Fort Orleans , sometimes referred to as Fort D'Orleans , was a French frontier outpost in colonial North America , and the first fort built by European forces on the Missouri River . It was reportedly located near the mouth of the Grand River near present-day Brunswick, Missouri . Intended to be the linchpin in the vast New France empire stretching from Montreal to New Mexico , the fort was occupied from 1723 to 1726. It was the first multi-year European settlement in what is today the U.S. state of Missouri .
125-627: The fort was established on the Missouri River in 1723 by Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont . It was to be the Missouri River headquarters of the newly claimed French Louisiana territory. Like the newly founded New Orleans, Louisiana , it was named for the Duke of Orléans . De Bourgmont had commanded the French fort at Fort Detroit . In 1706 he and other soldiers deserted when criticized by Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac for his handling of
250-469: A Northwest Passage to China; to exploit the territory's natural resources, such as fur and mineral ores; and to convert the native population to Catholicism. Fur traders began exploring the pays d'en haut (upper country around the Great Lakes) at the time. In 1659, Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard Chouart des Groseilliers reached the western end of Lake Superior . Priests founded missions , such as
375-572: A smallpox epidemic, resulting from contact with Europeans, swept the area, reducing the tribe's population dramatically by killing approximately one-third of its members. Chief Blackbird was among those who died that year. Blackbird had established trade with the Spanish and French, and used trade as a security measure to protect his people. Aware they traditionally lacked a large population as defense from neighboring tribes, Blackbird believed that fostering good relations with white explorers and trading were
500-556: A French fur-trading center, connected to trading posts on the Missouri and Upper Mississippi rivers, leading to later French settlement in that area. In the 1762 Treaty of Fontainebleau , France ceded Louisiana west of the Mississippi River to Spain, its ally in the war, as compensation for the loss of Spanish Florida to Britain. Even after France had lost its claim to Louisiana, francophone settlement of Upper Louisiana continued for
625-538: A French monopoly on trade. Colbert wanted to reduce the expenditure of the monarchy. It was, however, necessary to invest much money and to mobilize important human resources retain the American colony. Much work was done on the economic infrastructure (factories, ports) in metropolitan France, but the investment was not enough in Louisiana. No plan to facilitate the movement of goods or men was ever carried out. The French budget
750-520: A chief, the Omaha did not. They used him as an interpreter; he was of mixed-race with a white father, so was considered white, as he had not been adopted by a man of the tribe. Today the Omaha host an annual pow wow . At the celebration, a committee elects the Omaha Pow Wow Princess. She serves as a representative in the community and a role model for younger children. In the rite of passage of
875-803: A cross near the mouth of the Mississippi River and claimed the whole of the drainage basin of the Mississippi River in the name of King Louis XIV , naming it "Louisiana". This land area stretched from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Appalachian Mountains to the Rocky Mountains . The area was under French control from 1682 to 1762 and in part from 1801 (nominally) to 1803 . Louisiana included two regions, now known as Upper Louisiana ( la Haute-Louisiane ), which began north of
1000-537: A fundamental place in the control of the territory. Soldiers built forts and frequently negotiated with the Native Americans. The coureurs des bois (literally "runners of the woods") played an important part, though not well documented, in the expansion of French influence in North America. By the end of the 17th century, these adventurers had journeyed the length of the Mississippi River. They were motivated by
1125-468: A game of political alliances greatly marked the history of Louisiana, in direct and indirect ways. Within those shifting conditions, the French desire to limit British influence in North America was a constant issue in royal politics. Louis XIV took care to limit the appearance of intermediary bodies and countervailing powers in North America. He did not want an assembly of notables or parliament . In
1250-655: A hereditary chief, through the male lines, as the tribe had a patrilineal kinship system of descent and inheritance. Children were considered to be born to their father's clan. Individuals married persons from another gens , not within their own. The hereditary chiefs and clan structures still existed at the time the elders and chiefs negotiated with the United States to cede most of their land in Nebraska in exchange for protection and cash annuities. Only men born into hereditary lines through their fathers, or formally adopted by
1375-405: A land sale. The Omaha elders refused to delegate the negotiations to their gens chiefs, but came to an agreement to sell most of their remaining lands west of the Missouri to the United States. Competing interests may be shown by the draft treaty containing provisions for payment of tribal debts to the traders Fontenelle, Peter Sarpy , and Louis Saunsouci. The chiefs at council agreed to move from
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#17328528684621500-502: A large circle in the order of the five clans or gentes of each moitie , to keep the balance between the Sky and Earth parts of the tribe. Eventually, disease and Sioux aggression from the north forced the tribe to move south. Between 1819 and 1856, they established villages near what is now Bellevue, Nebraska and along Papillion Creek . By the Fourth Treaty of Prairie du Chien in 1831,
1625-639: A length of time fixed by the contract of service to pay off their passage. During this time, they were "temporary semi-slaves". To increase the colonial population, the crown sent filles à la cassette ("casket girls," referring to the small trunks they arrived with), young Frenchwomen, to marry the soldiers. They were given a dowry financed by the King. This practice built upon the 17th-century precedent when Louis XIV paid for transport and dowries for about 800 filles du roi (King's Daughters) to emigrate to New France to encourage marriage and formation of families in
1750-487: A male into the tribe, as Joseph LaFlesche (Iron Eye) was by the chief Big Elk in the 1840s, could become chiefs. Big Elk designated LaFlesche as his son and successor chief of the Weszinste . LaFlesche, a man of mixed race , was the last recognized head chief selected by the traditional ways, and he was the only chief with any European ancestry. He served for decades from 1853. Although whites considered Logan Fontenelle
