Up to 1499
Pre-15th century |
When an Indian group became too large, it separated to better serve its population. The Dhegiha people are Siouan (not Sioux; the Dhegiha people belong to a larger group to which the Sioux also belong). The word Dhegiha refers to the broader language they shared. Perhaps after the 1400’s — or maybe earlier — they began to divide into smaller groups. They formed the Kanza, Osage, Omaha, Ponca, and Quapaw. The Dhegiha lived along the Wabash and Ohio Rivers, before proceeding west to the Missouri River. This group is believed to be involved with Cahokia. This is also the time that the Omaha and the Quapaw broke away and became independent groups. The Kanza, Osage and the Ponca continued on the Missouri River through the region which is now the State of Missouri. The Ponca separated and headed for the Black Hills leaving the Kanza and the Osage to move further west together.
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Late 15th century |
The Kanza and the Osage were together until they reached the junction between the Kansas and Missouri Rivers. The Osage headed south into the lands of Missouri and Kansas, while the Kanza stayed north and established themselves in the northern areas of Kansas, Missouri and the southern corner of Nebraska. |
1500 to 1599
1541 |
(April) Francisco Vasquez de Coronado set out from Tiquex, Mexico to find the rich lands of Quivira thought to be the Seven Cities of Gold.
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1541 |
(June) Coronado crossed the Arkansas River near Dodge City looking for the reported market place where great wealth might be found. He reported meeting the (Akansa) who some believe to be the first reported contact with the Kanza People in Kansas. The cultural activities in his notebook seem to depict the Kanza as being on a buffalo hunt. This is supported later in time as they traveled to this same area in the 1800’s to hunt buffalo. | ||
1542 |
Father Juan de Padilla, a priest who had accompanied Coronado, was returning to Kanza Lands hoping to bring Christianity to the (Akansa) Indians that they encountered there. It is not clear whether he ever reached the Kanza, as he was killed in his travels. | ||
1543 |
Coronado returned to Kansas as far as the Missouri River and he noted meeting the (Akansa) a second time. He returns to Spain this year without finding the Cities of Gold. |
1600 to 1699
1600 |
The French Explorers and Fur Traders began traveling down the Mississippi River from Canada. | ||
1601 |
Juan de Oñate was a Spanish explorer; he was also in search of the Golden Cities. He encountered a group of Indians that he called the Escansaques. This is referenced by George Morehouse, author of “The History of the Kansa Indians”. Juan de Oñate was in south central Kansas at the time. He reported traveling 200 leagues (500 Miles) into the eastern half of Kansas. His journal read “A wild and Powerful tribe who were out on their annual raid to plunder the cultivated country of the Quivirans (Pawnee)”. When Juan de Oñate fought with the Escansaques, it is estimated that a thousand Escansaques were slain. Oñate noted that the Escansaques and the Quivirans were hereditary enemies. | ||
1673 |
Father Jacques Marquette traveled south of the Great Lakes on the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers. | ||
1673 |
Henry Inman authored a book for the boy scouts in 1898 called “The Ranch on the Ox Hide”. In this book is a story from a manuscript of Early French Travelers in 1673. The story is of a band of 100 Kanza Indians; their chief was Rattlesnake and they raided a band of Shawnee Indians. It was a good raid and they had taken many prisoners. They stopped on an Island on their way back to their village taking advantage of the thick timber that grew in the area to pass the night. Pere Marquette known as “The White Prophet” happened to be there on the island. The Kanza had been trading with him and held him in great regard. He was able to liberate the Shawnee prisoners from the Kanza with trade and they went on their way. He released the prisoners so they could return to their village.
