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Menominee Indian Tribe History
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Amiskquew |
Menominee
Menominee (meno, by change from mino,
'good', 'beneficent'; min, a 'grain', 'seed', the Chippewa
name of the wild rice. Hewitt. Full name Menominiwok
ininiwok, the latter term signifying 'they are men'). An
Algonquian tribe, the members of which, according to Dr William
Jones, claim to understand Sauk,
Fox, and
Kickapoo far more easily
than they do Chippewa,
Ottawa, and
Potawatomi, hence
it is possible that their linguistic relation is near to the former
group of Algonquians. Grignon (Wis. Hist. Soc. Coll, iii, 265, 1857)
peaks of the Noquet as a part of the Menominee, |
and states that "the earliest locality
of the Menominee, at the first visits of the whites, was at Bay de
Noque and Menominee river, and those at Bay de Noque were called by
the early French Des Noques or Des Noquia." (See Noquet.) The Jesuit
Relation for 1671 includes the Menominee among the tribes driven
from their country-that is, "the lands of the south next to
Michilimackinac," which is the locality where the Noquet lived when
they first became known to the French. It is generally believed that
the Noquet, who disappeared from history at a comparatively early
date, were closely related to the Chippewa and were incorporated
into their tribes; nevertheless, the name Menominee must have been
adopted after the latter reached their historic seat; it is possible
they were previously known as Noquet. Charlevoix (Jour. Voy., if,
61, 1761) says: "I have been assured that they had the same original
and nearly the same languages with the Noquet and the Indians at the
Falls."
The people of this tribe, so far as known, were first
encountered by the whites when Nicolet visited them, probably in
1634, at the mouth of Menominee river, Wis.-Mich. In 1671, and
henceforward until about 1852, their home was on or in the vicinity
of Menominee river, not far from where they were found by Nicolet,
their settlements extending at times to Fox river. They have
generally been at peace with the whites. A succinct account of them,
as well as a full description of their manners, customs, arts, and
beliefs, by Dr W. J. Hoffman, appears in the 14th Rep. Bureau of
Ethnology, 1896. In their treaty with the United States, Feb. 8,
1831, they claimed as their possession the land from the mouth of
Green bay to the mouth of Milwaukee river, and on the west side of
the bay from the height of land between it and Lake Superior to the
headwaters of Menominee and Fox rivers, which claim was granted.
They now reside on a reservation near the head of Wolf river, Wis.
Major Pike described the men of the tribe as "straight
and well made, about the middle size; their complexions generally
fair for savages, their teeth good, their eyes large and rather
languishing; they have a mild but independent expression of
countenance that charms at first sight." Although comparatively
indolent, they are described as generally honest, theft being less
common than among many other tribes. Drunkenness was their most
serious fault, but even this did not prevail to the same extent as
among some other Indians. Their beliefs and rituals are
substantially the same as those of the Chippewa. They have usually
been peaceful in character, seldom coming in contact with the Sioux,
but bitter enemies of the neighboring Algonquian tribes. They
formerly disposed of their dead by inclosing the bodies in
long pieces of birchbark, or in slats of wood, and burying them in
shallow graves. In order to protect the body from wild beasts, three
logs were placed over the grave, two directly on the grave, and the
third on these, all being secured by stakes driven on each side.
Tree burial was occasionally practiced.
The Menominee--as their name
indicates-subsisted in part on wild rice (Zizania aquatica);
in fact it is spoken of by early writers as their chief vegetal
food. Although making such constant use of it from the earliest
notices we have of them, and aware that it could be readily grown by
sowing in proper ground, Jenks (19th Rep. B. A. L., 1021, 1901), who
gives a full account of the Menominee method of gathering,
preserving, and using the wild rice, states that they absolutely
refuse to sow it evidently owing to their common unwillingness to
"wound their mother, the earth."
The earlier statements of Menominee population are
unreliable. Most of the estimates in the nineteenth century vary
from 1,300 to 2,500, but those probably most conservative range from
1,600 to 1,900. Their present population is about 1,600, of whom
1,370 are under the Green Bay school superintendency, Wis. Their
villages (missions) were St Francis and St Michael. |
The books presented are for their
historical value only and are not the
opinions of the Webmasters of the site.
Handbook
of American Indians, 1906
Index of Tribes or Nations
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