1875-911: A map showing the Mississippi as much farther west than it really was. With four ships and 320 emigrants, Cavelier set sail for Louisiana. Cavelier did not find the river's mouth in the Mississippi River Delta and tried to establish a colony on the Texas coast. Cavelier was assassinated in 1687 by members of his exploration party, reportedly near what is now Navasota, Texas . [REDACTED] Kingdom of France 1718–1763 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Spain 1763–1802 [REDACTED] French First Republic 1802–1803 [REDACTED] United States of America 1803–1861 [REDACTED] Confederate States of America 1861–1862 [REDACTED] United States of America 1862–present It
2000-715: A mission in the Native American village of Kaskaskias on the Illinois River . A permanent settlement was made by 1690. In 1682, René-Robert Cavelier and the Italian Henri de Tonti descended to the Mississippi River Delta . They left Fort Crèvecoeur on the Illinois River, accompanied by 23 Frenchmen and 18 Indians. They built Fort Prud'homme (later the city of Memphis ) and claimed French sovereignty on
2125-622: A person. It was kept in a Sacred Tent in the center of the village, which only men who were members of the Holy Society could enter. An annual renewal ceremony was related to the Sacred Pole. In 1888 Francis La Flesche , a young Omaha anthropologist, helped arrange for his colleague Alice Fletcher to have the Sacred Pole taken to the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University , for preservation of it and its stories, at
2250-511: A plant common in the preparation of gumbo . While the Code Noir required that the slaves receive a Christian education, many secretly practiced animism and often combined elements of the two faiths. The commonly accepted definition of Louisiana Creole today is the community whose members are a descendant of the "native-born" individuals of la Louisiane. Some individuals may not have each ethnic heritage, and some may have additional ancestries. It
2375-762: A real threat to the groups of isolated colonists; in 1729, their attacks killed 250 in Lower Louisiana. Forces of the Native American Natchez people took Fort Rosalie (now Natchez, Mississippi ) by surprise, killing, among others, pregnant women. The French responded with warfare during the next two years: some Natchez were captured and deported as slaves to Saint Domingue ; others left the area if they escaped. Colonists were often young men, volunteers recruited in French ports or in Paris. Many served as indentured servants ; they were required to remain in Louisiana for
2500-558: A single Catholic diocese, whose seat was in Quebec. The archbishop, named and paid by the king, was spiritual head of all New France. With loose religious supervision, the fervor of the population was very weak; Louisianans tended to practice their faith much less than did their counterparts in France and Canada. The tithe, a tax by the clergy on the congregations, produced less revenue than in France. The Church nevertheless played an important part in
2625-620: A skirmish with attacking Ottawa Indians. A French priest and soldier were killed by the Indians, and the French killed 30 Ottawa tribesmen. While on the lam from French authorities, de Bourgmont lived with the Native Americans and explored the lower Missouri. He often traded in furs, although not authorized to do so. Catholic missionaries urged that he be arrested for indecency because of traveling with his Missouri wife and their children of mixed European and Native American ancestry. His base
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#17328528684622750-401: A timber frame and a thick sod covering. At the center of the lodge was a fireplace that recalled their creation myth. The earthlodge entrance was built to face east, to catch the rising sun and remind the people of their origin and migration upriver from the east. The Huthuga , the circular layout of tribal villages, reflected the tribe's beliefs. Sky people lived in the northern half-circle of
2875-542: A time and married a woman in his hometown in 1721. In 1722 he returned to New Orleans but was too sick to proceed on an expedition. In the meantime, funds in the Mississippi Company collapsed. He argued with his sponsors over whether a fort was necessary; he thought it more important to recruit Native Americans in alliances to unite to fight the Spanish, as he believed his mission had not changed. As ordered, he established
3000-499: A time when the tribe's continuity seemed threatened by pressure for assimilation. The tribe was considering burying the Pole with its last keeper after his death. The last renewal ceremony for the pole was held in 1875, and the last buffalo hunt in 1876. La Flesche and Fletcher gathered and preserved stories about the Sacred Pole by its last keeper, Yellow Smoke, a holy man of the Hong'a gens. In
3125-583: Is associated with the misnomer the Cajun French dialect and with Louisiana Creole French, a related creole language. Spoken widely in what is now the U.S. state of Louisiana, it is now considered to have been relabeled as "Cajun French". Colonial French is conventionally described as the form of French spoken in Lower French Louisiana prior to the mass arrival of Acadians after the Great Upheaval of
3250-408: Is difficult to estimate the total population of France's colonies in North America. While historians have relatively precise sources regarding the colonists and enslaved Africans, estimates of Native American peoples is difficult. During the 18th century, the society of Louisiana became quite creolized . Colonial French (commonly known as Colonial Louisiana French) is a variety of Louisiana French. It
3375-495: Is distinguished from both Louisiana French and the various forms of Canadian French , such as Acadian . The dialect continued to be spoken around the Midwest, particularly in Missouri, through the 20th century. It is nearly extinct today, with only a few elderly speakers still able to use it. In 1660, France started a policy of expansion into the interior of North America from what is now eastern Canada. The objectives were to locate
3500-540: Is estimated that 7,000 European immigrants settled in Louisiana during the 18th century—a hundredth the number of inhabitants of the Thirteen Colonies on the Atlantic coast. Initially, creole was the term used for Europeans (and sometimes, separately for Africans) born in Louisiana, in contrast to those who immigrated there. Louisiana attracted considerably fewer French colonists than did its West Indian colonies. After
3625-558: Is known among the educated that it has been incorrectly relabelled "Cajun French" by Cajuns and CODOFIL. Following the Great Upheaval in 1764, when many Acadians were exiled to French Louisiana, Louisiana French was adopted by the Acadians. Some scholars suggested that it survived as the prestige dialect spoken by Creoles, both white and of color, into the 21st century. There are populations of Creoles and Cajuns among other ethnic groups in
