A warlike tribe of
North American Indians, which lived in villages of earth-covered logs, on the borders of the
Platte River, in
Nebraska and
Kansas.
They appear to be of the
Illinois family, divided into several bands, and were continually at war with the
Sioux and other surrounding tribes.
Hostile to the Spaniards, they have ever been friendly to the
Americans.
Sometimes they sacrificed prisoners to the sun; cultivated a few vegetables; and shaved their heads, excepting the scalp-lock.
The women dressed decently, and the men went on a hunt regularly to the plains for buffalo.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century they numbered about 6,000, with 2,000 warriors.
In 1833 they were seated upon a reservation north of the
Nebraska River, and made rapid progress towards civilization, when the fierce
Sioux swept down upon them, ravaged their country, and killed many of their people.
Driven south of the
Nebraska, they lost nearly half their number by disease.
In 1861 they numbered 3,414, and assisted the government in a war with the
Sioux.
As soon as the latter made peace with the government, they fell upon the Pawnees and slaughtered them without mercy.
In 1872 their crops were destroyed by locusts, and they removed to another section, where they were placed under charge of the Quakers, with a perpetual annuity of $30,000. In 1899 there were 706 of them on a reservation in
Oklahoma.
