Kansa Topics – Access Genealogy

Treaty of March 13, 1862

Whereas a treaty was made and concluded at the Kansas agency, in the then Territory, but now State, of Kansas, on the fifth day of October, A. D. 1859, by and between Alfred B. Greenwood, commissioner on the part of the United States, and the chiefs and head-men representing the Kansas tribe of Indians, and authorized by said tribe for that purpose; which treaty, after having been submitted to the Senate of the United States for its constitutional action thereon, was duly accepted, ratified, and confirmed by the President of the United States, on the seventeenth day of November, A. … Read more

Treaty of October 5, 1859

Articles of agreement and convention made and concluded at the Kansas agency, in the Territory of Kansas, on the fifth day of October, eighteen hundred and fifty-nine, by and between Alfred B. Greenwood, commissioner, on the part of the United States, and the following-named chiefs and headmen representing the Kansas tribe of Indians, to wit: Ke-hi-ga-wah Chuffe, Ish-tal-a-sa, Ne-hoo-ja-in-gah, Ki-hi-ga-wat-te-in-gah, Ki-he-gah-cha, Al-li-ca-wah-ho, Pah-hous-ga-tun-gah, Ke-hah-lah-la-hu, Ki-ha-gah-chu, Ee-le-sun-gah, Wah-pah-jah, Ko-sah-mun-gee, Oo-ga-shama, Wah-Shumga, Wah-ti-inga, Wah-e-la-ga, Pa-ha-ne-ga-la, Pa-ta-go, Cahulle, Ma-she-tum, Wa-no-ba-ga-ha, She-ga-wa-sa, Ma-his-pa-wa-cha, Ma-shon-o-pusha, Ja-ha-sha-watanga, Ki-he-ga-tussa, and Ka-la-sha-wat-lumga, they being thereto duly authorized by said tribe. Article 1. The Kansas Indians having now more … Read more

Treaty of June 3, 1825

Articles of a treaty made and concluded at the City of Saint Louis, in the State of Missouri, between William Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Commissioner on the part of the United States of America, and the undersigned Chiefs, Head Men, and Warriors of the Kansas Nation of Indians, duly authorized and empowered by said Nation. Article 1. The Kansas do hereby cede to the United States all the lands lying within the State of Missouri, to which the said nation have title or claim; and do further cede and relinquish, to the said United States, all other lands which … Read more

Treaty of August 16, 1825

Whereas the Congress of the United States of America being anxious to promote a direct commercial and friendly intercourse between the citizens of the United States and those of the Mexican Republic, and, to afford protection to the same, did, at their last session, pass an act, which was approved the 3d of March, 1825, “to authorize the President of the United States to cause a road to be marked out from the Western frontier of Missouri to the confines of New Mexico,” and which authorizes the President of the United States to appoint Commissioners to carry said act of … Read more

Treaty of October 28, 1815

A treaty of peace and friendship, made and concluded at St. Louis between Ninian Edwards and Auguste Chouteau, Commissioners Plenipotentiary of the United States of America, on the part and behalf of the said States, of one part; and the undersigned Chiefs and Warriors of the Kanzas Tribe of Indians, on the part and behalf of their said Tribe, of the other part. The parties being desirous of re-establishing peace and friendship between the United States and their said tribe, and of being placed, in all things, and in every respect, upon the same footing upon which they stood before … Read more

Treaty of January 14, 1846

Articles of a treaty made and concluded at the Methodist Mission, in the Kansas country, between Thomas H. Harvey and Richard W. Cummins, commissioners of the United States, and the Kansas tribe of Indians. Article 1. The Kansas tribe of Indians cede to the United States two millions of acres of land on the east part of their country, embracing the entire width, thirty miles, and running west for quantity. Article 2. In consideration of the foregoing cession, the United States agree to pay to the Kansas Indians two hundred and two thousand dollars, two hundred thousand of which shall … Read more

Kansa Indians

The Kansas Indians were located usually on some part of the Kansas River, which derives its name from them.

