Native American Tribes of Missouri —
The Missouri Indians were part of the Southern Sioux tribes who lived along the Missouri River near the present-day
border of Missouri and Nebraska. They were buffalo-hunters and farmers who lived in oven-shaped, earth-covered houses grouped into towns.
Native American Inhabitants —
Almost all Native-American sites in Missouri pre-date 1800 and their age is determined by techniques such as radiocarbon
dating (for charcoal or bone) and thermoluminescence dating (for stone tools and pottery). Euro-American and African-American sites generally date after
1800 and they are dated by coins, tombstone inscriptions, hallmarks on china plates, and maker marks on bottles. Missouri archeology time periods start
with the early man period and end with the modern period.
Western Cherokee Nation of Missouri (and Arkansas) —
"We have existed here since John Smith arrived with a large group in 1721 during the French and
Spanish occupation. We have lived on and near the St. Francis River area and are now spread out over a large area of the states. Twenty years before the
Trail of Tears, on November 2, 1819, John Ross wrote of our nation in a letter to James Monroe, the President of the United States. In the
letter, Ross referred to our people, west of the Mississippi, as the Cherokee on the St. Francis River, located in southeast Missouri and northeast Arkansas,
who had moved here many years ago. John Ross later became chief of the Old Cherokee Nation in the southeast. It should be mentioned that the government
recognized our nation until 1840."
Cemeteries
