Mosopelea
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (Extinct as a tribe) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| United States (Ohio, Mississippi, Louisiana) | |
| Languages | |
| Siouan Ofo | |
| Religion | |
| Native tribal religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Biloxi, Tunica |
The Mosopelea, or Ofo, were a Native American Siouan-speaking tribe who historically inhabited the upper Ohio River. In reaction to Iroquois Confederacy invasions to take control of hunting grounds in the late 17th century, they moved south to the lower Mississippi River. They finally settled in central Louisiana, where they assimilated with the Siouan-speaking Biloxi and the Tunica people. They are generally classified with the speakers of the Siouan Ofo language.
According to the 1684 French map of Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin, the Mosopelea had eight villages just north of the Ohio River, between the Muskingum and Scioto rivers, within the present-day state of Ohio, corresponding with the heart of Mound builder country. This was part of the Mississippian culture territory, which extended along the Ohio River and its tributaries.
Franquelin noted the villages on the map as "destroyed". La Salle recorded that the Mosopelea were among the tribes conquered by the Seneca and other nations of the Iroquois Confederacy in the early 1670s, during the later Beaver Wars. In 1673, Marquette, Joliet, and other French explorers found that the Mosopelea had fled to the lower Mississippi. They lived for a time near the Natchez people.
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