Native American Tribal Information

Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska

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Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska

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The Iowa (also spelled Ioway), also known as the Báxoje, are a Native American Siouan people. Their name has been said to come from ayuhwa ("asleep"), but they call themselves Báxoje pronounced (alternate spellings: pahotcha, Bah-kho-je) ("dusted faces" or "grey snow"). The translation "dusted faces" is a likely folk etymology, since the Ioway words use different consonants. It was common practice among early European explorers to get the names of tribes from other tribes. Thus, ayuhwa is not an Ioway word. The word Ioway comes from Dakotan ayuxbe via French aiouez; however, the Ioways are referred to by themselves and all neighboring tribes as Báxoje or a variant thereof.

The designation came to be applied to the state (Iowa) where they were once found in various locations (Iowa County, Iowa, Iowa River) within it. Together with the Missouri and the Otoe they are part of the Chiwere-speaking peoples, claiming the Ho-Chunks as their "grandfathers." Their estimated population of 1,100 (in 1760) dropped to 800 (in 1804), mainly caused by smallpox. In 1824, the Iowa were moved to reservations in Brown County, Kansas, and Richardson County, Nebraska. Some of them also live in the Iowa Trust Kensan Reservation, south of Perkins,Oklahoma. As of 1990, their population is roughly 1,500.

The Ioway Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska operates the Casino White Cloud at White Cloud, Kansas.