Quapaw
The Quapaw, also known as the Downstream People, are a Native American tribe originally from the Ohio Valley who migrated to the region near the Arkansas River in the mid-1600s. Their name, derived from their movement downstream, reflects their journey and connection to the land. With a population of approximately 5,500 as of 2020, the Quapaw are federally recognized and headquartered in Quapaw, Oklahoma. Historically, they lived in permanent villages and engaged in agriculture, cultivating important crops like corn, beans, and squash, alongside hunting buffalo.
The Quapaw have a rich cultural heritage, although their oral traditions regarding origins are less elaborate compared to other Indigenous nations. Their belief system centers around Wah-kon-tah, a central force in their spirituality, and they hold views on life after death. Contact with European explorers began in the 16th century, but the tribe faced significant challenges, including disease and land cessions, which drastically reduced their population in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Despite historical adversities, the Quapaw have rebuilt their community and economy, particularly after discovering valuable resources like nickel and zinc on their reservation in the 1920s. Today, they operate several casinos and offer public services to their members, reflecting a commitment to cultural preservation and community development.
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Quapaw
- CATEGORY: Tribe
- CULTURE AREA: Southeast
- LANGUAGE GROUP: Siouan
- PRIMARY LOCATION: Oklahoma
- POPULATION SIZE: 5,500 (Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals, Northern Arizona University)
Unlike many other Indigenous American nations, the Quapaw (or Arkansas) have not preserved elaborate traditions explaining their origins, although they do retain some oral traditions about their origins and migration. They say only that their Ancient Ones came forth from the water. Because of this, the history of the nation is challenging to uncover. The Quapaw, or “Downstream People,” migrated from the Ohio Valley to the Arkansas River near where it joins the Mississippi River in the mid-1600s. Since the Quapaw went downstream, their kindred nations called them Ugaxpa (also O-Gah-Pah), or “drifted downstream.” Their principal villages were on the west bank of the Mississippi River in what is now Arkansas. The forests and rivers supplied plenty of berries, game, and other food. They had large, well-tilled fields and cultivated gourds, pumpkins, sunflowers, beans, squash, and corn. Corn was considered the most important agricultural product. They hunted buffalo, which was a substantial part of their diet, and preserved what was not needed immediately for winter.
The focus of Quapaw life was the permanent village, which was actually a cluster of multiple-family dwellings. Their faith played a role in every aspect of tribal life; the central force of the universe was Wah-kon-tah, who was all and in all. They believed in life after death and a judgment that would lead to a life of joy or perpetual torment. They often traded with the Caddo on the Red River and established a trade route between the two settlements. The manufactured goods of White society, which the people wanted, established trade with eastern Indigenous nations who had contact with the Europeans. According to Indigenous history, the first European to encounter the Quapaw was the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1541; further contact did not happen until 1673 with the arrival of French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet. The trading done with Whites was ultimately detrimental to the Downstream People; by 1699 smallpox had killed so many that only three hundred warriors remained.
Only a thousand Quapaw were left in 1818 when they ceded 30 million acres to the United States for $4,000 and annuities. A remaining million acres were ceded in 1824. Around 1825, the Quapaw moved to the Caddo Reservation in Louisiana, where they were plagued by disease and floods. Most of the nation left and returned to Arkansas. A treaty in 1833 gave them land in northwest Oklahoma (then Indian Territory). They scattered during the Civil War, but in the late 1800s, survivors gathered on the reservation in Indian Territory to reestablish Indigenous life. The Downstream People remained a socioeconomically disadvantaged nation until nickel and zinc were discovered on the reservation in the 1920s when they prospered. The population dropped to 236 in 1895 but had risen to 929 in 1980 and 1,538 in 1990. Of those listed in the census as Quapaw, probably no more than 20 percent are more than one-fourth Quapaw, yet the nation maintains its unique identity. Quapaw enrollment was 5,500 in 2020, according to the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals at Northern Arizona University. Federally recognized as Quapaw Nation, it is headquartered in Quapaw, Oklahoma, where it operates two casinos. The Indigenous nation also operates a casino in Arkansas, amongst additional economic development projects. The Quapaw nation also offers public services to its membership, which has increased in the twenty-first century.
Bibliography
Arnold, Morris S. The Rumble of a Distant Drum: The Quapaws and Old World Newcomers, 1673–1804. U of Arkansas P, 2015.
Baird, W. David. The Quapaw Indians: A History of the Downstream People. U of Oklahoma P, 1980.
Key, Joseph. "Quapaw." Encyclopedia of Arkansas, 18 Jan. 2024, encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/quapaw-550. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.
Key, Joseph. "Quapaw Tribe." 64 Parishes, 10 Mar. 2022, 64parishes.org/entry/quapaw-tribe. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.
Marks-Marino, Dara. "Tribes: Prairies Region - Quapaw Nation." Northern Arizona University Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals, 2020, www7.nau.edu/itep/main/tcc/Tribes/plns‗Quapaw. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.
McCollum, Timoth. "Quapaw (Tribe) - The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture." Oklahoma Historical Society, www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=QU003. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.
"Overview of Quapaw History." Quapaw Nation, www.quapawtribe.com/736/Overview-of-Quapaw-History. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.
"Quapaw Nation." Downstream Casino Resort, downstreamcasino.com/quapaw-tribe. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.
"Quapaw Nation Tribal Name Origin and History." Quapaw Nation, www.quapawtribe.com/401/Tribal-Name. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.
Wilson, Carrie, and George Sabo III. "The Quapaw Indians." Arkansas Archaeological Survey, 15 Dec. 2008, archeology.uark.edu/indiansofarkansas/index.html?pageName=The%20Quapaw%20Indians. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.