Quapaw

The Quapaw (or Arkansas and Ugahxpa) people are a tribe of Native Americans that coalesced in the Midwest and Ohio Valley. From the 17th century, they migrated to the west side of the Mississippi River and resettled in what is now the state of Arkansas, moving in response to pressure from the Iroquois in the Beaver Wars. The territory and state of Arkansas were named for them, as Europeans first learned their name as the Arkansea, the term used by the Algonquian-speaking Illinois Confederation traders encountered to the east. The Quapaw are among the Siouan-speaking peoples west of the Mississippi.

The Quapaw are federally recognized as the Quapaw Tribe of Indians. Since their removal west to Indian Territory in 1834, their tribal base has been in present-day Ottawa County in northeastern Oklahoma. The number of members enrolled in the tribe is 3,240.

Government

The Quapaw Tribe of Native Americans are headquartered in Quapaw in Ottawa County, Oklahoma, in the northeast corner of the state. The 13,000-acre (53 km²) Quapaw tribal jurisdictional area includes the Tar Creek Superfund site, which has been listed by the Environmental Protection Agency for clean-up of environmental hazards.