Missouria

The Missouria, also known as the Missouri, are a Native American people historically living along the Missouri River in the central United States. They are a Siouan-speaking group, closely associated with the Chiwere language family that includes Iowa and Otoe speakers. Traditionally, the Missouria organized in village communities and pursued farming, hunting, and gathering while maintaining trade and social ties with neighboring tribes and European settlers.

Historically their homeland stretched along the upper Mississippi and Missouri valleys, in what are now portions of Missouri, Iowa, and surrounding areas. Beginning in the 17th and 18th centuries, they engaged in trade networks and political alliances with neighboring tribes and, later, with European colonial powers and the United States. As settlers moved westward in the 19th century, many Missouria, along with the Otoe, were relocated to Indian Territory, later known as present-day Oklahoma.

Today descendants of the Missouria are enrolled in the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Red Rock, Oklahoma. The tribe maintains its own government through elected leadership and a tribal council, and it works to preserve Chiwere language heritage, cultural traditions, education, and economic development.

See also: Otoe-Missouria Tribe.