Yellow Hammer - Otoe Encampment Song

Yellow Hammer has been one of my favorite Southern drum groups for many years. This Otoe Encampment Song is a strong song full of power. The Otoe were once part of the Siouan tribes of the Great Lakes region, a group commonly known as the Winnebago. At some point, a large group split off and began to migrate to the South and West. This group eventually split again, coalescing into at least three distinct tribes: the Ioway, the Missouria and the Otoe. The latter settled in the lower Nemaha River valley. They adopted the horse culture and semi-nomadic lifestyle of the Great Plains, making the American bison central to their diet and culture. For well over a century, since 1881, an annual Otoe-Missouria encampment is held every July in Red Rock, Oklahoma.