Illinois Indian Tribes

Chippewa. Representatives of this tribe appear in treaties made in 1795, 1816, 1829, and 1833 relinquishing Illinois land to the Whites. (See Minnesota.)

Delaware. While they were being slowly crowded west by the Whites, the Delaware passed across Illinois, and their connection with the State was transitory in both senses of the term. (See New Jersey.)

Foxes. This tribe, together with the Sauk, drove the Illinois Indians from the northwestern part of the State of Illinois in the latter part of the eighteenth century and took their places, but ceded the territory to the United States Government by a treaty signed November 3, 1804. (See Wisconsin.)

Illinois. A native word signifying "men," "people." Also called:

     Connections. The Illinois belonged to the Algonquian linguistic family, and were more closely connected with the Chippewa than with any other Algonquian tribe, except the Miami.

     Location.- In historic times they lived principally along the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, one division, the Michigamea, being as far south as northeastern Arkansas (q. v.). (See also Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin.)

Subdivisions and Villages

The Illinois were in reality a group of related tribes, of which the best known are the following:
Cahokia, later home about Cahokia, Ill.
Kaskaskia, before 1700 near the present Utica, La Salle County, later at or near
Kaskaskia, Ill.
Michigamea, probably on Big Lake, between the St. Francis and Mississippi Rivers, Ark.
Moingwena, in Iowa near the mouth of Des Moines River.
Peoria, their early location probably in northeastern Iowa, later near the present Peoria.
Tamaroa, on both sides of Mississippi River about the mouths of the Illinois and Missouri.

The following were perhaps minor Illinois tribes:
Albivi, given by only one writer and it is doubtful whether this was a true Illinois band.
Amonokoa, mentioned by Hennepin, 1680.
Chepoussa, probably a band from Kaskaskia River connected with the Michigamea.
Chinko, mentioned by Allouez and La Salle.
Coiracoentanon, mentioned by La Salle.
Espeminkia, mentioned by La Salle.
Tapouaro, mentioned by La Salle.

The villages noted in history are:
Cahokia, near the present Cahokia.
Immaculate Conception, a mission among the Kaskaskia, near Rockford. Kaskaskia, as given above.
Matchinkoa, 30 leagues from Fort Crevecoeur, near the present Peoria. Moingwena, as given above.
Peoria, as given above.
Pimitoui, on Illinois River near the mouth of Fox River in La Salle County.

     History. In 1667 the French priest Allouez met a party of Illinois Indians who had come to La Pointe on Lake Superior to trade. In 1673 Marquette, while descending the Mississippi, found the Peoria and Moingwena west of the river near the mouth of the Des Moines, but before his return they had moved to the neighborhood of the present Peoria, and most of the other Illinois tribes, except the Mitchigamea, were then on Illinois River. In 1700 the Kaskaskia moved to southern Illinois and settled on Kaskaskia River. About the time of La Salle's visit in 1682 the Illinois were at war with a number of neighboring peoples, and the Iroquois, who were then just beginning raids against them, caused them heavy losses in the succeeding years.
     The murder of Pontiac by a Kaskaskia Indian set the northern tribes in motion against the Illinois and in the ensuing wars the latter were reduced to a fraction of their former strength and the Sauk, Foxes, Kickapoo, and Potawatomi dispossessed them of the greater part of their territories. The remnant settled near the French at Kaskaskia, where they continued to decline in numbers until, in 1800, only about 150 were left. In 1832 the survivors sold their lands and removed west of the Mississippi, to the present Kansas, whence they removed again in 1867 and became consolidated with the Wea and Piankashaw in the northeastern corner of the present State of Oklahoma.

      Population. Mooney (1928) estimated that in 1650 the Illinois numbered about 8,000. About 1680 Hennepin gives 400 houses and 1,800 warriors. Rasles estimated 300 cabins of 4 fires each, indicating a population of 9,000, which is probably excessive. About the year 1750 there were supposed to be from 1,500 to 2,000 souls. In 1778 the Kaskaskia numbered 210 and the Peoria and Michigamea together 170. In 1800 all these were reduced to 150. In 1885 the mixed-blood remnant in Indian territory, including the Wea and Piankashaw, numbered 149, and in 1905, 195. The census of 1910 gave 128, of whom 114 were in Oklahoma, and the census, of 1930, 284 Illinois and Miami. In 1937 there were 370 "Peoria" in Oklahoma.

     Connection in which they have become noted. The chief claim of the Illinois to distinction is the adoption of its name for an important branch of the Mississippi and more particularly its later adoption as the name of the State of Illinois. The name is also given geographical application in Arkansas, 'Texas, Oregon, and Oklahoma. The name appears in Illinois Bend, Montague County, Tex.; Illinois City, Rock Island County, Ill.; and Illiopolis, Sangamon County, Ill.

Kickapoo. This tribe, after helping destroy the Illinois, settled on Vermilion River and extended its territories to Illinois River. It ceded this land to the United States Government July 30, 1819. (See Wisconsin.)

Miami. In very early times the Miami had a town where now stands Chicago, and later their territorial claims covered parts of the eastern sections of the State. (See Indiana.)
Ottawa. Some Ottawa worked down to the northernmost part of the State in the eighteenth century. (See Michigan.)

Potawatomi. This tribe succeeded the Miami in the region of Chicago, and, after the destruction of the Illinois, occupied still more territory in the northeastern part of the State. (See Michigan.)

Sauk. The Sauk assisted their relatives the Foxes in expelling the Illinois tribes from the Rock River region, and they occupied it with them until the lands were ceded to the Whites and they moved farther west. (See Wisconsin.)

Shawnee. There were Shawnee for a while in the southern part of Illinois. (See Tennessee.)
Winnebago. Representatives of this tribe were parties to an Illinois land cession in 1829. (See Wisconsin.)

Wyandot. Some Wyandot were parties to the Greenville Treaty in 1795 relinquishing land in Illinois to the Whites. (See Ohio.)

Additional Illinois Indian Resources

• Indians of the Chicago Region

• Winnebago Indian History

• The Indian Tribes of North America

• Illinois Indian History

Return to Indian GenealogyFree Genealogy | Indian Genealogy |