Montauban and the Osages

the Osage Indian tribe, very present in the City of Ingres

Among the curiosities that make up the great history of Montauban, the most unlikely is undoubtedly the close link between the City of Ingres and the Osage Indian tribe. Follow us to meet a bridge that crosses the Atlantic…

The arrival of the Osages in Montauban

During the terrible winter of 1829, Indians of the Osage tribe arrived exhausted in Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne), ending a wandering that had taken them for two and a half years through part of Europe.

After weeks of wandering, the Osages were welcomed in Montauban by Bishop Louis-Guillaume Dubourg. A collection is organized to allow them to return home and it is thanks to the generosity of the people of Montauban that the Osages returned to their village and told of their odyssey. From one generation to the next, this story has been passed down to the present day Osages.
In 1989, the Oklahoma-Occitania association found contact with the tribe, which joined the cultural exchange project. Since then, Osages regularly meet in Occitania and Occitans in Oklahoma. A stele erected in the Montauban plant garden commemorates this rediscovered friendship

Tribal Location: The legends of the tribe tell that the ancient Osages once lived east of the Mississippi River, first in the foothills region of the state of Virginia, then in the Ohio Valley.

Indian symbols in the city

The land of the Indians

Head to Montauban’s jardin des Plantes to travel to Indian land.

It was during the reunion with the Osage tribe at the end of the 20th century, that the city of Montauban left a parcel of land in the Jardin des Plantes as a gift to the Osage tribe. Indeed, during your stroll in the garden you will be able to admire sculptures and a plaque indicating that you are walking on Indian land.

Le rond des Osages

The traveler arriving in Montauban by the highway cannot fail to notice, at the “Sapiac” exit, an astonishing roundabout: three elongated tubular metal structures in the form of openwork rectangles of unequal heights, are planted among young pine trees. These monuments, one red, one yellow, the third blue, cut out strange geometric symbols on the sky. To reinforce the enigma, an enameled plaque announces, flush with the lawn: “Rond des Osages“. Many Montalbanais have taken to calling this place “the totems”.

The Oklahoma-Occitania Association

In June 1987, Jean-Claude Drouilhet, who would later found the association, read an article in Historama. He discovered there, to his great surprise, the episode relating to the three Osages who had stayed in 1829 in the city of Montauban. He launches the project of inviting Osages to Montauban. He wrote to the tribe. Chief George Tallchief and Mrs. Angela Robinson agree to the project and cultural exchanges.

This is the beginning of a new adventure!

The Osages today

The Osage Tribe still exists and has about a dozen thousand members, about half of whom still live on the reservation, now called “Osage County.” Its Tribal Council meets regularly in Pawhuska, the capital, also the county seat of the Osage County. The Osages work in a wide variety of occupations – or are unemployed – and, regardless of their social status, live by American standards.

But everyone, young and old, comes together in traditional ceremonies to maintain their traditions, identity and culture.

The Osage today are cultural warriors.

Montauban-Pawhuska

Located in the heart of the United States of America in the state of Oklahoma, the city of Pawhuska has been twinned with Montauban since 1999.

Since that day, many citizens of Pawhuska, mostly members of the Osage Nation, have stayed in Montauban and had the opportunity to meet, exchange, and even fraternize with our fellow citizens.