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1674 |
Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette produced a map of their travels. This autographed map is located in the Historic collection of the Newberry Library in Chicago, Illinois. This map places a Kanza village on the 39th parallel south of the Omaha and Pawnee Tribes, and east of the Osage in Missouri. Jolliet produced this map for the appointed Governor of New France. |
1700 to 1799
1702 |
Sieurd’ Iberville (Pierre Le Moyne) estimated 1,500 Kanza families lived along the Kansa River. | ||
1719 |
Du Tissenet explored upper Louisiana Territory and crossed the northeastern corner of the Kanza lands. He mentions the four dominant tribes that inhabited this region were the Kanza, the Ouchage (Osage), and the Paneassa (Pawnee). He lists the Padoucas, far to the west, almost at the base of the mountains or it could be the Ponca, but it is not stated. | ||
1722 |
French erect Fort Orleans under the command of M. Etienne Venyard de Bourgmont on the Osage River. | ||
1723 |
The Kanza Indians move up the Kansas River to the Big Blue River. Bourgmont speaks of the large village of the (Quans=Kanza) on the small river flowing from the north 360 yards below the Kansas River. He reported 1,500 families. | ||
1724 |
French Regent sent Etienne Venyard de Bourgmont, to lead an expedition to establish peace. In (July) they found the Kanza on Independence Creek now known as Doniphan County, Kansas.
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1725 |
Fort Orleans is destroyed by the Kanza Indians. | ||
1744 |
This was the year that Fort de Cavagnial was built by the French near the mouth of the Salt Creek. This is the same location of present day Fort Leavenworth. | ||
1755 |
Smallpox arrived with the European invaders. This affliction killed without mercy. By 1765, it is estimated that one of every two Kanza males had died. | ||
1762 |
The French lost the territory of Kansas to Spain. | ||
1763 |
France ceded the Illinois Country east of the Mississippi to the British. | ||
1764 |
Development of Kansas fur trade between the Indians and the French fur traders. Fort de Cavagnial was closed. | ||
1766 |
Spain took formal control of Louisiana which included the Kanza Lands. | ||
1778 |
First treaty between the United States and the Indians was made with the Delaware. | ||
1790 |
The Chouteau family begins fur trading with the Kanza. | ||
1791 |
On April 15th, Manual Perez reported to the Louisiana Governor that Esteban Miro, an agent for the British government seized from the Kanza furs that were to be sold to Augusta Chouteau. It was reported that the Osage were working with the British to break the connection between the Kanza and the Chouteau Family. | ||
1794 |
War existed between the Kanza and the Osage, and it lasted twelve years until Zebulon Montgomery Pike helped establish peace.
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1795 |
On April 30th, the British were doubling the price of all pelts and skins that the Iowa’s could seize from the Kanza. This was a push to force the Spanish out of the area and open the Trade routes to the British. | ||
1797 |
The Kanza were badly divided in their loyalties and became more difficult to deal with. This is the first indication that the British had succeeded in their move for control of this area trade. The British supplied the Sioux with 150 rifles and six kegs of Brandy to give to the Omaha. This was in order to boost the campaign against the Kanza. |
1800 to 1899
1804 |
In (July), Meriwether Lewis and William Clark found a Kanza Village along the Missouri River. The Kanza were on a hunting trip, and the village was abandoned for the season. | ||
1808 |
September 27th The Kanza made their first trip to Fort Osage in order to trade their furs with Pierre Chouteau. It was over 100 miles and very dangerous. They were at war with the Pawnee and Osage during this time. By October, over a thousand Kanza were camped along the river. Fort Osage recorded in their daily log that the Kanza numbers were devastating. | ||
1812 |
The War of 1812 was fought between the British and the French. This war impacted the Kanza through trade and enabled settlers to move west onto Kanza Lands. | ||
1815 |
October 28th The first Treaty with the Kanza and the U.S. Government. The Kanza were living on the mouth of the Salina River, 130 earth lodges, and an estimate of 1,500 people. | ||
1819 |
In August, Dr. Thomas Say, an Eminent Naturalist was sent out to explore the country up the Kansas River. The small band of soldiers that were his escorts were led by Major Stephen H. Long. They left Fort Osage on August 6th, and came in contact with the Kanza People on August 20th. They were welcomed by the Kanza and were given food and lodging. Shortly after they left the village, they were attacked by the Pawnee. With the help of the Kanza, they made it back to the river and then back to Fort Osage. | ||
1824 |
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) was established within the Department of War. | ||
1825 |
June 3rd The Kanza ceded all lands they held in Missouri and the land from the Kansas River into the Missouri river, reducing the tribe’s 20,000,000 acre domain to thirty miles wide and 2,000,000 acres just west of Topeka. | ||
1825 |
The first annuity paid to the Kanza was $3500 worth of goods purchased by the Indian Agent Barnett Vasquez from the Chouteau Brothers, Francis and Cyprian. | ||
1827 |
Daniel Morgan Boone, son of the famous frontiersman, was appointed agriculturalist at the newly formed agency for the Kanza Indians. This agency was located at the mouth of Stonehouse Creek. His twelfth child was Napoleon; born on August 22, 1828. He was the second white child and the first white boy born on Kanza land. | ||
1829 |
Kanza Population 1,200. | ||
1830 |
Full bloods left Blue Earth Village and separated into three distinct villages (American Chief, Hard Chief, and Fool Chief) where they remained until 1845.
