The+Ioway+Indians

Original Author: Megan Miller, A&S195 SP10 Revision Author:  The Ioway Indians called themselves Pa-ho-dje, which means “gray snow” and now, Ioway which came from what the French called them. They were in Iowa before 1700. “In about 1850, that long before then we lived on rivers, which runs from a lake to the Mississippi from the west on the east side of the great river, and that we lived there a long time.” (4) In 1848 an Indian man drew a map of the Iowa homes as far back as the tribe could remember. It was later redrawn fitting it to the east side of the Mississippi River near the Rock River in Illinois. “Perhaps the place where the Otoe claim they saw the gray, snow covered dwellings of the Ioway winter.”(4)  17th and 18th Century is when the Ioway were first recorded. They were have said to say this about the first white settlers they saw “Surely the description of the horses, the clothing, and the sun reflecting metal surfaces of the strange man beasts received hours of analysis and feelings of wonder in the villages and camps to which the news traveled, decades before the people ever saw white men for themselves.” (16) April 20, 1676 is when the first known report was written about the Ioway Indians. In this record Father Louis Andre from St. Francis de Xavier Mission mentions the “Aiaoua”, “This year we have among the Puants seven or eight families from a nation who are neutral between our savages and the nadoessi who are at war. They are called the aiaoua or nadoessi maseouteins. Their village, which lies 200 leagues from here toward the west, is very large, but poor, for their greatest wealth consists of ox-hides and red calumets. They speak the language of the Puants. I preached Jesus Christ to them. They say that they live a great distance 12 days journey beyond the great river called the Mississippi, but they assert that they have seen savages who say that they have beheld a great lake very far toward the setting sun.” (17)  The population of the Ioways in 1760 was around 1,100 but by 1804 it had dropped to about 800, due to the French bringing in diseases, such as smallpox, which the Ioways had no immunity to. The Ioways had customs similar to those of Siouan speaking people, or the people of the Great Plains area. Their houses were shaped in ovals and covered by dirt to protect from the extreme temperatures. A smoke hole allowed ventilation to help keep them warm during the extreme winter During battle they valued three things; first counting coup, second killing the enemy, and third scalping them when there were dead. Work was divided into clans, some clans hunted while other farmed. Some clans made drums while others made clothing. Women were the care takers and children gained responsibility at an early age. The boys would hunt small game like squirrels, birds, and rabbits while girls would help their mothers with cooking and sewing.  “Ayouais” was the original spelling of what later became Iowa. This Indian tribe lived in small villages on bluffs along that river and used the river terraces to grow corn, beans, and squash. Oneota people were also scattered through these villages. The Mississippi was a major part of the Ioways daily life. “In the environment of the upper Iowa river the Indian’s found tempting village sites. Nearby were deep fertile flood plains for gardens. The river itself provided mollusks, turtles, and fish, including channel catfish, bass, pike, perch, sunfish, buffalo fish, and crappies.” (8)The hills heading towards the river were all forested with burr oak, sugar maple, basswood, box elder, ash, and poplar trees. Wild fruits were abundant during this time including, plums, blackberries, raspberries, wild cherries, and crab apples. Animal life was also very different during this time and the Indians were able to hunt animals such as, white tail deer, black bear, raccoon, rabbit, squirrel, wild turkey, and ruffled grouse. . During hunting season they shaved their heads and dressed in deer skin, this would help to camouflage.  To survive cold winters villagers prepared and dried their surplus corn, beans, pumpkins, and other items gathered from dwellings. Ioway were hunters and the women would prepare meat and hides for food and clothing. Little is known about the techniques the Ioway used to hunt but it may have been a daily activity. It could have been done individually or in groups depending on the length of travel they had to endure and the size of the game they were going after. Villagers traveled to Western Iowa to hunt for as long as two to three months, to hunt bison. After the 17th Century the winter beaver hunt became annual so the Ioway could trade with the French.  Between 1820 and 1830, the Iowa ceded their Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri lands to the U.S. government. By 1836 most were relocated to a reservation along the Kansas-Nebraska border, led by their chief Chief Mahaska commonly known as White Cloud In 1836 they settled in a strip of land in Missouri, along with the Sauk and the Foxx. In 1883 a number of Ioway moved to Indian Territory preferring to live in the older community village way of life. The new reservation was located in Lincoln, Payne, and Logan counties in the Indian Territory. However, despite their efforts to block allotment, their lands were divided anyway. Today population has risen back to about 1,400. A lot has been forgotten about this tribe though, only twenty of those Ioways know their native language. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> ** <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Work Cited ** <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Blaine, Martha Royce. //The Ioway Indians//. Norman: University of Oklahoma, 1979. Print. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Return to Native Americans <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Return to Home <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">The Ioway Indians **