PAWNEE TRIBE
1895 Maps of Indian Nations

Pawnee prehistoric origins are still largely a mystery.� Archeological studies indicate that the tribe moved northward around 1400, from an original homeland beyond the Rio Grande to the Red River near the Wichita Mountains, and then to the Arkansas River in southern Kansas or northern Oklahoma.� From there, the Skidi Pawnee continued northward into southwestern Nebraska, while the Southern (or Black) Pawnee remained.� The Spanish explorers Coronado (1541) and Onate (1601) probably encountered these Southern Pawnee on their explorations for a promised land rich in gold.

Until 1770, the Southern Pawnee, aided by weapons and supplies from French traders, stayed in the Arkansas River region.� As French trade lessened, they migrated northward to join the Skidis in what is now Nebraska near the Platte, Loup, and Republican Rivers.� The move gave the tribe renewed outlets for trade as well as good buffalo hunting south of the Platte.

The opening of the frontier brought disaster to the Pawnee.� Three treaties ( 1833, 1848, and 1857) provided for the cession of all Pawnee lands to the United States, with the exception of a reservation 30 miles long and 15 miles wide along both banks of the Loup River, centering near present-day Fullerton, Nebraska.� In 1876 this tract was also surrendered to the United States, and the entire tribe was relocated to a new reservation in Oklahoma in a difficult exodus that caused many deaths.� The tribe never made war against the United States, and Pawnee scouts served admirably with� United States forces against hostile Indians between1865 and 1885, greatly aiding the construction of railroads to the Pacific.� Under an agreement dated November 23, 1892, with the United States, the Pawnee gave up certain lands for a perpetual annuity payment of 30,000 per year. To be� divided equally among tribal members.� This annuity, which breaks down to just a few dollars apiece, is still provided.� The only other tribe still to receive such payments is the Oneida.