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1831 |
artist george catlin visited the three Principal Villages and painted the three Chiefs in Portrait. Miⁿchó Zhíⁿga (Little White Bear), Jee-he-o-ho-shah (Cannot Be Thrown Down), and Wáhoⁿgazhi (No Fool, “a great Fop”) | ||
1842 |
The Pappan’s Ferry was placed into operation on the Kansas River. This area of the river built up to become Topeka, Kansas. | ||
1843 |
Kanza Population 1,588. | ||
1846 |
January 14th Treaty further reduced the Kanza territory; the Kanza ceded 2,000,000 acres of land to the United States. | ||
1847 |
New home for the Kanza in the Council Grove area (256,000 acres).
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1848 |
The Commission of Indian Affairs divided the lands west of the Mississippi into two categories. These were reported to be the lands held by the Omaha, Otoe, Missouri, Osage, and Kanza. The categories were reported and designated to be for white settlement. | ||
1849 |
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) was transferred to the Department of the Interior where it remains today. | ||
1850 |
1849-1850 The Kaw Mission at Council Grove, Kansas was built by the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Kanza began attending with Tomas Huffaker as its teacher. The Kanza were very selective with the children that attended and the school closed in 1854. It was then opened as a settler’s school. | ||
1851 |
This is the year the government began preparing for the removal of the Kanza for Kansas permanently. | ||
1852 |
Outbreak of Smallpox- 400 Kanza People at Council Grove reservation died. | ||
1859 |
October 5th Treaty to remove the town of Council Grove from Kanza lands leaving the Tribe with 80,000 acres. The total population of the Kanza in Kansas was 866 people (406 Females, 460 Males, for which 63 were mixed blood). | ||
1860 |
Charles Curtis was born on January 25th, to Orren Curtis, from Topeka, Kansas and Ellen Pappan daughter of Julie Gonville Pappan, a Kanza Indian from Council Grove, Kansas. Charley was 1/8 Kanza Indian. He later became the 31st Vice-President of the United States. | ||
1861 |
On January 29th, Kansas became the 34th State of the United States of America. Its capital is Topeka. | ||
1862 |
Total Kanza Population, 741 full bloods (225 females, 250 males, 266 children). | ||
1863 |
February 26th Treaty to remove all lands in Kansas from the Kanza and relocate them to Oklahoma. | ||
1863 |
Kanza Indians joined the Ninth Regiment Kansas Volunteer Calvary to fight in the Civil War. | ||
1866 |
Total Kanza Population 670 people (351 females, 319 males). | ||
1867 |
Alíⁿk’awaho (Allegawaho), one of the three principal Chiefs of the Kanza, stood for the rights of his people and did not want to be moved to Indian Territory in Oklahoma. This is a Quote from his famous speech to the government officials, “You treat my people like a flock of turkeys. You come into our dwelling place and scare us out. We fly over and alight on another stream, but no sooner do we get settled then again you come along and drive us farther and farther. In time we shall find ourselves across the great mountains and landing in the bottomless ocean.”
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1870 |
October 26th Indian Agent Mahlon Stubbs put together a group to look for a new home for the Kanza in Indian Territory. This group consisted of six prominent Indian men, four part French men, one full blood French man, and the cook (Carlos Bridger).
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1871 |
Total Kanza Population 627 (300 females, 327 males).