3750-690: Is the French Canadian Toussaint Charbonneau , husband to Sacagawea , who gave birth to Jean-Baptiste. They took part in the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804–1806. Omaha people The Omaha Tribe of Nebraska ( Omaha-Ponca : Umoⁿhoⁿ ) are a federally recognized Midwestern Native American tribe who reside on the Omaha Reservation in northeastern Nebraska and western Iowa , United States. There were 5,427 enrolled members as of 2012. The Omaha Reservation lies primarily in
3875-468: The Arkansas River , and Lower Louisiana ( la Basse-Louisiane ). The U.S. state of Louisiana is named for the historical region, although it is only a small part of the vast lands claimed by France. French exploration of the area began during the reign of Louis XIV, but the vast French Louisiana was not widely developed, due to a lack of human and financial resources. As a result of its defeat in
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4000-534: The Great Plains to visit their common enemy, the Padouca tribe, near Lyons, Kansas . Bourgmont participated in a peace ceremony between the Padouca and the Missouri, Osage , Iowa, Pawnee, Oto , Kaw, and Omaha , wherein a ceremonial pipe was smoked to seal the agreement. The Indians whom Bourgmont called Padouca are believed by some to have been the people later known as Comanche but were more likely Apache . This
4125-479: The Illinois Country ( French : Pays des Illinois ), which consisted of settlements in what are now the states of Missouri , Illinois , and Indiana ; and Lower Louisiana , which comprised parts of the modern states of Louisiana , Arkansas , Mississippi , and Alabama . Both areas were dominated numerically by Native American tribes. At times, fewer than two hundred French soldiers were assigned to all of
4250-485: The Illinois River , and from there west to the mouth of the Rock River (at present-day Rock Island, Illinois ). Thus, Vincennes and Peoria were the limit of Louisiana's reach. The outposts at Ouiatenon (on the upper Wabash near present-day Lafayette, Indiana ), Fort Miamis (near present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana ), and Prairie du Chien operated as dependencies of Canada. This boundary remained in effect through
4375-677: The Iroquois in the Ohio Valley. After pushing out other tribes, the Iroquois kept control of the area as a hunting ground. About 1770, the Omaha became the first tribe on the Northern Plains to adopt equestrian culture. Developing "The Big Village" ( Ton-wa-tonga ) about 1775 in current-day Dakota County in northeast Nebraska, the Omaha developed an extensive trading network with early European explorers and French Canadian voyageurs . They controlled
4500-608: The Ohio and Wabash rivers around year 1600. As the tribe migrated west, it split into what became the Omaha and the Quapaw tribes. The Quapaw settled in what is now Arkansas and the Omaha, known as U-Mo'n-Ho'n ("upstream") settled near the Missouri River in what is now northwestern Iowa . Another division happened, with the Ponca becoming an independent tribe, but they tended to settle near
4625-505: The Seven Years' War , France was forced to cede the east part of the territory in 1763 to the victorious British , and the west part to Spain as compensation for Spain losing Florida . In the 1770s, France decided to aid revolution in Britain's North American colonies , east of the Mississippi, that became the United States. France regained sovereignty from Spain of the western territory in
4750-676: The Villasur expedition near modern-day Columbus, Nebraska . This stopped the Spanish from establishing settlements in the Missouri River Valley . Stock for the Mississippi Company rose in price based on forecasts of great riches in Louisiana. Bourgmont was promised a title of nobility if he could build a fort and strike an alliance with the Native Americans to keep the Spanish out of the Missouri valley. Bourgmont stayed in Normandy for
4875-521: The West Indies for sale as slaves, or to Canada. In Louisiana, planters generally preferred using African slaves, though some had Native American servants. In 1717, John Law , the French Comptroller General of Finances, decided to import African slaves into Louisiana. His objective was to develop the plantation economy of Lower Louisiana. The Royal Indies Company held a monopoly over
5000-574: The governor-general of Louisiana in New Orleans. The geographical limits of Upper Louisiana were never precisely defined, but the term gradually came to describe the country southwest of the Great Lakes . A royal ordinance of 1722 may have featured the broadest definition of the region: all land claimed by France south of the Great Lakes and north of the mouth of the Ohio River , including both banks of
5125-551: The slave trade in the area. It imported approximately 6,000 slaves from Africa between 1719 and 1743. A small portion of these were sent to the Illinois Country to cultivate the fields or to work the lead mines. The economy of Lower Louisiana consequently became slave-dependent. As in other French colonies, the treatment of the slaves was regulated by the Code Noir . The slaves often had a degree of autonomy beyond that suggested by
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5250-536: The thirteen British colonies on the Atlantic seaboard; the French claim extended to the Appalachian Mountains. The Rocky Mountains marked the western extent of the French claim, while Louisiana's southern border was the Gulf of Mexico. The general flatness of the land aided movement through the territory; its average elevation is less than 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). The topography becomes more mountainous towards
5375-401: The $ 20,000/year which was part of the treaty. Instead, he supplied goods: harrows, wagons, harnesses and various kinds of plows and implements to support the agricultural work. He told the tribe that Washington, DC officials had disapproved the annuity. The people had no recourse, and struggled to raise more produce, increasing the harvest to 20,000 bushels. The Omaha never took up arms against
5500-461: The 1660s, the colony was royal property. In 1685, Louis XIV banned all publishing in New France. Between 1712 and 1731, the French possession came under the control of Antoine Crozat , a rich businessman, then under that of the Mississippi Company (created by John Law ), which recruited immigrants to settle the colony. In 1731, Louisiana reverted to royal rule. In contrast to Metropolitan France ,
5625-689: The 1673 expedition of Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette , which charted the upper Mississippi. As noted above, Upper Louisiana was primarily settled by colonists from French Canada . There was further substantial intermarriage and integration with the local Illinois peoples . French settlers were attracted by the availability of arable farmland as well as by the forests, abundant with animals suitable for hunting and trapping . Between 1699 and 1760, six major settlements were established in Upper Louisiana: Cahokia , Kaskaskia , Fort de Chartres , Saint Philippe , and Prairie du Rocher , all on
