Chippewa.
Representatives of this tribe appear as parties to the Treaty of
Greenville in 1795 and treaties made in 1817 and 1821 by which lands in
Indiana were relinquished to the Whites. (See
Minnesota.)
Delaware. About 1770 the
Delaware, most of whom were then living in Ohio, received permission from
the Miami and
Piankashaw to occupy
that part of Indiana between the Ohio and White Rivers, where at one
period they had six villages. In course of time, all moved west of the
Mississippi to Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma. (See
New Jersey.)
Erie. Erie tribal territory
may once have extended into the northeastern part of the State, but this
tribe played but little part in the known history of the region covered by
it. (See Ohio.)
Illinois.
Representatives of this tribe appear as parties to the Treaty of
Greenville in 1795, relinquishing land in Indiana to the Whites. (See
Illinois.)
Iroquois. The earlier
Indian occupants of Indiana were largely driven out by the Iroquois,
particularly by the westernmost of the Iroquois tribes, the Seneca, yet
they seem to have had few settlements in the State. (See
New York.)
Kickapoo. When the
Kickapoo were on Vermilion River, Ill., they undoubtedly occupied some of
western Indiana for brief periods. (See
Wisconsin.)
Miami. The name is thought to
be derived from the Chippewa word Omaumeg, signifying "people on the
peninsula," but according to their own traditions, it came from the word
for pigeon. The name used by themselves, as recorded and often used by
early writers, is Twigbtwees, derived from the cry of a crane. Also
called:
Naked Indians, a common appellation used by the colonists,
from a confusion of twanh, twanh, the cry
of a crane, with tawa, "naked."
Pkíwi-léni,
by the Shawnee, meaning "dust or ashes people."
Sänshkiá-a-rúnû),
by the Wyandot, meaning "people dressing finely, or fantastically."
Tawatawas, meaning "naked." (See Naked Indians above.)
Wa-yä-tä-no'-ke,
cited by Morgan (1851).
Connections. The Miami belonged to the
Algonquian linguistic stock, their nearest immediate connections being
with the Illinois.
French writers divided the Miami into the following five
bands: Piankashaw,
Wea, Atchatchakangouen, Kilatika,
Mengakonkia, and Pepicokia. The first two later became recognized as
independent tribes, the last may have been absorbed by the Piankashaw but
this and the other three divisions are no longer recognized. The following
villages are:
Chicago, on the site of the present city, probably
occupied by Wea.
Chippekawkay (Piankashaw), perhaps containing originally the Pepicokia
band, on the site of Vincennes, Knox County, Ind.
Choppatee's Village, on the west bank of St. Joseph River, a few miles
from Fort Wayne, Allen County, Ind.
Flat Belly's Village (see Papakeecha).
Kekionga, on the east bank of St. Joseph River, in Allen County, Ind.,
opposite
Fort Wayne.
Kenapacomaqua, a Wea village on the west bank of Eel River, near its
mouth, 6 miles above Logansport, Cass County, Ind.
Kokomo, on the site of the present Kokomo, Ind.
Kowasikka or Thorntown, on Sugar Creek near the present Thornton, Boone
County, Ind.
Little Turtle's Village, on Eel River, Ind., about 20 miles northwest of
Fort Wayne.
Meshingomesia, on a reservation on the northeastern side of Mississinewa
River,
in Liberty Township, Wabash County, Ind.
Missinquimeschan, probably Piankashaw, near the site of Washington,
Daviess County, Ind.
Mississinewa, on the east side of Mississinewa River at its junction with
the Wabash in Miami County, Ind.
Osaga, location uncertain.
Papakeecha, named from its chief, east of Turkey Lake at the present
Indian village, Noble County, Ind.
Piankashaw, occupied by Piankashaw, on Wabash River at the junction of the
Vermilion.
Pickawillanee, on Miami River at the site of the present Piqua, Miami
County, Ohio.
Saint Francis Xavier, mission for Miami and Mascouten on Fox River, Wis.,
near De Pere, Brown County.
Seek's Village, on Eel River about 3 miles from Columbia City, in Whitley
County, Ind.
Thornton (see Kowasikka).
White Raccoon's Village, near the present Aboite, Allen County, Ind.