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1872 |
May 27th Chief Alíⁿk’awaho led the remaining Kanza people (553 individuals) to Oklahoma Territory under strong protest buy the people. The Kanza Indians agreed to sell what remained of their reservation and bought 100,137 acres from the Osage along the Arkansas River in Indian Territory. | ||
1873 |
The Kanza people had their last buffalo hunt in unfamiliar territory. The promised beef and other food from the government did not arrive when needed. The Kanza tribe traveled to western Oklahoma to try to prevent the inevitable “starvation”. | ||
1884 |
July 12th Land set aside by Presidential Order to Create Chilocco Indian School.
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1886 |
Census this year reported a total of 201 Kanza remaining. | ||
1898 |
Curtis Act expanded the powers of the federal government over American Indian affairs.
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1900 to 1999
1900 |
On August 24th, Chief Wázhaⁿgiye (Washunga) and the Council (Forrest Chouteau, W.E. Hardy, Achan Pappan) went to Washington D.C. to discuss their opposition to the Dissolution of Reservation Lands. | ||||
1902 |
Allotment of all reservation lands belonging to the Kaw Tribe a.) July 1st Act of Congress declaring that the Kaw Nation as a legal entity no longer existed; b.) 160 acres of reservation land to be used as a School, Agency Headquarters, Cemetery, and town site of 80 acres known as Washunga Town; and c.) For the right to own 480 acres of personal land, the Kanza (now the Kaw Indians) residing in Oklahoma had to sign a Declaration of Competency. This took away their right to be Indians. “Indians were considered to be incompetent and were not able to own land”. This small clause to the act was the most devastating to the tribe. It was 20 years before the Kanza knew exactly what they had done to their people.
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1905 |
The Kanza population had only 90 full blood’s still living. | ||||
1908 |
Chief Wázhaⁿgiye (AKA Bird or Black Bird) died. No new Chief was elected.
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1916 |
Last Full Blood Council of the Kaw (Forrest Chouteau, Silas Conn, Albert Taylor, Little Jim, Jim Pepper, Jesse Mahojah, and Roy Monroe). | ||||
1922 |
Lucy Tayiah Eads was asked by the elders to help in the fight to regain the identity of the Kanza people. They lost this with the allotment of the reservation lands. There was a stipulation in the Allotment document that made them unable to own land as Indian people. This was the section on competency. As an educated woman, the Kanza elected Lucy to represent them, and fight to regain their right to be Indian people. She went to Washington D.C. and stood before Congress, and made it known that this would no longer be tolerated. The removal of their identity and heritage was in violation of the Constitution of the United States of America. The Federal government was forced to recognize the Kanza people, and reinstate the Kaw Tribe. Lucy was asked to continue to represent the people. She has been referred to by some as the first female Chief of the Kaw. She was known to say, “I am here to look after the rights of my people and protect them.”
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1925 |
This was the year that Indians remains were found on the shore of the Neosho River. Charles Curtis instigated the dedication of the Monument, (to the unknown Kaw Indian) in Council Grove, Kansas. Kaw members returned to Council Grove to attend the reburial inside the monument. The monument was placed on the site of the last Reservation and agency of the Kanza People.
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1929 |
Charles Curtis was elected Vice-President under Herbert Hoover (1929-1933). According to William E. Unrau, Charles Curtis’ political philosophy can be summarized as follows; “Curtis supported the gold standard, high tariffs, prohibition, restrictive immigration, deportation of aliens, and generous veteran’s benefits; Opposed the League of Nations; and took the view that depressions were natural occurrences that inevitably would be followed by periods of prosperity, championed female suffrage, and government assistance to farmers, especially Kansas”.
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1931 |
U.S. Vice-President Charles Curtis presented the Distinguished Flying Cross to Amelia Earhart. | ||||
1934 |
Ernest E. Thompson was the last elected Chief. | ||||
1935 |
The Kanza Tribal Council was dissolved. | ||||
1937 |
Last Pow-wow at Ralph Pepper’s Place in Washunga.
