Native American Flags

(Native American flute music)

This is a video of the Native American tribal flags display at the Iowa State capitol in Des Moines. The display case features Native American tribes with current and historic ties to Iowa and is a permanent display at the state capitol building.

00:00-00:04 The front of the State of Iowa Capitol building with its signature golden dome on top and the four smaller domes with white and gold spires on each corner of the building.

00:05 - 00:30 The plaque in front of the Native American Tribal Flags display case reads:

Iowa Native Nations Flag Display 2019. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, many First Nations tribes inhabited this land with our rich history and shaped what was to become the state of Iowa. By creating this display, we acknowledge history and the people who lived on and in harmony with the land. We move towards a more prosperous and brighter future with representation of the following tribes and their respective flags:

Citizen Potawatomi Nation (Neshnabe); Iowa Tribe of Kansas (Baxoje); Iowas of Oklahoma (Baxoje); Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (Anishinaabe); Omaha Tribe of Nebraska and Iowa (U-Mo’n-Ho’n); Otoe-Missouria Tribe (Jiwere); Ponca Tribe of Nebraska (Usni); Rosebud Tribe of South Dakota (Sicangu Oyate); The Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa (Meskwaki); Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska (Isanti); Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska (Ho-Chunk)

00:30 to 00:38 The tribal flags on display. Front Row, from left to right. Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska (Ho-Chunk) tribal flag. This flag has a light blue background with the words The Winnebago Tribe on top and Of Nebraska on the bottom. In the middle is a central seal-like disk showing a bow and two arrows and a tomahawk.

Otoe-Missouria Tribe (Jiwere) tribal flag. This flag has a white background with the words Seal of the Otoe Missouria Tribe in black around a center disk. The edge of the disk is created by alternating red and yellow triangles that are interconnected. Inside the seal surrounding an eagle fan at the center are the seven clan animals of the tribe—a bear, a buffalo, a pigeon, an eagle, a beaver, an elk and an owl. At the top of the seal is a black and white eagle fan similar to the fan in the center of the seal.

Ponca Tribe of Nebraska (Usni) tribal flag. The flag has a rectangular border and each side of the rectangle is a different color. The top is white with a black line across the bottom setting it apart from the rest of the flag, the right side is red, the bottom is yellow, and the left side is black. In the center are the words Ponca Tribe of Nebraska surrounding the top edge of the central seal in the shape of a spirit hoop sometimes referred to as a dream-catcher. From the hoop dangle four eagle feathers. The background of the spirit hoop is light blue with a drawing of an animal hide within the blue hoop. A teepee is in the center of the animal hide with a sacred pipe and the depiction of long-horned cattle on the right. On the left of the teepee there is a staff bearing a Ponca headdress. Above the headdress is a blue circle divided into four sections—the top color is white, the right color is red, the bottom color is yellow, and the left color is dark blue.

Rosebud Tribe of South Dakota (Sicangu Oyate) tribal flag. The flag has a white background with connected red triangles around the edge of the flag. In the center of the flag is a seal-like oval, The edge of the oval is created by 20 red roses in an oval ring. Each rose bears a white Sioux tepee in its center, oriented outwards. At the center of the oval is a three-layered rainbow-colored diamond, or "god's eye" figure, The innermost layer is yellow, the middle layer is red and the outside layer is blue. A blue bule, two crossed lines representing the number four, is in the center of the diamond, on a white background. Arching over the diamond is “Rosebud Sioux Tribe” in blue, flanked by a pair of white-and-black eagle feathers above a pair of orange peace pipe heads; below it is “Rosebud, South Dakota,” also in blue.

The Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa (Meskwaki) tribal flag. The flag is divided into two panels horizontally. The top panel is green and the bottom panel is red. On the right side of the flag is a drawing of a Meskwaki warrior.

Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska (Isanti) tribal flag. This flag is on a blue background with a white seal-like disk in the center. The seal features a bald eagle in brown and white with outspread wings and facing left, in a position reminiscent of the arms of the United States. The eagle clasps a black arrow in its talons and appears above a red peace pipe. On the chest of the eagle is a yellow shield in the shape of a downward-pointing arrowhead with the bust of a Sioux chief in full headdress, facing right. Arching above the eagle is “Santee Sioux Tribe”, below it is “of Nebraska”, both in blue.