History. Miami were living in the neighborhood
of Green Bay, Wis., when knowledge of the tribe first came to Europeans
shortly after the middle of the seventeenth century. In 1670 they were at
the headwaters of Fox River, but soon afterward they formed new
settlements at the southern end of Lake Michigan and on Kalamazoo River,
Mich. It is quite possible that bands of this tribe had moved from
Wisconsin at a still earlier period and were in northern Indiana. Their
first settlements at the lower end of Lake Michigan were at Chicago and on
St. Joseph River. In 1703 there was a Miami village at Detroit, but the
greater part of the tribe continued to live on St. Joseph River for a
considerable period. By 1711 they had reached the Wabash, and presently
they were forced from St. Joseph River by the Potawatomi, Kickapoo, and
other northern tribes. In consequence they moved farther south and also,
eastward to Miami River, and perhaps as far as the Scioto.
After the peace of 1763, they abandoned these
eastern territories to the Shawnee and retired to Indiana. They took a
prominent part in all subsequent wars in this section, but soon after the
War of 1812 began to dispose of their lands and by 1838 had parted with
most of them, the United States Government agreeing to provide them with
new lands west of the Mississippi. In 1840 all of their remaining
territories were ceded except one tract reserved for a part of the tribe
called Meshingomesia's band, which had chosen to remain in their old
country. In 1867 the rest accompanied the Illinois to Oklahoma, where they
were given a reservation in the northeastern corner of the State. Their
lands now have been allotted in severalty, and they are citizens of the
State of Oklahoma. The lands of Meshingomesia's band in Indiana were
divided among the survivors in 1872 and their descendants are citizens of
Indiana.
Population. Mooney (1928)
estimated 4,500 Miami, including the Wea and Piankashaw, in the year 1650.
An estimate of 1764 gives them 1,750, but a year later another substracts
500 from this figure. In 1825 the Miami, Wea, and Piankashaw, entered as
tribes, were supposed to total about 1,400, of whom 327 were Wea. In 1885
only 57 Miami proper were officially recognized in Indian Territory, while
the Wea and Piankashaw were enumerated with the Illinois, the whole
numbering 149. These last had increased to 191 in 1903. In 1905 the total
number of Miami in Indian Territory was 124. In 1900 the Miami in Indiana,
including many White-Indian mixed-bloods, numbered 243. The census of 1910
returned 226 Miami, of whom 123 were in Oklahoma and 90 in Indiana. The
United States Indian Office Report of 1923 gave 125 Indians in Indiana,
most of whom certainly belonged to this tribe. The census of 1930 returned
284 Miami and Illinois; the 47 reported from Indiana were, of course, all
Miami. In 1937, 287 were reported from Oklahoma. Connection in which they have become noted.
Historically the Miami were noted as one of those tribes which offered
steady resistance to the westward movement of White population in the
eighteenth century. Their name has been given to three Ohio rivers of some
importance, the Great Miami, Little Miami, and Maumee; counties in Ohio,
Indiana, and Kansas; and to places in California, Indiana, Oklahoma,
Missouri, Ohio, Texas, and Manitoba, Canada; also to a creek in Missouri.
There are places of the name in Gila County, Ariz.; Miami County, Ind.;
Saline County, Mo.; Colfax County, N. Mex.; Ottawa County, Okla.; Roberts
County, Tex.; Kanawha County, W. Va. Miamisburg is in Montgomery County,
Miamitown in Hamilton County, and Miamiville in Clermont County, all in
Ohio; and Miami Station is in Carroll County, Mo. The name of Miami, Fla.,
and the derived Miami Beach and Miami Springs, Fla., have a different
origin. The Miami tribe had a famous chief,
Little Turtle,
whose name often appears in historical narratives.
Mosopelea. Before this tribe left its former territory
north of the Ohio, it probably extended into the extreme southeastern part
of Indiana. (See Ohio.)
Neutrals. The Neutral Nation may have extended slightly into the
northeastern portion of this State, though this is uncertain. (See
New York.)
Ottawa. Representatives of the Ottawa appear as parties to the Treaty of
Greenville in 1795, relinquishing Indiana land to the Whites, and as
parties to similar treaties in 1817 and 1821. (See
Michigan.)
Potawatomi. The Potawatomi pushed into the northern part of Indiana during
the eighteenth century and were in occupancy until they ceded their lands
to the United States Government in the first half of the nineteenth
century. (See Michigan.)
Shawnee. There was an
ancient Shawnee town in Posey County, Ind., at the junction of the Wabash
and Ohio. At a later period the tribe had settlements along the southern
and eastern borders, and the soil of Indiana was the scene of the
activities of the Shawnee prophet and his brother Tecumseh until after
Gen. Harrison's victory at Tippecanoe. (See
Tennessee.)
Wyandot. Representatives of this tribe appear as parties to the Treaty of
Greenville in 1795, relinquishing land in Indiana to the Whites. (See
Wisconsin and
Ohio.)
