions told of a supernatural life force, Wakonda, which resided in all things. Shamans provided religious leadership, although there also existed a religious society to which both men and women belonged. Physically, the Osage were considered by many European Americans to be a noticeably tall tribe; they also often adorned themselves with tattoos.
History
The first recorded contact with the Osage was by French explorers Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet (1673). The French subsequently established a lucrative trade and a strong alliance with the Osage. Trade made the Osage a significant force among Plains tribes. The Osage recognized their strategic position in the Plains trade as middlemen and as gatekeepers to the region and were persistent in protecting that advantage. Trade rivalry existed within the tribe, however, and ultimately caused factionalism. In the mid-1790s, trader Auguste Chouteau established a post on the Arkansas River in Oklahoma and persuaded a large faction to locate there permanently, thus creating the Arkansas Band.
In 1808, the Osage ceded the northern half of Arkansas and most of Missouri to the United States, and the Great and Little Osage bands moved to the Neosho River in Kansas. This area became the center of tribal life. As the government removed eastern tribes to Indian Territory, however, clashes between the Osage and similarly removed Cherokee over hunting rights to the region escalated into a long, bloody war. United States agent William Lovely finally convinced the Osage to cede the region to the Cherokee in 1817. Still, hostilities continued, including one of the bloodiest Indian battles in Oklahoma history, the battle of Claremore Mound.
By 1825, the Osage had ceded all their lands to the United States through treaties and were given a reservation (in present-day southern Kansas) in Indian Territory. During this time, Protestant missionaries established among the Osage some of the first missions and schools in the region, though later they were replaced by Roman Catholic missionaries.
After the outbreak of the Civil War, Confederate commissioner Albert Pike was able to secure the allegiance of many Osage to the South, though many sided with the Union as well. This factionalism created tension among tribal members, already suffering from the ravages of White guerrilla raiders in Bleeding Kansas and related conflicts. After the war, the Union used the tribe’s Confederate allegiance to secure large land cessions through Reconstruction treaties.
Ultimately, the Osage were forced to sell all their lands to the government and use the proceeds to purchase a new reservation in the eastern end of the Cherokee Outlet (all of present-day Osage County, Oklahoma). The post-Civil War years were hard on the tribe, bringing a nearly 50 percent decline in the tribe’s population because of poor medical aid and a scarcity of food and clothing. The bison were gone, and the land given the Osage was the poorest in Indian Territory for agriculture. The range-cattle industry of the 1880s, however, offered some economic relief for the tribe, as they leased grazing rights to cattlemen. Some very lucrative oil and gas deposits were then discovered under the barren Osage lands. The royalties received from the leases on these resources catapulted the Osage to relative wealth and provided the financial foundation of the Osage Nation. The oil and mineral boom also attracted outsiders interested in the wealth, and controversial policies and plots ensued in a period that became known as the Reign of Terror, including a series of murders of Osage people with land rights, known as the Osage Indian Murders. Still, because of their shrewd leasing arrangements, the Osage became one of the wealthiest American Indian nations on a per capita basis.
Osage men served the United States in World War I both voluntarily and through the draft, despite not being official citizens of the country. many served in World War II as well. Though the oil and mineral wealth declined somewhat with the Great Depression, the Osage remained better off than many groups. Educational efforts worked to maintain a higher standard of living among the community.
Contemporary Life
Osage interests are governed by an eight-member tribal council, along with the principal chief and assistant chief, with the ever-present supervision of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Osage Agency, located at Pawhuska, Oklahoma, is unlike other agencies in Oklahoma in that all expenses accrued are paid with tribal funds. One of the biggest issues the tribe has had to confront in the twentieth century has been tribal membership: the tribe’s wealth has made citizenship in the nation an enticing relationship. Because of the wealth that oil brought to the tribe, the name Osage was once synonymous with profligate spending. Wealth also brought conflict, and many tribal members have been torn between modernity and traditional ways. Ultimately, the tribe realized the necessity of moderation, and in that light the oil industry has given the tribe economic independence and great advantages in educational and societal matters compared to other American Indian nations. Even with the wealth and modernity which have threatened to eradicate the traditional Osage ways, the tribe has retained interest in its culture, arts, crafts, and language.
Bibliography
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Burns, Louis F. "Osage." Oklahoma Historical Society, 2009. www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OS001. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023.
Din, Gilbert C., and Abraham P. Nasatir. The Imperial Osages: Spanish-Indian Diplomacy in the Mississippi Valley. U of Oklahoma P, 1983.
Matthews, John Joseph. Sundown. U of Oklahoma P, 1934.
Matthews, John Joseph. Wah’Kon-Tah: The Osage and the White Man’s Road. 1932. Reprint. U of Oklahoma P, 1981.
May, Jon D. "Osage Murders." Oklahoma Historical Society, 2009. www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OS005. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023.
Mussulman, Joseph. and Kristopher K. Toensend. "The Osages." Discovering Lewis & Clark, 2021, lewis-clark.org/native-nations/siouan-peoples/osages/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023.
"The Osage." Fort Scott National Historic Site, Kansas, 25 May 2022. www.nps.gov/fosc/learn/historyculture/osage.htm. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023.
Osage Nation, www.osagenation-nsn.gov/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023.
Rollings, Willard H. The Osage: An Ethnohistorical Study of the Hegemony on the Prairie-Plains. U of Missouri P, 1992.
Wilson, Terry P. The Osage. Chelsea House, 1988.
Wilson, Terry P. The Underground Reservation: Osage Oil. U of Nebraska P, 1985.