Native
Americans of
Arkansas
What I know
What I want to know
Communication game
When settlers first met the Native Americans in Arkansas, they didn’t speak the same
language. How do you think they communicated?
Try to tell your friend a message without using words. Did you get your message across?
Source: http://www.nativelanguages.org/
Caddo
Hello!
Kua'at
Hawé
("koo-ah-aht") ("hah-way")
Howa
("hoh-wah")
Bear
n'áwtsi'
wasá
(“nn-out-see”) (“wah-sah”)
wasape
(“wah-sah-pay”)
Deer
da'
(“dah”)
t'a
(“t-ah”)
tta
(“tah”)
Rabbit
du'u'
(“duh-oo”)
mašt'inke
ma shchi ke
(“mosht-een-kay”) (“monsh-cheen-kay”)
Bird
banit
(“bah-nit”)
wazika
(“wah-zee-kah”)
wazhi ka
(“wah-zheen-kah”)
Fish
batah
(“bah-tah”)
ho
(“hoe”)
ho
(“hoe”)
Quapaw
Osage
n
n
n
Native
American
Clothing
moccasins
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mosmd/mensclothing.jpg
Photo by Jamie Brandon (3)
A long time ago, Arkansas was covered by water. It slowly
became dry land and dinosaurs roamed our state. Then the
land became very cold, and people came to North America
from Europe. Some of these people came to live in Arkansas in
what scientists believe was 10,000 BC. These people are known
as Native Americans or American Indians. They were the first
Arkansans!
We do not know much about these very first people.
They probably lived in groups of 20-30 people and
followed the animals they hunted for food.
Eventually the weather became milder and people
were able to start growing food. People started living
in one place to grow their beans, squash and corn.
They built homes out of what was around them, like
animal skins, wood and grass. Instead of digging
graves, the Native Americans covered their dead with
earth, which created large mounds.
Native Americans’ skills continued to advance. They
began to make beautifully-designed pottery that
helped store food and water. Their weapons to hunt
became better too, with additions such as the bow and
arrow.
Europeans came to Arkansas around 1500 AD. By this
time, there were three tribes of Native Americans living
in Arkansas: the Quapaw, Osage and Caddo. We
know more about these Native Americans because of
the journals the Europeans made. These Native
Americans are known as the Historic Indians.
In some ways, the tribes were similar. They all hunted
local animals, such as deer, bear, buffalo, wild
turkeys, ducks and fish. They planted corn, beans,
squash, pumpkins, gourds and beans. They also
gathered seeds, nuts, roots and fruit. They all told
stories about how the world was created, and they
all had a deep respect for nature. There were,
however, a few things that set the tribes apart.
Fun fact: Arkansas gets its name
from the Quapaw tribe
Quapaw
The Quapaws, or “downstream people,” lived along
the rivers in eastern Arkansas. Because they lived
along the Mississippi River, they were the first people
the settlers met. The Quapaws were very kind to the
settlers, often sharing food and shelter. The settlers’
journals said how beautiful, tall and handsome the
Quapaw Indians were.
Caddo
Caddo got salt from rivers in southwest Arkansas,
which was important for flavoring and preserving
food. The Caddos traded salt with early settlers in
exchange for other items. The Caddo, like the
Quapaw, were friendly to white settlers.
The Caddos lived on small family farms where they
were skilled at growing food. They used bows and
arrows to hunt food.
The Caddo were shorter than the other Arkansas
Native Americans. Men were around 5.5 feet tall and
women less than 5 feet tall.
Osage
The Osage were hunters who lived a little north of
Arkansas, but who followed animals like bison, deer,
elk and bears into Arkansas during hunting seasons.
They were the most skilled hunters of the three tribes.
They also occasionally fought with the Quapaw and
Caddo over hunting grounds. The Caddo, Quapaw
and white settlers often feared the Osage because of
this.
Today
Native Americans still live in the United States.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2013 there
were 5.2 million Native Americans living in the United
States, about 2% of the total population. After the
United States government forced the Native
Americans to leave their land, the Quapaw, Caddo
and Osage tribe established life in Oklahoma, where
they currently live. The tribes have a vibrant culture
to this day.
