Quapaw Indian Agency facts for kids

The Quapaw Indian Agency was a special area of land in what is now Oklahoma. It covered parts of Ottawa and Delaware counties. This land was set aside in the late 1830s for Native American tribes. It was located in the northeastern corner of Oklahoma, near the states of Missouri and Kansas.

After the American Civil War, the Cherokee Nation had to give up this land. The United States government then gave it to many other Native American tribes. Before 1874, about 24 different Native American groups settled here. Some were full tribes, while others were smaller groups whose main tribe lived elsewhere.

The agency stopped operating in 1890 because of the Oklahoma Organic Act. This law aimed to end the idea of tribes owning land together. The land was then divided into smaller plots for individual families. Another similar agency, the Miami Indian Agency, also closed around the same time. All Native American land claims in the area were settled before Oklahoma became a state.

History of the Agency

Many tribes were forced to move to these lands from areas east of the Mississippi River. These included people from the Algonquin and Iroquois tribes. Long ago, these tribes were often enemies. But on these new lands, they learned to live together. They even shared farming and special ceremonies. Other powerful tribes, like the Siouan nation, also lived here. Their grandparents remembered when their tribes owned huge amounts of land in states like Ohio, Illinois, and Arkansas.

Since 1867, a federal office called an "Indian agency" worked here. Its job was to manage the relationship between the government and the tribes. This included making sure tribes received supplies and payments. The person in charge, called the Indian Agent, also helped solve disagreements between families and neighbors.

The land was first given to the Quapaw Tribe. Because of this, the area was later named the Quapaw Agency Lands. Before that, it had other names like the Neosho, Shawnee, and Seneca Indian Agencies. These names came from other major tribes living nearby. The agency office first started near Seneca, Missouri. Later, it moved to Wyandotte in the Indian Territory.

In 1873, about 153 members of the Modoc tribe were moved here. They came from northern California after facing many challenges. The Modoc people lived near the Shawnee tribe on their reserve. The agency did not have enough supplies at first, and the Modoc suffered greatly.

In 1920, two separate agencies were created: the Seneca and the Quapaw. But in 1922, they were combined again and became the Quapaw Agency once more.

Because the tribes lived so close together, many people from different tribes married each other. Over time, some tribes even joined their governments. The names of the tribes listed below might be different from how they are known today.

Main Tribes of the Agency

The main tribes that lived in the Quapaw Indian Agency area were:

• Eastern Shawnee, originally from Indiana and Ohio.
• Miami, originally from Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.
• Modoc, originally from the border of California and Oregon.
• Ottawa, originally from Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois.
• Peoria of the Illinois Confederation, originally from Illinois.
• Quapaw Tribe, originally from Arkansas along the Mississippi River.
• Seneca and Cayuga of the Iroquois Confederacy, originally from New York.
• Wyandotte, originally from Ohio.

Other Information

Daniel B. Dyer Collection

John D. Miles and Daniel B. Dyer both worked as Indian Agents at the Quapaw Agency. Daniel B. Dyer was an agent from 1881 to 1884. The Daniel B. Dyer Collection is at The University of Kansas Libraries. It has old photographs of Quapaw and Osage people. It also shows pictures of the Quapaw and Modoc Methodist Mission. This collection also includes postcards of Oklahoma scenes and portraits of Native Americans from 1889 to 1908.