5750-588: The Bellevue Agency further north, finally choosing the Blackbird Hills, essentially the current reservation in Thurston County, Nebraska . The 60 men designated seven chiefs to go to Washington, DC for final negotiations along with Gatewood, with Fontenelle to serve as their interpreter. The chief Iron Eye ( Joseph LaFlesche ) was among the seven who went to Washington and is considered the last chief of
5875-559: The British. Other Acadians were transported there by the British after they were expelled from Acadia. About 4,000 are thought to have settled in Louisiana, gradually forming the Cajun community. Social mobility was easier in America than in France at the time. The seigneurial system was not imposed on the banks of the Mississippi, although the long lot land division scheme of the seigneurial system
6000-596: The French cartographer Guillaume Delisle mapped the tribe as "The Maha, a wandering nation", along the northern stretch of the Missouri River. French fur trappers found the Omaha on the eastern side of the Missouri River in the mid-18th century. The Omaha were believed to have ranged from the Cheyenne River in South Dakota to the Platte River in Nebraska. Around 1734 the Omaha established their first village west of
6125-458: The French settlers on the east bank of the Mississippi crossed the river to what had become Spanish Louisiana ) the eastern Illinois Country became part of the British Province of Quebec , and later the United States' Northwest Territory . French colonists who migrated after they lost control over New France founded outposts such as the important settlement of St. Louis (1764). This became
6250-457: The Houmas, Avoyelles, Choctaw, and other tribal remnants, all present in pre-Acadian Louisiana and still present in contemporary Louisiana. According to the demographer Russel Thornton, North America contained approximately seven million native inhabitants in 1500. The population plummeted from the 16th century onward, primarily because of the new infectious diseases carried by Europeans, to which
6375-415: The Louisiana territory, said that instead of arresting Bourgmont, they should work with him. He recommended that Bourgmont receive the Cross of Saint Louis for service to France. In 1720 Bourgmont and his son, along with a chief, traveled to France, where they were greeted as national heroes. His reputation was enhanced as news arrived that the Pawnee (who had been friendly with Bourgmont) had slaughtered
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#17328528684626500-441: The Mission of Sault Sainte Marie in 1668. On May 17, 1673, Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette began the exploration of the Mississippi River, which they called the Sioux Tongo (the large river) or Michissipi . They reached the mouth of the Arkansas River , and then returned upstream, having learned that the great river ran toward the Gulf of Mexico, not toward the Pacific Ocean as they had presumed. In 1675, Marquette founded
6625-407: The Mississippi River for white development. In 1846 Big Elk made an illegal treaty allowing a large group of Mormons to settle on Omaha land for a period; he hoped to gain some protection from competing natives by their guns, but the new settlers cut deeply into the game and wood resources of the area during the two years they were there. For nearly 15 years in the 19th century, Logan Fontenelle
6750-415: The Mississippi as well as the lower Missouri Valley . A generation later, trade conflicts between Canada and Louisiana led to a defined boundary between the French colonies; in 1745, Louisiana governor general Vaudreuil set the northeastern bounds of his domain as the Wabash valley up to the mouth of the Vermilion River (near present-day Danville, Illinois ); from there, northwest to le Rocher on
6875-420: The Missouri River on Bow Creek in present-day Cedar County, Nebraska . Around 1775, the Omaha developed a new village, probably located near present-day Homer, Nebraska . Ton won tonga (or Tonwantonga , also called the "Big Village"), was the village of Chief Blackbird . At this time, the Omaha controlled the fur trade on the Missouri River. About 1795, the village had around 1,100 people. Around 1800,
7000-400: The Missouri River. His descriptions and names of rivers, based on names of local tribes, were used by cartographer Guillaume Delisle for the first map of the region. Delisle used "Missouri" for the river rather than Pekitanoui , as the explorers Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette had named it after they first viewed it in 1673. In 1718 Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville , founder of
7125-421: The Missouri River. Lewis and Clark visited the area in June 1804 to seek the fort, but reported they found no trace of it. Three possible locations for the fort are: Louisiana (New France) Louisiana ( French : Louisiane ) or French Louisiana ( Louisiane française ) was an administrative district of New France . In 1682 the French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle erected
7250-445: The Native Americans had no acquired immunity. At the end of the 17th century, there were likely no more than 100,000 to 200,000 Native Americans in Lower Louisiana. French colonists forced a small number of Native Americans into slavery, in spite of official prohibition. These slaves were persons who had been captured by rival tribes during raids and in battle, and sold to French colonists. At the time, many were sent to Saint Domingue in
7375-413: The Native Americans. They also looked for ways to relate Indian practices to Christian worship, and helped show the Natives how these were related. A syncretic religion developed among new Christians. Sincere and permanent conversions were limited in number; many who received missionary instruction tended to assimilate the Holy Trinity into their belief of "spirits", or rejected the concept outright. It
7500-440: The Omaha boys enter the wilderness alone they fast and pray and should they dream of a woman's burden- strap (a tool used to help carry things), they feel compelled to dress and live in every way live as women. Such men are known as mixugo. As the tribe migrated westward from the Ohio River region in the 17th century, they adapted to the Plains environment. They replaced the Woodland custom of bark lodges with tipis (borrowed from
7625-405: The Omaha ceded their lands in Iowa to the United States, east of the Missouri River, with the understanding that they still had hunting rights there. In 1836 a treaty with the US took their remaining hunting lands in northwestern Missouri. During the 1840s, the Omaha continued to suffer from Sioux aggression. European-American settlers pressed the US government to make more land available west of
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#17328528684627750-416: The Omaha had to rely increasingly for survival upon their cash annuities and supplies from the United States Government and adaptation to subsistence agriculture. Jacob Vore was a Quaker appointed as US Indian agent to the Omaha Reservation under President Ulysses S. Grant . He started in September 1876, succeeding T.S. Gillingham, also a Quaker. Vore distributed a reduced annuity that year, just before