Photos from modern tribes
Quapaw:
https://www.quapawtribe.com/Gallery.aspx
Caddo:
http://caddonation-nsn.gov/culture-club/
Osage:
https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/multimedia/galleries
culture
The art, ideas, attitudes
and more of a certain
group of people or
time.
Conversation
What is a part of your culture? Think about
holidays, food, language, and special beliefs.
Trade, Trade, Trade!
I’ll give you this pencil if you’ll walk my dog.
I’ll give you $1 for your bracelet.
I will wash the dishes for $1.
Conversation
What Native American tools can you think of?
How do you think the Native Americans made
them? What tools could you make with
material in nature around you?
Atlatl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlOpwsj09c
Adze:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o5l
eRq4eyk
Craft: Pottery
Pottery was an important part of
Caddo and Quapaw culture. As
Native Americans’ skills advanced,
they began to make pots that could
not only hold items, but were also
great works of art. Many pots had
swirled designs or were shaped like
people and animals, what were known
as effigy pots.
Use Play-Doh, modeling clay or
Crayola air-dry clay to make a pot
designed like the Native Americans of
Arkansas might have made.
Find more craft ideas at http://archeology.uark.edu/learn-discover/classroom-materials/.
(Chunckey pictured above)
Chunkey (Hoop and pole)
Materials:
(Hoop and Pole Materials:)
Hockey puck
Hula hoop
Bamboo pole 1/2 inch PVC pipe
Directions:
Person 1 rolls the hockey puck on a flat surface.
Person 2 throws the pole and tries to land it as
close to the hockey puck as possible.
Hoop and Pole: Roll the hula hoop and attempt
to throw the pipe through the rolling hoop.
Ring and pin
Materials:
• Chopsticks, unsharpened pencils, small
stick or something similar
• Piece of wood, dried squash or
something similar with a hole in the
middle of it
• String
Directions:
Swing the string and try to pin
the end object onto the stick.
Foot races
Native Americans liked footraces, just like
we do today. Can you beat your
classmates?
A variation that other Native Americans
played is run and scream. Scream and run
at the same time. As soon as you have to
stop screaming to take a breath, stop
running. Whoever has run the farthest
during their scream wins.
Arkansas American Indian Food
http://archeology.uark.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Native-AmericanFood.pdf
antelope
Type of
mammal
Chicken-Hawk was a poor hunter and never
succeeded in bringing his family more than a little
mouse or some game that he had begged from
another hunter. One time he met Eagle and asked him
if he would help him kill an antelope that he had
seen not very far away. Hawk pretended that he had
killed many such big game before, and acted as if
he were being kind to Eagle in asking him to help
him. Eagle said he would if he could have half of the
meat. Hawk said that he could, and so they agreed
to go hunting for the antelope the next morning.
Hawk went on home, and when he arrived he told his
family that he had shot an antelope through the head,
but that he could not kill him, and so he had run him
into a place for the night, and that he would return in
the morning and kill him. Hawk arose the next morning
and went to the place where he was to meet Eagle.
They started on the hunt and hunted half a day. They
found the antelope in the mountain. Eagle killed it,
and then Hawk came down and they divided the
meat. Eagle took his meat and went away.
Hawk took his meat and went straight home to
show it to his family, for he was very proud of it. He
told them that he had met a person who had never
tasted antelope meat and who was a poor hunter,
and so he had given him part of his meat, but that
the person promised to pay him back some day. His
family were so well pleased that they told every
one what a good hunter Hawk was. One time, after
the antelope meat was gone, a friend, who had
heard what a good hunter Hawk was, came to visit
him, especially to see if the reports were true.
Hawk hunted all one day, but returned with only a
mouse. The friend refused to eat the mouse. Again
Hawk hunted all day, but could not find anything. As
he was returning home he felt so ashamed, that he cut
some of the meat off of his legs to take home for his
friend to eat, rather than admit that he had not found
any game. For that reason hawks have no meat on
their legs.
Dorsey, George A.Traditions of the Caddo.
Washington: Carnegie Institution. 1905.
AccessGenealogy.com. Web. 8 December 2015.
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tale-ofwhy-hawks-have-thin-legs.htm.
Photo by Tony Alter. (11)