The Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska is one of two

federally recognized tribe This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...

s of

Iowa people The Iowa, also known as Ioway, and the Bah-Kho-Je or Báxoje (English: grey snow; Chiwere language, Chiwere: Báxoje ich'é) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American Sioux, Siouan people. Today, they are enrolled in either of ...

. The other is the

Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma The Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma is one of two federally recognized tribes for the Iowa people. The other is the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska. Traditionally Iowas spoke the Chiwere language, part of the Siouan language family. Their own name for ...

. They hold an annual Indian movie night and a

powwow A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native American and First Nations communities. Powwows today allow Indigenous people to socialize, dance, sing, and honor their cultures. Powwows may be private or pu ...

every September.

Reservation

The

Iowa Reservation The Iowa Reservation of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska straddles the borders of southeast Richardson County in southeastern Nebraska and Brown and Doniphan Counties in northeastern Kansas. Tribal headquarters are west of White Cloud, Kan ...

is located in Richardson County in southeastern

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

and

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

and Doniphan Counties in northeastern

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. It spans of checkerboard lands, alternating between tribal and non-Native ownership.

Government

The Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska is headquartered in

White Cloud, Kansas White Cloud ( Ioway: ''Chína Maxúthga'' pronounced or ''Chína Maxúhga'' pronounced , meaning "Village Cloud-White") is a city in Doniphan County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 115. It was na ...

. The tribe is governed by a five-member council. The current administration is as follows. * Chairperson: Tim Rhodd * Vice-chairperson: Lance Foster * Treasurer: Elyse Towey * Secretary: Tony Fee * Council Member: Robbie Craig.

Economic development

The tribe owns and operates a dairy farm, fuel station, grain processing operation,Pritzker 324 Casino White Cloud, and the Mahuska Restaurant, located in White Cloud, Kansas.

History

Chiwere Siouan language Chiwere (also called Iowa-Otoe-Missouria or Báxoje-Jíwere-Ñút'achi) is a Siouan language originally spoken by the Missouria, Otoe, and Iowa peoples, who originated in the Great Lakes region but later moved throughout the Midwest and plains. ...

-speaking people, the Iowa originally lived near the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

and were once part of the

Ho-Chunk Nation The Ho-Chunk Nation (Ho-Chunk language: ) is a federally recognized tribe of the Ho-Chunk with traditional territory across five states in the United States: Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Missouri. The other federally recognized trib ...

. In the 17th century, Iowa people lived in northern

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

and southern

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. During the 1820s and 1830s, the tribe signed numerous treaties with the US federal government and were assigned a reservation near the

Great Nemaha River The Nemaha River basin includes the areas of the U.S. state of Nebraska below the Platte River The Platte River () is a major river in the State of Nebraska. It is about long; measured to its farthest source via its tributary, the North Platte ...

near the Kansas–Nebraska border in 1836. In the 1870s, the tribe split into two groups, and the Southern Ioway moved to

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...

, while the Northern Ioway remained in Kansas and Nebraska. They ratified their constitution and by-laws on 26 February 1937. During the period from the 1940s to the 1960s, in which the

Indian termination policy Indian termination is a phrase describing United States policies relating to Native Americans from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s. It was shaped by a series of laws and practices with the intent of assimilating Native Americans into mainstream ...

was enforced, four

tribes, including the Iowa, were targeted for termination. One of the first pieces of legislation enacted during this period was the

Kansas Act of 1940 The Kansas Act of 1940 addressed the means by which Congress could use its power under the Indian Commerce Clause to authorize a state's ability to exercise jurisdiction in certain instances. Because the inherent sovereignty of Indian nations genera ...

which transferred all jurisdiction for crimes committed on or against Indians from federal jurisdiction to the State of Kansas. It did not preclude the federal government from trying Native people, but it allowed the state into an area of law in which had historically belonged only to the federal government. On 1 August 1953, the

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washingto ...

passed

House Concurrent Resolution 108 House concurrent resolution 108 (HCR-108), passed August 1, 1953, declared it to be the sense of Congress that it should be policy of the United States to abolish federal supervision over American Indian tribes as soon as possible and to subjec ...

which called for the immediate termination of the Flathead,

Klamath Klamath may refer to: Ethnic groups *Klamath people, a Native American people of California and Oregon **Klamath Tribes, a federally recognized group of tribes in Oregon *Klamath language, spoken by the Klamath people Places in the United States * ...

Menominee The Menominee (; mez, omǣqnomenēwak meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recog ...

Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

, and

Turtle Mountain Chippewa The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians (Ojibwe language: ''Mikinaakwajiw-ininiwag'') is a Native American tribe of Ojibwa mixed heritage people, who would be considered Metis if they were Canadian, based on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reser ...

, as well as all tribes in the states of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Termination of a tribe meant the immediate withdrawal of all federal aid, services, and protection, as well as the end of reservations. A memo issued by the

Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

on 21 January 1954 clarified that the reference to "Potawatomi" in the Resolution meant the

, the Kickapoo, the

Sac and Fox The Sac and Fox Nation ( ''Mesquakie'' language: ''Othâkîwaki / Thakiwaki'' or ''Sa ki wa ki'') is the largest of three federally recognized tribes of Sauk and Meskwaki (Fox) Indian peoples. Originally from the Lake Huron and Lake Michigan ...

, and the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska tribes in Kansas. Because jurisdiction over criminal matters had already been transferred to the State of Kansas by the passage of the

, the government targeted the four tribes in Kansas for immediate termination. In February 1954, joint hearings for the Kansas tribes were held by the House and Senate Subcommittees on Indian Affairs. The Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation tribal leader, Minnie Wishkeno Evans (Indian name: Ke-wat-no-quah) led the effort to stop termination. Tribal members sent petitions of protest to the government and multiple delegations went to testify at congressional meetings in Washington, DC. Tribal Council members Vestana Cadue, Oliver Kahbeah, and Ralph Simon of the

Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas The Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas is one of three Federally recognized tribes of Kickapoo people. The other Kickapoo tribes in the United States are the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas and the Kickapoo Tribe ...

traveled at their own expense to testify as well. The strong opposition from the Potawatomi and Kickapoo tribes helped them, as well as the

and the Iowa Tribe, avoid termination.

21st century

In March 2016, the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska filed a motion to consult with the

Iowa Utilities Board The Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) is a 3-member public utilities commission, with beginnings in 1878. It is a quasi-judicial tribunal, which regulates services and rates of electric, natural gas, water and telecommunication providers in the U.S. state ...

(IUB) regarding their permit for Dakota Energy to build the

Bakken pipeline The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) or Bakken pipeline is a underground pipeline in the United States that has the ability to transport up to 750,000 barrels of light sweet crude oil per day. It begins in the shale oil fields of the Bakken Form ...

, which will run through the tribe's ancestral lands. The IUB tentatively denied this motion.William Petrosk
Iowa tribe objects to Bakken pipeline process
''Des Moines Register'', 23 March 2016

Notes

References

* Pritzker, Barry M. ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

External links

Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska
official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iowa Tribe of Kansas And Nebraska Native American tribes in Kansas Native American tribes in Nebraska Federally recognized tribes in the United States