Pawnee Nation



To get started in American Indian Research

Ancestral Homeland: Kansas and Nebraska (on Platte River and the Republican Fork of the Kansas River )

The Pawnee Nation is primarily associated with the state of Oklahoma.

Linguistic Group: Caddoan

Tribal Headquarters
Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma P.O. Box 470 Pawnee, OK 74058 Phone: 1.918.762.3621 Fax: 1.918.762.6446


 * Pawnee Nation of OklahomaOfficial Website

History
A history of the Pawnee Nation is included in a National Historical Register .pdf file, p. 29ff., available on the internet (takes time to load).

The Pawnee consisted of four tribes:


 * Chaui or Grand Pawnee,
 * Kitkehahki or Republican Pawnee,
 * Pitahuerat or Tapage Pawnee,
 * Skidi or Skiri Pawnee

The Pawnee Nation was assigned to the following Agencies:


 * 1824-37: Upper Missouri Agency
 * 1837-56: Council Bluffs Agency
 * 1856-59: Otoe Agency
 * 1859-80: Pawnee Agency
 * 1873-75: Wichita Agency

These agencies were under the following Superintendencies: St. Louis Superintendency, Central Superintendency and Northern Superintendency

Brief Timeline

 * 1541: Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado made contact with the tribe
 * 1601: Juan de Onate a Spanish explorer
 * 1770: Southern Pawnee migrated northward near the Northern Pawnee (Skidi) Platte River, Loup River, and the Republican Fork of the Kansas River (Nebraska)
 * 1865-1885: Frank and Luther North organized a battalion (U.S. Army) of Pawnee scouts; they worked as guard for railroad construction crews
 * 1873: Massacre Canyon; Sioux war party ambushed a Pawnee hunting party killing 150.
 * 1875-1876: left Nebraska and moved to Indian Territory ( Pawnee County, Oklahoma)

Additional References to the History of the Tribe
Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Pawnee tribe, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods. Additional details in David Bushnell's Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi.

Military Records

 * 1861-1869 Pawnee Scouts of Nebraska; list of Pawnee's who served as scouts for the military www.ancestry.com

Vital Records

 * Pawnee Agency, M595, births and deaths 1924-1932,

Treaties:
The treaties of 1833, 1848, and 1857 ceded all their lands in Nebraska.


 * June 18-22, 1818: St. Louis, Missouri Territory. Peace was concluded with the tribes of the region disturbed by the War of 1812.
 * 1818 June 18, with the Grand Pawnee
 * 1818 June 19, with the Noisy Pawnee
 * 1818 June 20, with the Pawnee Republic
 * 1818 June 22, with the Pawnee Marhar
 * 1825 September 30, at Fort Atkinson, (Council Bluffs), Iowa, regulation of trade
 * 1833 October 9, at Grand Pawnee Village on the Platte River, land ceded "all land lying south of the Platte River: annuity: $4,600 in goods
 * 1848 August 6, at Fort Childs, Nebraska ceded 60 mile strip on the Platte River and Grand Island
 * 1857 September 24, at Table Creek, Nebraska Territory, land ceeded, reservation. provision for half-breeds
 * 1892:land in severalty and became citizens of the U.S.

Also listed in Treaties with Marhar, Tappaye, Loups, Republic, Republicans.

Listed below in references:

Kappler, Charles J.Indian Treaties 1778-1883, Interland Publishing Inc. New York, NY. 1972

ISNB 0-87989-02508

Important Web Sites

 * Constitution of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma
 * Pawnee Nation of OklahomaOfficial Website
 * Pawnee Tribe Wikipedia