7875-402: The Omaha left on their annual buffalo hunt; according to his later account, he intended to "encourage" the Omaha to work at more agriculture. They suffered a poor hunting season and severe winter, so that some were starving before late spring. Vore gained a supplement to the annuities which he had distributed, but for the remaining years of his tenure through 1879, distributed no cash annuities of
8000-485: The Omaha reclaimed more than 100 ancestral skeletons from Ton-wo-tonga , which had been held by museums. They had been excavated during archaeological work of the 1930s and 1940s, from grave sites with burials before and after 1800. Before having ceremonial reburial of the remains on Omaha lands, the tribe's representatives arranged for research at the University of Nebraska to see what could be learned from their ancestors. Researchers found considerable differences in
8125-411: The Omaha under their traditional system. Logan Fontenelle served as their interpreter, and whites mistakenly believed he was a chief. Because his father was white, the Omaha never accepted him as a member of the tribe, but considered him white. Although the draft treaty authorized the seven chiefs to make only "slight alterations," the government officials forced major changes when they met. It took out
8250-402: The Omaha. The first European journal reference to the Omaha tribe was made by Pierre-Charles Le Sueur in 1700. Informed by reports, he described an Omaha village with 400 dwellings and a population of about 4,000 people. It was located on the Big Sioux River near its confluence with the Missouri, near present-day Sioux City, Iowa . The French then called it "The River of the Mahas." In 1718,
8375-460: The Sioux) for the buffalo hunting and summer season, and built earth lodges (borrowed from the Arikara , called Sand Pawnee, ) for the winter. Tipis were used primarily during buffalo hunts and when they relocated from one village area to another. They used earth lodges as dwellings during the winter. Omaha beliefs were symbolized in their dwelling structures. During most of the year, the Omaha lived in earth or sod lodges, ingenious structures with
8500-470: The U.S. Several members of the tribe fought for the Union during the American Civil War, as well as each subsequent war through today. Beginning in the 1960s, the Omaha began to reclaim lands east of the Missouri River, in an area called Blackbird Bend . After lengthy court battles and several standoffs, much of the area has been recognized as part Omaha tribal lands. The Omaha established their Blackbird Bend Casino on this reclaimed territory. In 1989,
8625-423: The University of Alabama introduced the term "Plantation Society French" for the prestige dialect. There is a history of diglossia between Plantation Society French and Louisiana Creole French. Plantation Society French, at any rate, is quite close to the Standard French of the time of its origin, with some possible differences in pronunciation and vocabulary use. It is still spoken by the Louisiana Indians, such as
8750-531: The Ylinuses". In 1800 Spain returned its part of Louisiana to France in the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso , but France sold it to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Through this time, but especially following the Louisiana Purchase, French Creoles, as they called themselves, began to move further into the Missouri Ozarks , where they formed mining communities such as Mine à Breton and La Vieille Mine ( Old Mines ). A unique dialect, known as Missouri French , developed in Upper Louisiana. It
8875-413: The age of 30. But they also had larger roles in the tribe's economy. Researchers have found through archeological excavations that the later women's skeletons were buried with more silver artifacts as grave goods than those of the men, or of women before 1800. After the research was completed, the tribe buried these ancestral remains in 1991. When Lewis and Clark visited Ton-wa-tonga in 1804, most of
9000-401: The army in the event of conflict with the other colonial powers; in 1717, the colony of Mississippi counted 300 soldiers out of 550 people (Havard G, Vidal C, History of French America , p. 225.). However, the colonial army, like that of France, suffered from desertions. Certain soldiers fled to become coureurs de bois . There were few mutinies because repression was severe. The army held
9125-404: The body of a man. The name by which it is known, a-kon-da-bpa , is the word used to designate the leather bracer worn upon the wrist for protection from the bow string (of the weapon of bow and arrow). This name demonstrates that the pole was intended to symbolize a man, as no other creature could wear a bracer. It also indicated that the man thus symbolized was one who was both a provider for and
9250-459: The budget, set prices, presided the Superior Council ( Conseil supérieur —the court of justice), and organized the census. Appointed by the king, Louisiana's commissaire-ordonnateur had broad powers that sometimes conflicted with those of the governor general. The military outposts of the hinterland were directed by commanders. The French possessions of North America were under the authority of
9375-550: The capitulation of French forces in Canada in 1760 until the Treaty of Paris in 1763, after which France surrendered its remaining territory east of the Mississippi to Great Britain. (Although British forces had occupied the "Canadian" posts in the Illinois and Wabash countries in 1761, they did not occupy Vincennes or the Mississippi River settlements at Cahokia and Kaskaskia until 1764, after
9500-413: The centralised government had difficulty maintaining communications over the long distance and sailing time that separated France from Louisiana. Toward the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th, the colonists on the Gulf of Mexico were left almost completely to fend for themselves; they counted far more on the assistance of the Native Americans than on France. The distance had its advantages:
9625-508: The coast, destroying whole villages. The Mississippi River Delta was plagued with periodic floods and yellow fever epidemics, to which malaria and cholera were added as part of the Eurasian diseases that arrived with the Europeans. These conditions slowed colonization. Moreover, French villages and forts were not necessarily safe from enemy offensives. Attacks by Native Americans represented
9750-422: The code. Initially, during public holidays, slaves were permitted to sell a portion of the crops they had cultivated. Some would hunt, cut wood or keep livestock far from the plantation. Lastly, although interracial marriages and regroupings of slaves were prohibited, planters often kept slave mistresses. The life and work of the slaves was difficult, with the intense harvest season and processing of sugar undoubtedly
