Osage, Ponca, Kaw and other Dhegiha Siouan peoples have cultural and oral-history ties to Cahokia's ancestors, but the evidence does not establish a Cahokian ruling dynasty. Cahokia declined after about 1200 CE, while Chaco's great-house center was abandoned over a broader period. The video argues that a 1186 conquest of Cholula cut trade to Cahokia and connected their declines. That conquest, trade route and causal link remain unsubstantiated, and Steve Lekson is not shown to have made the alleged comparison in print.
Video argues trade disruption linked Cahokia and Cholula's declines
USATheory
Site mentioned
Key facts
- Osage, Ponca, Kaw/Kansa and other Dhegiha Siouan peoples have oral traditions and cultural affiliations connecting them with Cahokia's ancestors, but this does not establish that they ruled Cahokia.
- Cahokia declined after about 1200 CE, but the causes and precise timeline of its eventual abandonment remain uncertain.
- The video argues that Cholula was conquered in 1186 CE and that this disrupted trade with Cahokia. The cited sources do not establish that conquest, trade route or causal connection.
- Chaco's great-house center was abandoned over a broad period, roughly 1150–1300 CE, not at a securely established single event in 1186.
- The cited sources do not support the attribution that Steve Lekson discussed this alleged Cahokia-Cholula simultaneity in print.
Sources
Geographyosageculture.com
Our origins lie in the Ohio River valley, and we slowly migrated toward our modern day territory in Northeast Oklahoma. A visual of this migration can be seen ...
Episode 7: Descendants of Cahokianationalgeographic.com
Andrea Hunter says around 500 A.D., ancestors of the Osage were migrating across middle America, and they found a home along the Mississippi ...
Cahokiaen.wikipedia.org
Ponca oral tradition specifies their ancestors' time in Cahokia, Many Native American peoples and tribes recognize the site today as being important to their ...
Cahokia: A Pre-Columbian American Citygilderlehrman.org
Possible descendants include the peoples of great American Indian nations and tribal groups met by Lewis and Clark in 1804 or painted by George Catlin in the ...
Natl. NAGPRA Review committee confirms Osages were ...osagenews.org
The ONHPO claims the individuals from the Clarksville Mound site date to a prehistoric period that pre-dates Sac and Fox occupancy of the area ...
Osage Cultural Historyosagenation-nsn.gov
The ancient Omaha, composed of the Omaha, Osage, Kaw, and Ponca, traveled up river until they reached the mouth of the Missouri. The people dwelled at this ...
Was this story useful?
Keep exploring
Every site on this page sits on the globe, and the people who research them are on the Discord.
3D Globe · Sites by country · Story Archive · Research Library · Weekly Journal · Search
AI-generated text · images from the original sources · always verify with the sources.