Petalesharro - Generous Chief - by Charles Bird King, c1822

The Skidi or Skiri, also known as the Wolf Pawnee or the French Loup Pawnee, are a band of

Pawnee people The Pawnee are a Central Plains Indian tribe that historically lived in Nebraska and northern Kansas but today are based in Oklahoma. Today they are the federally recognized Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, who are headquartered in Pawnee, Oklahoma. ...

. According to tradition in earlier times, the Skidi were associated with the

Arikara Arikara (), also known as Sahnish,
''Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation.'' (Retrieved Sep 29, 2011)

before the Arikara moved northward. The Skidi language was less related to the other Pawnee languages than the other three tribes' languages were related to each other. In historic times, the Skidi first lived on the Loup River in

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 sout ...

. The Skidi's main habitations were along 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 River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which itsel ...

. Some early explorers referred to this waterway as the Panimaha River, since this was before some of the Skidi migrated south; that name came to be associated with a different group. By the 1770s, a group of the Skidi had broken off and moved towards Texas, where they allied with the

Taovayas The Taovaya tribe of the Wichita people were Native Americans originally from Kansas, who moved south into Oklahoma and Texas in the 18th century. They spoke the Taovaya dialect of the Wichita language, a Caddoan language. Taovaya people tod ...

, the

Tonkawa The Tonkawa are a Native American tribe indigenous to present-day Oklahoma. Their Tonkawa language, now extinct, is a linguistic isolate. Today, Tonkawa people are enrolled in the federally recognized Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. ...

Yojuanes The Yojuane were a people who lived in Texas in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. They were closely associated with the Jumano and may have also been related to the Tonkawa. They have no connection to the Yowani in Texas, a Choctaw band. Etym ...

and other Texas tribes. This group was referred to as the Panimaha. The Skidi are notable for their performance of a type of

human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherei ...

, known as the

Morning Star ceremony Pawnee mythology is the body of oral history, cosmology, and myths of the Pawnee people concerning their gods and heroes. The Pawnee are a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans, originally located on the Great Plains along tributaries ...

, recorded for the last time in 1838. Today, the Skidi Pawnee are enrolled in the

Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma The Pawnee are a Central Plains Indian tribe that historically lived in Nebraska and northern Kansas but today are based in Oklahoma. Today they are the federally recognized Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, who are headquartered in Pawnee, Oklahoma. T ...

."Preamble." ''Constitution of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma.'' Revised 14 June 2008.

References

''Handbook of North American Indians: Plains, Part 1'' page 545

External links

Pawnee Native American tribes in Nebraska Native American tribes in Oklahoma {{Nebraska-stub