Pawnee Indians
Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma tribal flag
|
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 5,600 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 United States (  Oklahoma ) |
|
| Languages | |
| English, Pawnee | |
| Religion | |
| Native American Church, Christianity, Traditional Tribal Religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Caddo, Kitsai, Wichita, Arikara |
The Pawnee are a Plains Indian tribe who are headquartered in Pawnee, Oklahoma. Pawnee people are enrolled in the federally recognized Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma. Historically, they lived in Nebraska and Kansas. In the Pawnee language, the Pawnee people refer to themselves as Chaticks si Chaticks or "Men of Men."
Historically, the Pawnee lived in large earth lodge villages with adjacent farmlands. They used tipis when traveling. With the arrival of horses, the Pawnee retained their agricultural lifestyle, with the tribal economic activities throughout the year alternating between farming crops and hunting buffalo.
In the early 19th century, the Pawnee numbered over 10,000 people and were one of the largest and most powerful tribes in the west. Although dominating the Loup (ickariʾ) and Platte (kíckatuus) river areas for centuries, they later suffered from increasing encroachment and attrition by their numerically superior, nomadic enemies the Lakota (páhriksukat / paahíksukat) ("cut throat / cuts the throat"), Cheyenne (sáhe / sáhi), and Arapaho (sáriʾitihka) ("dog eater") - known to the Pawnee collectively as cárarat ("enemy tribe") or cahriksuupiíruʾ ("enemy"), later they were occasionally at war with the Comanche (raaríhtaʾ) and Kiowa (káʾiwa) farther south. They had suffered many losses due to diseases brought by the expanding Europeans. By 1860, the Pawnee population was reduced to 4000. It further decreased, because of disease, crop failure and warfare, to approximately 2400 by 1873, after which time they were forced to move to Indian Territory in Oklahoma. Many Pawnee warriors enlisted to serve as Indian scouts in the US Army to track and fight their tribal enemies resisting European-American expansion on the Great Plains.
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Wikipedia