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1951 |
The Federal Government awarded the Kaw Tribe money to create and maintain the Cemetery at Washunga. The Cemetery Association was formed and consisted of six Kaw members. | ||||
1955 |
The Federal Government Service Administration of the United States sold the land where the Kaw agency stood. Their actions lead to the formation of the Kaw Business Committee. | ||||
1958 |
Resolution was presented to reinstate the Kaw Nation. With the help of the Pawnee Indian Agency and the Anadarko Area Division, the Kaw formed a draft set of by-Laws and a new Constitution. The vote was sent to the People with 150 in attendance, and it was approved. | ||||
1959 |
July 23, the Kaw Constitution was approved by the Secretary of the Interior. | ||||
1960 |
The Federal Government created the Watershed Program for the State of Oklahoma along the Arkansas River. They began building twelve dams throughout the state to control the flooding. The land that had been the home to the Kanza People for nearly 100 years was now to become Kaw Lake. The town of Washunga was moved. The Kanza Tribe through an Act of Congress was given 135 acres west of Washunga Bay and 5 acres north of Newkirk for their Cemetery. | ||||
1970 |
The Kanza People were forced to leave the town of Washunga and their land by eminent domain. The Dam was finished and the lake began to fill. The Kaw Cemetery was relocated, and the Army Corps of Engineers reconstructed the Tribal Council House on the new Kaw property. | ||||
1974 |
In June, Robert Rankin, linguist from the University of Kansas, worked with Maudie McCauley Clark Rowe to preserve the Kanza Language. With help from Ralph Pepper and Walter Kekahbah Rankin was able to develop a 3,500-word dictionary of the Kanza Language. | ||||
1974 |
Ralph Pepper files in court on behalf of the 17 full-blood Kaw. This was to regain control of the Kaw Tribe. The Full-bloods won their case and a tribal election was ordered by the Federal Court and held on November 22, 1974.
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1975 |
November 16, 1975 The General Council of the Kaw Nation revisited and amended the 1958 Resolution. It became the governing document of the Kaw Tribe until 1990. | ||||
1977 |
Maudie McCauley Clark Rowe wanted to revive Kaw dances. The first dance was held in Shidler, Oklahoma, at the home of her son Elmer Clark.
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1984 |
The Osages gave the Iloshka Dance back to the Kaw Tribe to carry on the tradition that had been preserved for them since a century earlier, when the Kaw People believed it might become extinct. There is a plaque located in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, in recognition of this return. | ||||
1985 |
Lena Sumner Lockhart, last full-blood Kaw woman, died on December 17, 1985. She had the woman’s drum and was the last woman drum keeper. | ||||
1990 |
August 14th 1990 The Kaw Constitution was adopted with a seven member board. William Mehojah was elected Chairman with Wanda Stone his Vice Chair. Mr. Mehojah became ill and he was forced to resign as Chairman. Wanda Stone as Vice Chair finished his term as Chairman/CEO.
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1990 |
The Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation act (NAGPRA), was put into effect to enable the Indian Tribes to claim human remains for reburial. | ||||
1992 |
The Kaw Nation Tribal Court was established. | ||||
1994 |
Mark Sampsel of Council Grove, Kansas, cast in bronze the last five full-bloods of the Kanza. The Kaw Tribe wanted to honor these Individuals, including Edger Pepper, Jesse Mehojah Jr., William Mehojah Sr., Clyde G. Monroe, and Johnnie R. McCauley. The busts are on display at the Kanza Museum. Mark Sampsel also cast five Kanza Chiefs in bronze; they may also be viewed at the Kanza Museum. | ||||
1994 |
Ms. Wanda Stone campaigned for the office of Chairman and was elected by the Kanza People. She held this office until the regular rotation in 2002, where she chose not to run. Mrs. Stone was the second woman in history to be placed in this position as leader of the Kanza People. Under her supervision, the Kaw Nation flourished and became a substantial influence in Indian Country. The Kanza Clinic, Kanza Wellness Center, Kanza Day Care Center, Elderly Programs, and Kaw Environmental Department were established as part of her developmental program for the Kaw people.
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1995 |
The Kanza Museum was established within the multipurpose facility. This building was initially erected to give the General Council of the Kaw Nation a place to hold their quarterly meetings. | ||||
1995 |
The Kaw Nation received their Self-Governance with the IHS (Indian Health Services). | ||||
1996 |
The Kaw Nation received their Self-Governance with the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs). | ||||
1997 |
William Mehojah was the last surviving pure-blood Kaw. The Kaw Population was at 2,451 people on the tribal rolls. | ||||
1999 |
The Kaw Nation received funding to create the Kanza Language Project using the recordings made by Dr. Robert Rankin, Maudie McCauley Clark Rowe, Ralph Pepper, and Walter Kekahbah in 1974.