9875-506: The colonists smuggled goods into the colony with impunity. Jean-Baptiste Colbert , Louis XIV's Minister of the Navy and Trade, was eager to stuff the coffers of the Crown. He dissolved the trading companies and took care to increase the production of the country and the colonies. Being a mercantilist , he believed it was necessary to sell as much as possible and to reduce reliance on imports. He imposed
10000-420: The colony, on both sides of the Mississippi. In the mid-1720s, Louisiana Indians numbered well over 35,000, forming a clear majority of the colony's population." Generally speaking, the French colony of Louisiana bordered the Great Lakes , particularly Lake Michigan and Lake Erie towards the north; this region was the "Upper Country" of the French province of Canada . To the east was territory disputed with
10125-522: The colony. By contrast, other arrivals were described as women "of easy virtue", vagrants or outlaws, and those without family, who arrived in Louisiana with a lettre de cachet ; they were sent by force to the colony, especially during the Régence period early in the reign of Louis XV . Their stories inspired the novel Story of the Knight of Grieux and Manon Lescaut , written by Abbé Prévost in 1731. In 1721,
10250-483: The community before and after 1800, as revealed in their bones and artifacts. Most significantly, they discovered that the Omaha were an equestrian Plains culture and buffalo hunters by 1770, making them the "first documented equestrian culture on the Northern Plains." They also found that before 1800, the Omaha traded mostly in arms and ornaments. Men had many more roles in the patrilineal culture than did women: as "archers, warriors, gunsmiths, and merchants," including
10375-500: The crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, which lasted several months, the colonists had several challenges ahead of them. Their living conditions were difficult: uprooted, they had to face a new, often hostile, environment. Many of these immigrants died during the maritime crossing or soon after their arrival. Physical conditions were harsh, and the tropical climate was difficult for colonists. Hurricanes, unknown in France, periodically struck
10500-443: The east side of the Mississippi River in present-day Illinois; and Ste. Genevieve across the river in today's Missouri. The region was initially governed as part of Canada, but was declared to be part of Louisiana in 1712, with the grant of the Louisiana country to Antoine Crozat . By the 1720s a formal government infrastructure had formed; leaders of the towns reported to the commandant of Fort de Chartres , who in turn reported to
10625-482: The establishment of Fort Maurepas , near modern Biloxi, Mississippi , in 1699. A colonial government soon emerged, with its capital originally at Mobile , later at Biloxi and finally at New Orleans (in 1722, four years after the city's founding). The government was led by a governor-general , and Louisiana became an increasingly important colony in the early 18th century. The earliest settlers of Upper Louisiana mostly came from French Canada, while Lower Louisiana
10750-555: The exploration of French Louisiana; it sent missions, primarily carried out by Jesuits , to convert Native Americans. It also founded schools and hospitals: By 1720, the Ursulines were operating a hospital in New Orleans. The church and its missionaries established contact with the numerous Amerindian tribes. Certain priests, such as Father Marquette in the 17th century, took part in exploratory missions. The Jesuits translated collections of prayers into numerous Amerindian languages to convert
10875-463: The first slaves to be freed was Louis Congo , who, in 1725, received freedom, land, and compensation in exchange for becoming the public executioner of New Orleans. Some freed slaves (notably women and former soldiers) formed small communities, which suffered from segregation ; justice was more severe against them, and they did not have right to possess weapons. Slaves contributed to the creolization of Louisianan society. They brought okra from Africa,
11000-508: The fort on November 9, 1723, to be garrisoned with 40 French soldiers. In 1724, de Bourgmont traveled up the Missouri River to the Kaw village near Doniphan, Kansas , with the objective of establishing friendly relations among the Indian tribes of the region and seeking a trade route to the Spanish colony of Nuevo México . With a delegation of Indians from several tribes, he then ventured westward onto
11125-534: The fur trade and access to other tribes on the Upper Missouri River. Omaha, Nebraska , the largest city in Nebraska, is named after them. Never known to take up arms against the U.S., the Omaha assisted the U.S. during the American Civil War . The Omaha tribe began as a larger Eastern Woodlands tribe comprising both the Omaha, Ponca and Quapaw tribes. This tribe coalesced and inhabited the area near
11250-644: The garrison had been reduced to a contingent of eight soldiers, Native Americans attacked and burned it, killing all the troops. Another story says it was merely abandoned. On November 29, 1729, Natchez Indians attacked French settlements near present-day Natchez, Mississippi , killing more than 200 French colonists. Less than one year later, on September 9, 1730, a French army of 1,400 soldiers and its Indian allies massacred about 500 Fox Indians (including 300 women and children) as they tried to flee their besieged camp. Archeologists have not found evidence of Fort Orleans despite some promising starts, particularly south of
11375-460: The government applied a single unified law of the land: the Custom of Paris for civil law (rather egalitarian for the time); the "Code Louis", consisting of the 1667 ordinance on civil procedure and 1670 ordinance on criminal procedure ; the 1673 "Code Savary" for trade; and the 1685 Code noir for slavery. This served as an equaliser for a while; riots and revolts against authority were rare. But,
11500-424: The hardest. The maintenance of canals for rice irrigation and travel also involved much labor. Slave residences and furnishings as supplied by planters were modest. The slaves were given simple straw pallets as beds. They typically had some trunks and kitchen utensils. The condition of the slaves depended on the treatment they received from their masters. When it was excessively cruel, the slaves often fled and hid in
11625-432: The hope of finding gold or of carrying out a profitable fur trade with the Indians. The fur trade, often practiced without authorization, was a difficult activity, carried on most of the time by young unmarried men. Many ultimately wished to go on to more sedentary agricultural activities. Meanwhile, a good number of them were integrated into native communities, learned the languages, and took native wives. A well-known example
11750-558: The inhabitants were gone on a seasonal buffalo hunt. The expedition met with the Oto people, who were also Siouan speaking. The explorers were led to the gravesite of Chief Blackbird before continuing on their expedition west. In 1815 the Omaha made their first treaty with the United States, one called a "treaty of friendship and peace." No land was relinquished by the tribe. Semi-permanent Omaha villages lasted from 8 to 15 years. They created sod houses for winter dwellings, which were arranged in
