Otoe

Otoe

Jiwére
Missouri Indian, Otoe Indian, and chief of the Ponca by Karl Bodmer, c. 1840–1843
Total population
4,655 enrolled members
Regions with significant populations
United States ( Oklahoma, formerly  Nebraska)
Languages
English, formerly Chiwere
Religion
Native American Church, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Ioway, Missouria, Ho-Chunk, and Winnebago

The Otoe (Chiwere: Jiwére)^[1] are a Native American people of the Midwestern United States. The Otoe language, Chiwere, is part of the Siouan family and closely related to that of the related Iowa, Missouria, and Ho-Chunk tribes.

Historically, the Otoe tribe lived as a semi-nomadic people on the Central Plains along the bank of the Missouri River in Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and Missouri. They lived in elm-bark lodges while they farmed, and used tipis while traveling, like many other Plains tribes. They often left their villages to hunt buffalo.

In the early 19th century, many of their villages were destroyed due to warfare with other tribes. European-American encroachment and disease also played a role in their decline. Today, Otoe people belong to the federally recognized tribe, the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, headquartered in Red Rock, Oklahoma.^[2]