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2000 to 2011
2000 |
Easter Sunday April, 23th the last full-blood Kaw Indian, William Mehojah died at the age of 82, and was buried in Omaha. Nebraska. William was born in 1917, and graduated from Haskell University in 1939. He was elected to the office of Chairman for the Kaw Nation in 1986. In an interview Mr. Mehojah stated “The reality of being the last full-blood to me is sad and lonely”.
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2002 |
The Kaw Nation elected a new chairman to represent the Kanza People; Mr. Guy Munroe assumed the office of Chairman/ CEO in September. He maintained this office for three terms. Chairman Munroe was raised in Washunga, Oklahoma, and resided with his family in Kansas. He was a business man and prepared to take the Kaw Nation into the 21st Century.
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2006 |
The Kaw Nation removed the Secretary of the Interior’s approval from any future amendments to the Tribal Constitution.
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2007 |
The Kanza Illonshka Dance was reintroduced to the Kaw People in August at the Annual Pow-wow. | ||
2008 |
The Kaw Nation applied for and received a grant to revise the Kaw Constitution. | ||
2009 |
President Barack Obama released a Memorandum of Understanding in Association with all Federal Lands to help break down the Bureaucratic Barriers. This was the largest gathering of Tribal leaders in U.S. History. | ||
2010 |
Mose Bellmard was in the United States Military Services during WWI and WWII. At the end of WWI, the American soldiers began using an Indian code to communicate. It was hoped that this code would confuse the enemy. During the end of WWI until 1939 Captain Mose Bellmard worked with the Defense Department to develop this code for use in the Pacific Theater. Until recently, most of this was classified information. On July 12, 2010, Oklahoma Senator Inhofe entered into the Congressional Record “Remembering Code Talker Mose Bellmard” which recognized Captain Bellmard as the originator of the Code Talking.
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2010 |
The Kaw Nation opened their New Public Library in Kaw City and built a new water tower in Braman, Oklahoma. | ||
2010 |
In August 2010, the Kaw Nation began selling Tribal Vehicle Licenses to Tribal Members living in Oklahoma. | ||
2010 |
Mr. Guy Munroe was reelected to serve a third term as Chairman/CEO of the Kaw Nation in the September election. He has made it his goal to develop his tribe into a self-sufficient governing body that is here to benefit its tribal people, employees and surrounding communities. He has achieved this and much more. | ||
2010 |
The current Kaw Nation Executive Council members are Chairman, Guy Munroe; Vice-Chairman, Bill Kekahbah; and Secretary, Carol Estes Hare. The remaining members are Roy Ball, Tahagena (Gena) Warren, Lonnie Burnett and Erin Kekahbah Srader. The Kaw Executive Board meets on the second Saturday of each month, and reviews the issues that concern the tribal people. They are elected to this position and take it very seriously. The issues that require their attention result in the stability of their Tribal Sovereignty and the well being of the people. | ||
2011 |
Legislation was introduced into Congress to change the Stafford Act of 1955. This act will separate the Tribal Nations from the State in regards to FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) assistance and the recovery from Disasters. Before this legislature, the tribes were under the state’s directive.
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2011 |
The population of the Kaw Nation is 3,175 enrolled members and increasing daily. | ||
2011 |
William Louis Pappan an ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) investigator with the Federal Government was honored with a memorial ceremony on May 11th. He was the first Native American post-probation era ATF investigator killed in the line of duty. He died in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on December 4, 1935.
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2011 |
The Kaw Nation Chairman Guy Munroe accepts a crystal carving that depicts the state flower of Kansas and the flint hills as a dedication to Charles Curtis. He was being honored for what he did to help the state of Kansas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This beautiful piece of art resides in the Kanza Museum at the Tribal Complex in Kaw City. | ||
2011 |
The Kanza Museum opened its newest exhibit to the Kanza People on August 4th during the annual Powwow. This is a timeline wall that represents the movement of the Kanza through time and into the future. |