11875-683: The keys to their survival. The Spanish built a fort nearby and traded regularly with the Omaha during this period. After the United States made the Louisiana Purchase and exerted pressure on the trading in this area, there was a proliferation of different kinds of goods among the Omaha: tools and clothing became prevalent, such as scissors, axes, top hats and buttons. Women took on more manufacturing of goods for trade, as well as hand farming, perhaps because of evolving technology. Those women buried after 1800 had shorter, more strenuous lives; none lived past
12000-480: The major ceremonial roles. Sacred bundles from religious ceremonies were found buried only with men. In pre-settlement times, the Omaha had an intricately developed social structure that was closely tied to the people's concept of an inseparable union between sky (male principle) and earth (female); it was part of their creation story and their view of the cosmos. This union was viewed as critical to perpetuation of all living forms and pervaded Omaha culture. The tribe
12125-507: The marshes or in New Orleans. The Maroon societies that runaway slaves founded were often short-lived; Louisiana did not have the larger and semi-permanent Maroon villages that developed in the West Indies. Meanwhile, slave revolts were not as frequent in this area as they were in the Caribbean. The possibility of being set free was rather low; the slaves could not purchase their freedom. One of
12250-506: The mid-18th century, which resulted in the birth of the Cajun dialect. The prestige dialect still used by Creoles and Cajuns is often identified as deriving from Colonial French, but some linguists differentiate between the two, referring to the latter as Plantation Society French. Historically spoken by Louisiana Creole population in lower French Louisiana, Colonial French is generally considered to have been adopted by whites, blacks and Cajuns. It
12375-483: The next four decades. French explorers and frontiersmen, such as Pedro Vial , were often employed as guides and interpreters by the Spanish and later by the Americans. The Spanish lieutenant governors at St. Louis maintained the traditional "Illinois Country" nomenclature, using titles such as "commander in chief of the western part and districts of Illinois" and administrators commonly referred to their capital St. Louis "of
12500-488: The parishes of St. Martin, Avoyelles, Iberia, Pointe-Coupée, St. Charles, St. Landry, St. Mary, St. Tammany, Plaquemines, and other parishes south of Orleans, that still speak this prestige dialect. However, linguists have pointed out this prestige dialect is distinct from the pre-Upheaval Colonial French, and is largely derived from the standard French of the mid-19th century, Spanish, African languages, and Native Americans languages. As such, in 1998 linguist Michael Picone of
12625-599: The part north of the 49th parallel to the United Kingdom in the Treaty of 1818 . It is part of present-day Alberta and Saskatchewan . In the 18th century, Louisiana included most of the Mississippi River basin (see drawing alongside) from what is now the Midwestern United States south to the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Within this vast territory, only two areas saw substantial French settlement: Upper Louisiana ( French : Haute-Louisiane ), also known as
12750-406: The payments to the traders. It reduced the total value of annuities from $ 1,200,000 to $ 84,000, spread over years until 1895. It reserved the right to decide on distribution between cash and goods for the annuities. The tribe finally removed to the Blackbird Hills about 1856, and they first built a village in its traditional pattern. By the 1870s, bison were quickly disappearing from the plains, and
12875-530: The peace treaty was ratified. ) As part of a general report on conditions in the newly conquered Province of Canada, Gen. Thomas Gage (then commandant at Montreal) explained in 1762 that, although the boundary between Louisiana and Canada was not exact, it was understood that the upper Mississippi (above the mouth of the Illinois) was in Canadian trading territory. Following the transfer of power (at which time many of
13000-490: The population as "French". After the Seven Years' War , in which Britain defeated France, the settlement attracted a variety of groups: Spanish settlers, refugees from Saint Domingue (particularly after 1791 when the slave uprisings began), opponents of the French Revolution , and Acadians . In 1785, 1633 people of Acadian origin were brought from France to New Orleans, 30 years after having been expelled from Acadia by
13125-486: The secret Third Treaty of San Ildefonso of 1800. Napoleon Bonaparte made plans to further develop France's control but strained by operations in the Caribbean and Europe, he sold the territory to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, ending France's presence. Remnants of France's long tenure are still found, especially in New Orleans and along the Mississippi and its tributaries. The United States ceded
13250-484: The ship La Baleine carried nearly 90 women of childbearing age to Louisiana; they were recruited from the Paris prison of La Salpetrière . Most quickly found husbands among the residents of the colony. These women, many of whom were most likely prostitutes or felons, were known as The Baleine Brides . Communities of Swiss and German peoples also settled in French Louisiana, but royal authorities always referred to
13375-436: The southern part of Thurston County and northeastern Cuming County , Nebraska, but small parts extend into the northeast corner of Burt County and across the Missouri River into Monona County, Iowa . Its total land area is 307.03 sq mi (795.2 km ) and the reservation population, including non-Native residents, was 4,526 in the 2020 census . Its largest community is Pender . The Omaha people migrated to
13500-408: The tribe removed to the Omaha Reservation about 1856, they initially built their village and earth lodges in the traditional patterns, with the half-tribes and clans in their traditional places in the layout. The Omaha revere an ancient Sacred Pole, from before the time of their migration to the Missouri, made of cottonwood . It is called Umoⁿ'hoⁿ'ti (meaning "The Real Omaha") and considered to be
13625-505: The twentieth century, about 100 years after the Pole had been transferred, the tribe negotiated with the Peabody Museum for its return. The tribe planned to install the Sacred Pole in a cultural center to be built. When the museum returned the Sacred Pole to the tribe in July 1989, the Omaha held an August pow-wow in celebration and as part of their revival. The Sacred Pole is said to represent
