History Is Lunch: Everett Bandy: 'They Lived Along the Mississippi: A History of the Quapaw'

On October 23, 2024, Everett Bandy presented “They Lived Along the Mississippi: A History of the Quapaw” as part of the History Is Lunch series.

The origins of the Quapaw Nation reach back from their current tribal capital in Oklahoma to Arkansas, Missouri, and the lower Ohio River valley. Oral traditions of the Quapaw people say the tribe separated from the modern-day Kaw, Omaha, Osage, and Ponca when a rope of twisted grapevine snapped while the tribes were crossing the Mississippi River. Those that had crossed, like the Omaha, went upstream. The Quapaw went downstream.

Illini Indians referred to the Quapaw as “Arkansea,” a name that would be used by their French allies for the tribe and that would be given to the area where the Quapaw lived in the 17th century. The tribe’s territories eventually included most of Arkansas, lower Oklahoma, and portions of Louisiana and Mississippi—including the Delta.

In 1818, the Quapaw lived along the lower Arkansas River, with hunting territories extending far westward. The federal government considered those excess Quapaw land and negotiated a treaty to acquire them to use to resettle eastern tribes. When U.S. agents returned six years later, the Quapaw were forced to give up the reservation and move farther west.

Bandy is executive director of culture for the Quapaw Nation, which includes oversight of the Quapaw Museum, Quapaw Library, Quapaw Language Department, and Quapaw Historic Preservation Program. Previously, he served for more than a decade as tribal historic preservation officer and was tasked with compliance responsibilities under the National Historic Preservation Act. Bandy earned his BA in Indigenous and American Indian Studies from Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas.

History Is Lunch is a weekly lecture series of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History that explores all aspects of the state’s past. The hourlong programs are held in the Craig H. Neilsen Auditorium of the Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum building at 222 North St. in Jackson and livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook.