Native American Town of Imaha

Imaha – A Quapaw village mentioned by La Metairie in 1682 and by Iberville in 1699, and visited by La Harpe in 1719. It was situated on a south west branch of Arkansas River. In the wars and contentions of the 18th and 19th centuries some of the Quapaw tribe fled from their more northerly villages and took refuge among the Caddo, finally becoming a recognized division of the confederacy. These were called Imaha, but whether the people composing this division were from the village Imaha, mentioned by the early French travelers, is not absolutely known. The people of the Imaha division of the Caddo confederacy for some time retained their own language, which was Siouan. 1

I’maha—a band of Omaha, or perhaps more probably Kwâpâ, who lived with the Kä’dohadä’cho, but retained their own distinct language. There are still a few living with the Caddo, but they retain only the name. It will be remembered that when the Caddo lived in eastern Louisiana the Arkansas or Kwâpâ were their nearest neighbors on the north, and these Imaha may have been a part of the Kwâpâ who lived “up stream” (U’mañhañ) on the Arkansas. The Caddo call the Omaha tribe by the same name. 2)

Alternate Spellings:

1. Imaham – La Harpe (1719) in French, Historical Collections Louisiana, pt III, 73, 1851.
2. Imahans – Jefferys, American Atlas Map 5, 1776.
3. Imahao – Iberville (1699) in Margry, Déc., IV, 179, 1880.
4. I’maha – Mooney, 14th Rep. B. A. E., 1092, 1896.

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Citations:

1. Hodge, Handbook of American Indians, 609, 1907.[↩]
2. Mooney, 14th Rep. B. A. E., 1092, 1896. (A. C. F.[↩]