Quapaw Tribal Ancestry: Your Story!
Who We Are?
Quapaw Tribal Ancestry
The purpose of this project is to organize, collect and share Quapaw family history utilizing tribal members' knowledge to validate data acquired through interviews, documents, and research. If you have pre-1907 Quapaw photos please share them with us along with a description of the photo via email. A shared history is a lasting history.
Risë Supernaw Proctor
Risë is known as a historian of Quapaw ancestry and for the last 50 years, has been researching family histories for every tribal member on the 1890 roll. She conducted interviews with members of families Bob Whitebird, Odestine McWatters & her own grandmother, Mary Maude Supernaw. Interviews with Mary Maude Supernaw were also recorded by Bill Supernaw, Kugee Supernaw & Charles Supernaw. Risë maintains a library consisting of Quapaw research documents, annuity / heirship / census rolls, family trees, along with documents from archives, libraries, & museums.
Billy Supernaw Proctor
Billy is our co-coordninator, Quapaw Language translator and Historian. He is a leading expert on the Quapaw Language and a renowned expert in Linguistics.
Language Lessons
How do we breakdown words in our research of the English to Quapaw language lexicon? We use Quapaw sources including audio files from as far back as 1893 and references taken from the works of Dr. Robert Rankin. We then combine them with Dhegiha sources with a complete breakdown.
The word "Quapaw" in English
First, we look at the word Quapaw in the English language and how it is spelled and pronounced in English.
The word for "Quapaw" in the Quapaw Language is o-ka-xpa (okáxpa)
Next after researching the word, its meaning and its origin, we compile the word into the Quapaw Language - o-ka-xpa (okáxpa)
Dhegiha Language Family Comparison
Finally, we study how the word fits into other native languages: o-ka-xpa (okáxpa) - Quapaw, people who went downstream, Quapaw gens (clan) of the same tribe, Dwelt on right side of tribal circle (RR-Quapaw). o-ka-xpa (o ̇GáxBa) - Quapaw [person or tribe] (FS-Quapaw), u-ga-xpa (ugaxpa) - Quapaw Tribe (Omaha), u-ga-xpa ga-xa (u-gá-xpa ga-xa) - Quapaw Creek, Okla (FL-Osage), o-ka-xpa (okáxpa) - Quapaw Indians (CQ-Osage)
