Mosopelea
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2018) |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| No longer a distinct tribe, merged into the Native tribal religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Biloxi, Tunica[1] |
The Mosopelea, or Ofo (also Ofogoula), were a
Siouan language.[1]
History
According to the 1684 French map of
Ohio Hopewell country.[2] (The Miami-Illinois name Mosopeleacipi ("river of the Mosopelea") referred to what is now called the Ohio River. Shortened in the Shawnee language, the name evolved to "Pelisipi" or "Pellissippi" and was also later applied to what is now called the Clinch River in Virginia and Tennessee.)[3]
Franquelin noted the villages on the map as "destroyed".
Iroquois Confederacy in the early 1670s, during the later Beaver Wars.[4] In 1673, Marquette, Joliet, and other early French explorers found that the Mosopelea likely abandoned Ohio and moved south along the Mississippi River.[1] They briefly lived with the Quapaw before joining the Tunica, who were allied with the French colonists.[1]
In 1699, the Ofo/Mosopelea were referred by French Jesuits as the Houspé, and were encountered living among the Tunica.[5][6]
Around 1700, French travelers reported Ofo villages in Mississippi on the Yazoo River. Refusing to join the Natchez in their war against the French in the 1710s and 1720s, the Ofo moved further south. They and other remnant peoples became assimilated into the Biloxi and Tunica. Their language became extinct.
Today their descendants are enrolled in the federally recognized
Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe and have a reservation in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana
. They speak English or French as their first language.
Notes
- ^ a b c d e John Reed Swanton, The Indian Tribes of North America, p. 232.
- ^ Hanna, p. 125.
- ^ "The Winding River Home: Pellissippi State researches the meaning of 'Pellissippi'". Pellissippi State News. Pellissippi State Community College. June 7, 2017. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
- ^ Hanna, p. 97.
- ISBN 0803298617.
- ^ "Mid-America : an historical review". archive.org. p. 228. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
References
- Hanna, Charles. The Wilderness Trail, Vol 2, pp. 94–105.
- Swanton, John Reed (1952). The Indian Tribes of North America. Genealogical Publishing Com. p. 74. ISBN 9780806317304.
External links
- Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe, official website