14 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 93 



It is not the purpose of the present paper to set forth in full detail 

 the history of the various Indian tribes within the borders of Nebrasl<a. 

 Rather it is hoped that a general background may be afforded vi'hereby 

 the archeological findings of the prehistoric period may be linked with 

 the cultures of known tribes or groups of tribes within the State. For 

 this purpose it has seemed most efifective to draw together and sum- 

 marize a number of the more important maps showing the location of 

 tribes in or adjacent to Nebraska during the period between 1673 and 

 1819 (table i). Not all the maps for this period are included, but 

 enough have been digested to assure a fair sampling. Hence it is im- 

 probable that any native peoples of importance occupying Nebraska 

 within the prehistoric period have been omitted. From a study of 

 these data it is possible to determine just which tribes actually 

 lived within the boundaries of the State and to discuss their move- 

 ments and the nature of the environment in which they lived. Some 

 of these early maps, where widely divergent, may be in error, and 

 where identical, may have been copied one from the other, but there 

 can be no doubt that as a whole they show the general location of 

 Nebraska tribes and the major movements that occurred within the 

 period represented. 



If the vertical columns of table i are scanned from top to bottom 

 the locations and changes of each tribe shown on the selected maps 

 can be traced from 1673 to 1819. As previously stated, only those 

 tribes in or adjacent to Nebraska within historic times are included. 

 Considering each tribe in succession from left to right, it appears 

 first that the various bands of the Dakota can be eliminated as original 

 residents at the start. This does not mean that certain of these 

 groups did not penetrate into northern and even central Nebraska in 

 historic times, a fact that is well known, but rather that they are not 

 shown on any of these earlier maps as permanent residents within the 

 Nebraska area. The Omaha are first shown in Nebraska by CoUot in 

 1796, and they were certainly a Nebraska tribe within historic times. 

 As such they will be subsequently discussed in more detail. The Ponca, 

 save for Le Sueur's map of 1701, appear first in Nebraska on the 

 Perrin du Lac map of 1802. They are certainly a Nebraska tribe. All 

 maps indicate that the historic Kansa range was just south of Ne- 

 braska. Although not a Nebraskan people, they are important in 

 relation to the general problem of Siouan migrations, as the first 

 Dhegiha tribe to be mentioned west of the Missouri, " by Juan de 

 Oiiate, who went from San Gabriel, New Mexico, in 1601, till he met 

 the ' Escansaques,' who lived lOO leagues to the N.E., near the 