Back Row, from Left to Right. Iowa Tribe of Kansas (Baxoje) tribal flag. This flag is vertically divided into three sections, white-green-white with the seal centered on the green panel. The seal is laid out in black on a white background and is in the shape of a spirit hoop, sometimes referred to as a dream-catcher. From the hoop dangle five feathers into the green panel. Within the spirit hoop is a black and white drawing of a Native American warrior. Arching over the drawing are the words Iowa Tribe and below the drawing are the words Kansas - Nebraska.

Iowas of Oklahoma (Baxoje) tribal flag. This flag has a red background and bears the tribal seal in the form of a spirit hoop, sometimes referred to as a dream catcher, in the center. There are four feathers dangling from the bottom of the spirit hoop. On top of the seal in black is "Iowas of Oklahoma”. Within the white seal are a headdress, which appears in light blue, red, white, and black, and the peace pipe, in red with a red streamer. Below these two images is an old, black plow. Behind the seal and extending slightly from either side is a ceremonial lance decorated with yellow streamers.

Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (Anishinaabe) tribal flag. This flag is on a white background with a seal in the center. The seal depicts a sunrise over the lakes of Minnesota and traditional elements of Ojibwe life along the shore. These include a typical Ojibwe home of the 18th century and a birchbark canoe, the rising sun, and a conifer tree. Surrounding the seal is a yellow band bearing the Tribe's name across the top and repeating it in the Anishinabe language of the Ojibwe at the base of the seal. The date, June 18, 1934, the founding date of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe appears below the Anishinabe spelling. Ringing the seal within the yellow band, starting at the beginning of the native spelling and going counter clockwise ending at the end of the Anishinabe spelling is a thin black arrow.

Omaha Tribe of Nebraska and Iowa (U-Mo’n-Ho’n) tribal flag. This flag has a silver-gray background with a narrow black stripe running across the base. Upon the black stripe is the translation of the OmahA NAME - "Against the Current" in white letters. Along both the inner and outer edges of the flag, tilted 90 degrees, is the phrase "Heritage for Peace". This phrase, appearing in black letters, runs from the bottom to the top along the left side and from top to bottom along the right side. Across the top, in large black letters appears "Omaha Tribe" while in smaller lettering directly underneath is "of Nebraska and Iowa". The center of the bears an Omaha headdress in black and facing toward the left. This is surrounded by a wide red ring from which emanates eight rays, four each to the left and right. A narrow black band separates this ring from the central circle that bears the headdress. The red ring bears seven words in the Dhelegi dialect, starting from the center left: InKECABE, THAIDA, KOnCE, MOnTHInKAGAXE and working downward from left center: HOnGA, InTACUNDA and TAPA. Between the upper four words and the central device appears the phrase "Umoniha Tribe of Nebraska and Iowa". All lettering on the red ring appears in white.

The Citizen Potawatomi Nation (Neshnabe) tribal flag does not appear in the display case, but a close up of the flag appears later in the video.

The Citizen Potawatomi Nation (Neshnabe) tribal flag. This flag is on a blue background with a red ringed seal in the center. The red seal ring as the words "Great Seal of the Potawatomi Indians" arching over the top and "People of the Place of the Fire" make up the bottom arch under the seal. The seal itself is on a white background. That seal starts at the top with a crossed peace pipe and tomahawk. In the center is a campfire. Below the fire is the word “Neshnabe”.

00:39 - 00:40 Native American warrior on the Iowa Tribe of Kansas tribal flag.

00:40 - 00:42 The campfire at the center of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation tribal flag.

00:43 -00:46 Top of the Iowas of Oklahoma tribal flag showing the headdress and the beginning of the peace pipe. The top of the Winnebago tribal flag can be seen.

00:47 - 00:53 Otoe-Missouria Tribe tribal flag showing the seven sacred animals: a bear, a buffalo, a pigeon, an eagle, a beaver, an elk and an owl, around the eagle fan at the center; the top of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska tribal flag showing the top of the teepee, the circle with four the four colored sections, white, red, yellow, dark blue, the top of the sacred headdress and the sacred pipe and depiction of long horned cattle; and the Rosebud Tribe of South Dakota tribal flag show the center “god eye” diamond with bule. These flags are lined up like dominoes.

00:54 - 00:56 Rosebud Tribe of South Dakota tribal flag.

00:57 - 00:58 Otoe-Missouria Tribe tribal flag

00:58 - 01:09 Iowa Commission of Native American Affairs flag with display placard in the distance.

Announcer: Funding for FIND Iowa has been provided by the following supporters.

(text on screen Find Iowa, The Coons Foundation, Pella, Gilchrist Foundation)

(text on screen Iowa PBS Education)