History books tend to include Missouri’s Indigenous population only during periods when they were a threat to the state’s white settlement. These histories overlook the fact that Native people have lived here for at least twelve thousand years and continue to call Missouri home today.
Historian Greg Olson describes the centuries of Indigenous presence in the state and how the inventiveness and adaptability of Missouri’s Indigenous population has changed and evolved in the face of extreme challenges. Olson shows how this resilience allowed Indigenous people and their traditions to survive in Missouri in the twenty-first century.
The author's latest book, Indigenous Missourians: Ancient Societies to the Present, published by University of Missouri Press, is available in the Richard Bookstore inside the Center for Missouri Studies and online: shop.shsmo.org.