Kansa, << KAN saw, >> or Kaw, were a Plains tribe who lived along the Kansas River in eastern Kansas. Both the river and the state were named after them. The Kansa grew corn and other crops, and hunted buffalo. They lived in earth lodges made of wooden posts and woven mats banked with soil. The tribe sold their Kansas lands to the government in 1873, and moved to a reservation in Oklahoma. Diseases such as smallpox took a heavy toll, and few Kansa remain today.
