Schuyler in Colfax County, Nebraska — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
Shell Creek Pawnee Settlements
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 12, 2021
1. Shell Creek Pawnee Settlements Marker
By the early 1600s, the ancestors of the Pawnee Nation began consolidating into a few large communities. Each was home to hundreds, if not thousands, of people. Some of these were built along nearby Shell Creek. These Shell Creek cities may have been built by ancestors of the Čawξ, Kitkehahki, and Pξtahawirβta bands. Oral tradition mentions an ancestral group, the Kawarakξs. The other major division of the Pawnee, the Ckξri, built their early communities near Genoa.
The Shell Creek villages were occupied before the Pawnees acquired horses and guns. A few items of European manufacture found at these sites show direct or indirect contact with early French traders. During this time, the Pawnees made a beautiful assortment of tools and ornaments fashioned from bone, stone, shell, antler, and clay. The Pawnees built and lived in sturdy earth lodges, timber-framed lodges covered with earth. These lodges were occupied for decades. Community members grew large amounts of corn and other crops. They went on long-distance hunting trips into Kansas, using dogs to carry home processed buffalo meat and stone for tool manufacture.
Erected
this page online
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Anthropology & Archaeology • Colonial Era • Indigenous Peoples and Communities • Settlements & Settlers. In addition, it is included in the Nebraska State Historical Society series list.
Location. 41° 29.653′ N, 97° 3.576′ W. Marker is in Schuyler, Nebraska, in Colfax County. It is on Road 11 (State Highway 15) 1.9 miles north of Lincoln Highway (U.S. 30), on the right when traveling north. Marker is located in a pull-out on the east side of Nebraska Highway 15, just north of the Shell Creek bridge. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Schuyler NE 68661, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Eastern Nebraska. It is also in the American Midwest, in the Corn Belt, and on the prairies. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Louisiana
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 12, 2021
2. Shell Creek Pawnee Settlements Marker
Other nearby markers. At least 2 other markers are within 12 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: The Site of Savannah (approx. 11.6 miles away); Shinn's Ferry (approx. 11.6 miles away).
Credits. This page was last revised on December 5, 2024. It was originally submitted on August 14, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 2,209 times since then and 125 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 14, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
