The 1698 smallpox epidemic drastically reduced the estimate to 800 –1,200, according to some scholars.
There is a broad range of population estimates of the Quapaw tribe in the seventeenth and eighteenth century, ranging from 3,500 – 7,500. Novaculite (colloquially known today as 'Arkansas Stone') was quarried in Quapaw territory and was a key raw material to create tools. The Quapaw hunting territory stretched from what is today called Little Rock to throughout the Grand Prairie. The women farmed maize, sunflowers, beans, squash, and other vegetables and plants, while the men mostly hunted wild game, including bear, deer, and bison. It was a traditional male hunter, female gatherer dynamic.
Like many Native American tribes, the Quapaw divided their labor between men and women.
