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FIRST NATIONS
When Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Tribes with Major Historic Presence in Iowa Villages associated with the
Joliette first ventured down the Mississippi Ioway have been identified across
River into what is now called Iowa, they found Siouan-Speaking Groups Algonquian-Speaking Groups Iowa and in adjacent states. The
the land occupied by people of many nations. earliest known villages are found
These groups spoke a variety of languages and Báxoje (Ioway)* Meskwaki (Fox)* to the north where their sphere
had their own distinct social and political struc- of influence encompassed the
tures. Some tribes who historically occupied Otoe Sauk (Sac)* famous Pipestone Quarries in
Iowa were relatively recent arrivals to the area, southwestern Minnesota. They
like the Sauk and Meskwaki who migrated Missouria Potawatomi hunted throughout the territory
from points east, while others, the Báxoje or between the Missouri and the
Ioway, had roots here that were centuries old. Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Illiniwek*
Dakota Sioux
Omaha
*Groups with a definite presence in Southeast Iowa
Mississippi Rivers, moving onto
At least 14 tribes have affiliations with Iowa. Of the prairies on seasonal bison hunting forays.
these ten had a major historic presence (Fos- The Ioway were sedentary horticulturalists, using
ter 2009). The groups with a definite presence fertile soils along river valleys for growing corn,
in southeast Iowa include the Ioway (Báxoje), beans, and squash. Surplus food was traded
Meskwaki, Sauk and Illiniwek. with other native groups for nonlocal goods and
Báxoje – The Ioway foodstuffs. Hunting, trapping, and fishing were
also extremely important, both for subsistence
The nation that we call the Iowa or Ioway refer and trade. Bison, elk, and deer were the primary
to themselves as Báxoje, usually translated as subsistence animals.
“Gray Heads” or “Gray Snow.” They are Chi- By 1685 the Ioway had become involved in the
European fur trade (Alex 2000:218–219). As
were Siouan speakers and are closely related
the fur trade gained importance to the Ioway
to the Otoe, Missouria, and Ho-Chunk (Win-
nebago). Linguistic and ethnographic evidence, economy, bear, beaver, otter, and muskrat were
supported by tribal traditions, suggests that hunted or trapped with increasing frequency
(Blaine 1995; Peterson and Artz 2006:27). This
these groups were once one people
(Foster 2009:6–7). The Ioway are likely new focus on the lucrative trade in aquatic mam-
the descendants of the late prehistoric mals made the lake-country near the headwaters
of the Cedar, Blue Earth, and Des Moines Rivers
Oneota (Mott 1938; Henning 1970).
especially valuable territory. As Europeans and
their native trading partners also sought out
Portrait of Ioway leaders based on paintings by Charles productive hunting grounds the Ioway were
Bird King, left to right: Rantchewaime, wife of White drawn into conflicts over trade and territory.
Cloud, White Cloud, Notchimine (No-Heart). University Between 1720 and 1840 they were involved
of Iowa Museum of Natural History exhibit.
The University of Iowa Off ice of the State Archaeologist 19
