Indigenous Peoples of Iowa

The name Iowa is derived from an Indian word meaning: "this is the place" or "the beautiful land".

Tribes and Bands of Iowa
The following list of tribes is compiled from:

Hodge, Frederick Webb. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. Washington D.C.: Sithsonian Institution. Bureau of Ethnology. Bulletin #30 1907.

Swanton, John R. The Indian Tribes of North America. Smithsonian Institution: Bureau of Ethnology, Bulletin #145

Tribes and Bands
Many of these tribes or bands lived in or had only minimal association with the area now known as Iowa. Some of them are only mentioned in treaties as parties to the cession of land in Iowa to the federal government.

Chippewa, Dakota, Foxes, Illinois, Iowa, Musquacki (also known as Sac and Fox), Missouri, Mississippi, Moingwena, Omaha, Oto, Ottawa, Peoria, Ponca, Potawatomi, Sioux, Sauk, Winnebago

Reservations
Reservation names in bold are current reservations.

Keokuk Reservation (or Keokuk Reserve) -- a small reserve for the Sac and Fox Indians, 1832-1836, following the Black Hawk War, after which they were removed to later reservations.

Sac and Fox Reservation-- established in 1867 -- Federal reservation located in Tama County, Iowa, under the jurisdiction of the Sac &amp; Fox Agency. Tribe: Sac and Fox (also known as Mesquakie)

Omaha Reservation -- primarily located in the southern part of Thurston County, Nebraska, but a portion extends into Monona County, Iowa. See Indians of Nebraska for additional information.

Winnebago Reservation -- mostly located in Thurston County, Nebraska but there is a small segment in Woodbury County, Iowa, just east of the Missouri River. See Indians of Nebraska for additional information.

Agency
Winnebago Agency

Half-Breed Tract
In the early 1800s, a tract of land was set aside by the federal government in Lee County, Iowa for the descendants of French fur trappers and other Europeans who had inter-married with Native Americans. These individuals were called "half-breeds." Thus the tract of land came to be known as the "Half-Breed Tract." Similar tracts were established in Nebraska, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

Another similar tract was reserved in Nemaha County for "half-breeds" of the Oto, Omaha, and Iowa Tribes and for the Yankton and Santee Bands of the Sioux Tribe. The tract was on land belonging to the Otoes and the other tribes paid them for the right to give their descendants rights to land there.

Records
Records of the Indian Tribes of Iowa may be found in the National Archives or in the Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Lenexa, Kansas.

Many Indian records have been microfilmed and copies are housed at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. To find American Indian records in the Family History Library Catalog look in the Subject Search under the name of the tribe, such as:

FOX INDIANS

POTAWATOMI INDIANS

SAUK INDIANS

You can also look in the Locality Search under:

IOWA - NATIVE RACES

IOWA, [COUNTY]- NATIVE RACES