Houses of the Kansa Tribe

To quote from the Handbook: “Their linguistic relations are closest with the Osage, and are close with the Quapaw. In the traditional migration of the group, after the Quapaw had first separated there from, the main body divided at the mouth of Osage River, the Osage moving up that stream and the Omaha and Ponca crossing Missouri River and proceeding northward, while the Kansa ascended the Missouri on the south side to the mouth of Kansa River. Here a brief halt was made, after which they ascended the Missouri on the, south side until they reached the present north boundary … Read more

Inchi

Inchi (In′tci, ‘stone lodge’). A village occupied by the Kansa in their migration up Kansas River. J. O. Dorsey, inf’n, 1882.

Kansa Indian Gentes

The Kansa gentes as given by Dorsey (15th Rep. B. A. E., 230, 1897) are: Manyinka (earth lodge) Ta (deer) Panka (Ponca) Kanze (Kansa) Wasabe (black bear) Wanaghe (ghost) Kekin (carries a turtle on his hack) Minkin (carries the sun on his back) Upan (elk) Khuva (white eagle) Han (night) lbache (holds the firebrand to sacred pipes) Hangatanga (large Hanga) Chedunga (buffalo bull) Chizhuwashtage (Chizhu peacemaker) Lunikashinga (thunder being people) These gentes constitute 7 phratries.

Kansa Tribe

Kansa Indians. A southwestern Siouan tribe; one of the five, according to Dorsey’s arrangement, of the Dhegiha group. Their linguistic relations are closest with the Osage, and are close with the Quapaw. In the traditional migration of the group, after the Quapaw had first separated therefrom, the main body divided at the month of Osage River, the Osage moving up that stream and the Omaha and Ponca crossing Missouri River and proceeding northward, while the Kansa ascended the Missouri on the south side to the mouth of Kansas River. Here a brief halt was made, after which they ascended the … Read more

Big Blue River Kansas Indians

The Kansas town erected at the mouth of the Big Blue was established after Bourgmont’s visit to the tribes at the mouth of Independence Creek. The exact date can not now be fixed. It was probably about 1780. Lewis and Clark found their abandoned villages on the Missouri and their towns were then on the Kansas. One town was twenty leagues up this river, and the other twice that distance. The entry runs to this effect: This river (the Kansas) receives its name from a nation which dwells at this time on its banks, and has two villages one about … Read more

The Pawnee of Kansas

On July 2, 1804, Lewis and Clark made the following entry: Opposite our camp is a valley, in which was situated an old village of the Kansas, between two high points of land, on the bank of the river. About a mile in the rear of the village was a small fort, built by the French on an elevation. There are now no traces of the village, but the situation of the fort may be recognized by some remains of chimneys, and the general outlines of the fortification, as well as by the fine spring which supplied it with water. … Read more

Tipi and Earth Lodges of the Plains Tribes

Fig. 8. Setting up a Crow Tipi. (Tetzold photo.)

One of the most characteristic features of Plains Indian culture was the tipi. All the tribes of the area, almost without exception, used it for a part of the year at least. Primarily, the tipi was a conical tent covered with dressed buffalo skins. A carefully mounted and equipped tipi from the Black-foot Indians stands in the center of the Plains exhibit. Everywhere the tipi was made, cared for, and set up by the women. First, a conical framework of long slender poles was erected and the cover raised into place. Then the edges of the cover were staked down … Read more

Kaw or Kansas Indian Tribe Photo Descriptions

The Kansas are an offshoot of the Osages, whom they resemble in many respects. In 1673 they were placed on Marquette’s map as on the Missouri, above the Osages. After the cession of Louisiana, a treaty was made with them by the United States. They were then on the river Kansas at the mouth of the Saline, having been forced back from the Missouri by the Sioux, and numbered about 1,500 in 130 earthen lodges. Some of their chiefs visited Washington as early as 1820. In 1825 ceded their lands on the Missouri, retaining a reservation on the Kansas, where … Read more

Kansa Indian Bands, Gens and Clans

Many tribes have sub-tribes, bands, gens, clans and phratry. Often very little information is known or they no longer exist. We have included them here to provide more information about the tribes. Chedunga. A subgens of the Chedunga gens of the Kansa. Chizhuwashtage (chizhu peacemaker). The 15th Kansa gens, the 7th on the Yata side of the tribal circle. Dakanmanyin (walks shining). A subgens of the Han gens of the Kansa. Han (‘night’). A Kansa gens. Its sub-gentes are Hannikashinga and Dakanmanvin. Hangatanga (‘large Hanga’). A Kansa gens. Hangnikashinga (night people ). A subgens of the Han gens of the … Read more