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Central Standard

The History Of The Native Peoples Of The Kansas City Region

Snapshots of the Past
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Flickr -- Creative Commons

Long before the foundation of Oklahoma Joe's was laid or even the first oxen left Kansas City on the Santa Fe Trail, thousands of distinct people called the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers home. In fact, the history of human settlement goes back over 13,000 years to when mastodons roamed where cows now graze. The Kansas City area was home to Clovis peoples and later many more Native Americans, who either called the area home or were pushed here by white colonists.  Their legacy reverberates around the communities of Shawnee, Wyandotte and others. On today's Central Standard we'll explore the long, rich and sometimes tragic history of the native peoples of the Kansas City area - how they got here and what lasting influences they've made.

Guests:

  • Jim Feagins, president emeritus of the Missouri Archeological Society, and past president of the Kansas City Archeological Society
  • Dr. Brice Obermeyer, anthropologist at Emporia State University
  • R. David Edmunds, author of The Otoe-Missouria People, and Anne and Chester Watson Chair of History at the University of Texas at Dallas

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Matthew Long-Middleton has been a talk-show producer, community producer, Media Training Manager and now the Community Engagement Manager at KCUR. You can reach him at Matthew@kcur.org, or on Twitter @MLMIndustries.