Quapaw Stories in the Quapaw Language

(Irene) This story was told by Grandma Supernaw to her son Bill, this is how her father, Tallchief, told it to her, also how it was told to him by his father.

(Maude) Well, I was gonna tell a story, what my father and great grandfather where talking about …. My father learned from him, so I’m gonna tell how Quapaw, they come from the …. I try and tell a story …. They claim, my father said they claim a big fire, a big tree fire, that’s what, they come out of it, they told me.

So, and uh, I’m gonna tell them, and uh, and they brought corn with them too, to raise, eating on it, and they make medicine out of it too. So, they brought that with them, I guess, I know, I guess God give them, I guess. So, they bring with them.

So, they travel around, they camping somewhere around there, working, making a living, so, and uh, they right along the ocean, and they see that, uh, people come in a boat, white, white man, woman. So, they funny looking that first time they see whites. So, they didn’t know what to do, they want kill them, and they don’t want to, and so, they went over there and shake hands with them, and they talking, motioning around and after awhile they got whiskey and they said, uh, give whiskey and they said their mother call, uh, white woman, they call father , uh, mother and the white man, father. So, they didn’t kill them. So, they talking around there awhile and they told when they give them so many days to come back in. So, they left, Indians left, and so they went back and, back ocean, I guess, across. And, uh, later on, many days, they going to come back, and they went over there again and they meet them again and they bring flour, coffee, salt, sugar, something like that, they bring with them. So, that’s what the Indian learned how, what taste of salt was, and flour, and the coffee, that’s what they learned, they say, so.