13750-682: The upper Missouri area and the Plains by the late 17th century from earlier locations in the Ohio River Valley. The Omaha speak a Siouan language of the Dhegihan branch, which is very similar to that spoken by the Ponca . The latter were part of the Omaha before splitting off into a separate tribe in the mid-18th century. They were also related to the Siouan-speaking Osage , Quapaw , and Kansa peoples, who also migrated west under pressure from
13875-399: The vast varied colony of New France into five smaller provinces, including Louisiana. The Illinois Country, south of the Great Lakes, was added to Louisiana in 1717 and became known as Upper Louisiana. Mobile served as French Louisiana's first "capital". The seat of government moved to Biloxi in 1720, and then to New Orleans in 1722, where the governor lived. While the office of governor general
14000-411: The village, the area that symbolized the heavens. Earth people lived in the southern half, which represented the earth. The circle opened to the east. Within each half of the village, the clans or gentes were located based on their members' tribal duties and relationship to other clans. Earth lodges were as large as 60 feet (18 m) in diameter and might hold several families, even their horses. When
14125-557: The west, with the notable exception of the Ozark Mountains , which are located in the mid-south. Lower Louisiana consisted of lands in the Lower Mississippi River watershed , including settlements in what are now the U.S. states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The French first explored it in the 1660s, and a few trading posts were established in the following years; serious attempt at settlement began with
14250-558: The whole of the valley, which they called Louisiane in honor of the French king, Louis XIV . They sealed alliances with the Quapaw Indians. In April 1682, they arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi. Cavelier eventually returned to Versailles , where he convinced the Minister of the Marine to grant the command of Louisiana to him. He claimed that Louisiana was close to New Spain by drawing
14375-550: Was adapted to some of the meandering rivers and bayous there. There were few corporations treated hierarchically and strictly regulated. Certain tradesmen managed to build fortunes rather quickly. The large planters of Louisiana were attached to the French way of life: they imported wigs and clothing fashionable in Paris. In the Country of Illinois, the wealthiest constructed stone-built houses and had several slaves. The largest traders mostly wound up settling in New Orleans. The King sent
14500-521: Was colonized by people from all over the French colonial empire , with various waves coming from Canada, France, and the French West Indies . Upper Louisiana, also known as the Illinois Country, was the French territory in the upper Mississippi River Valley , including settlements and fortifications in what are now the states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. French exploration of the area began with
14625-532: Was divided into two moieties or half-tribes, the Sky People ( Insta'shunda ) and the Earth People ( Hon'gashenu ), each led by a different hereditary chief, who inherited power from his father's line. Sky people were responsible for the tribe's spiritual needs and Earth people for the tribe's physical welfare. Each moiety was composed of five clans or gente, which also had differing responsibilities. Each gens had
14750-526: Was exhausted because of the wars in Europe, but the colonists in Louisiana did not have to pay royal taxes and were free of the hated gabelle . Under the Ancien Régime , Louisiana formed part of a larger colonial unit, French American territory—New France ( Nouvelle France ), which included a large part of modern-day Canada. New France was initially ruled by a viceroy in 1625, the Duke of Ventadour . The colony
14875-439: Was for many reasons. The reign of Henry IV gave an important impetus to the colonisation of New France. Henry IV, the first Bourbon king, was personally interested in foreign affairs. In the 17th century, the ministers Richelieu and later Colbert advanced colonial politics. Louis XIV and his ministers were worried about the size of the kingdom, over which they constantly competed with other European nations. European rivalry and
15000-418: Was not easy for an absolute monarchy to administer Louisiana, a territory several times larger than European France . Louis XIV and his successors tried to impose their absolutist ambitions on the colony, often without giving the colonial administration enough financial means to do its work. If the leaders of Ancien Régime took control of, and sometimes encouraged, the colonization of New France , it
15125-676: Was the Missouri tribal village near where Fort Orleans was to be established. In 1713 de Bourgmont wrote Exact Description of Louisiana, of Its Harbors, Lands and Rivers, and Names of the Indian Tribes That Occupy It, and the Commerce and Advantages to Be Derived Therefrom for the Establishment of a Colony. In 1714, he published an account detailing his travels to the mouth of the Platte River , entitled The Route to Be Taken to Ascend
15250-552: Was the first recorded French visit to them. In celebration, in 1725 Bourgmont escorted the chiefs of the tribes to Paris to show them the "glory of France", including the palaces at Château de Marly , Fontainebleau and Versailles ; and to hunt on the royal preserve with Louis XV . Bourgmont returned to his home in Normandy and did not accompany the chiefs back to Missouri. He abandoned his Missouri wife and children. The French abandoned Fort Orleans in 1726. One story says that when
15375-456: Was the interpreter at the Bellevue Agency, serving different US Indian agents . The mixed-race Omaha - French man was trilingual and also worked as a trader. His mother was Omaha; his father French Canadian. In January 1854 he acted as interpreter during the agent James M. Gatewood's negotiations for land cessions with 60 Omaha leaders and elders, who sat in council at Bellevue. Gatewood had been under pressure by Washington headquarters to achieve
15500-458: Was the most eminent, it was not the most powerful. His was a military position that required him to lead the troops and maintain diplomatic relations. The second provincial authority was the commissaire-ordonnateur . His was a civil post with similar functions as that of the intendants in France: the king's administrator and representative, he oversaw justice, the police force, and finances. He managed
15625-650: Was then given a government like the Bourbons ' other possessions. Its capital was Quebec City until 1759. A governor-general , assisted by a single intendant , was charged with ruling this vast region. In theory, Louisiana was subordinate to Canada, and so it was explored and settled chiefly by French-Canadians rather than colonists from France. Given the enormous distance between New Orleans and Quebec, communications outside cities and forts were limited. French settlements were widely dispersed, which afforded them de facto autonomy. The government decided to break up governance of
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