In Kansas the Historic period began in 1541 with the arrival of Coronado and his band of Spanish explorers. The French were next, some 200 years later, entering the state from the east and forming an alliance with the Kansa, or Kaw, Indians. The fur trade grew greatly during this period.

Americans began arriving in the early 1800s, but settlement did not proceed in force until Kansas was made a territory in 1854. During the preceding 30 years Kansas was officially regarded as "Indian Territory." Various eastern Indian tribes such as the Potawatomi, Kickapoo, and others immigrated to reservations established in Kansas as a result of the Indian removal policy. Nearly all of those tribes later moved to reservations in Oklahoma.

KANSAS TRIBES

Federal list last updated 3/07

FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED TRIBES

Iowa Tribe (Kansas and Nebraska)
Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas
Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation
Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri (Kansas and Nebraska)

STATE RECOGNIZED TRIBES
(Not recognized by the Federal Governemnt)

None

UNRECOGNIZED / PETITIONING TRIBES

Delaware- Muncie Tribe. Letter of Intent to Petition 06/19/1978.

Kaweah Indian Nation, Inc. (Kansas and North Carolina)

Swan Creek & Black River Chippewas.

United Tribe of Shawnee Indians. Letter of Intent to Petition 07/06/1995.

Wyandot Nation of Kansas. Letter of Intent to Petition 05/12/1994

FIRST CONTACT TO PRESENT

By the time European explorers arrived, we are able to identify the people living in Kansas with tribes such as the Pawnee, Kansa, Wichita, and Apache. There is evidence of contact between the Indians and Europeans, including fragments of Spanish chain mail armor found among the grass huts of the Wichita people.

After brief visits by the Spanish explorer, Coronado, the French arrived around 1750, and formed an alliance with the Kansa Indian tribe. Europeans were interested in the lucrative fur trade with the native people, and began to travel through the area with more frequency. However, widespread settlement did not happen until Kansas became a territory in 1854, because prior to that time the state was part of the large area known as "Indian Territory" where displaced tribes from further east were forced to relocate.

PRE-CONTACT KANSAS TRIBES

PRE-HISTORIC CULTURES IN KANSAS

Paleoindian 11,000 BC - 7,OOO BC - Archeologists believe the earliest inhabitants of Kansas were descended from Asian immigrants who entered North America by crossing into Alaska and migrating southward. Native americans say they have always been there, and the migration was northward,the other way around.

Woodland AD 1 - 1000 - The Woodland period was marked by great changes in social systems, subsistence practices, and technology. One of the most notable changes involved the widespread making of pottery vessels. Chipped stone tools continued to be made in a variety of shapes and sizes, but projectile points became smaller as the bow and arrow began to replace the atlatl.

Village Gardener AD 1000 - 1500 - During this period most of the state's inhabitants shifted to a dual economy, based on bison hunting and the cultivation of corn, squash, and beans, supplemented by small-scale hunting and gathering of wild foods. Use of the bow and arrow became widespread, although the atlatl still saw limited use.

Protohistoric AD 1500 - 1800 - The Protohistoric refers to the period of time shortly before and after the arrival of Europeans in the New World.

1000 and the time of "first contact" - People of Kansas depended upon two main food sources: bison hunting and the cultivation of corn, squash and beans.

Archaeologists tell us that people have been living in the area now known as Kansas since 12,000 BC, during the end of the Ice Age. Huge animals such as mammoth and mastodon lived in the area until climate change made it too warm for them to survive. These people were known as Paleo-Indians and were nomadic hunter-gatherers.

The Paleo-Indians hunted the mammoth and mastodon as well as eating berries, seeds, roots, and other small animals. They used spears tipped with stone points for hunting.

The Archaic Period (7000 BC - 1 AD) began with continued warming of the climate and the ending of the Ice Age. Because the big game they had been hunting had died out, their diet changed to include more small game, and more plant foods.

In order to grow enough food, they became less nomadic, and gradually established settlements. The people in these settlements began to grind seeds into meal. There is evidence that by about 3500 BC these people began to make ceramic objects.

The Woodland Period (1 AD - 1000) brought great change to the people living in the area. Use of pottery increased, and hunters began to use bows and arrows in place of the atlatl (a kind of spear thrower). Toward the end of the period, agriculture began in earnest and the people began to grow corn. Archaeologists have also found evidence of ceremonial burial and the building of burial mounds.

Between 1000 and the time of "first contact" with white explorers, the people of Kansas depended upon two main food sources: bison hunting and the cultivation of corn, squash and beans. They also practiced small-scale hunting and gathered wild foods.

People lived in rectangular earth lodges in the northern part of the area; in the south, they built houses covered with thatched grass. The population grew, and people lived in villages. We also know that the people began to trade more extensively with groups around them, particularly with the Puebloan Indians of the Southwest.