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Kaskaskia Indian Tribe History
Kaskaskia (perhaps akin to kāskāskahamwa, ' he
scrapes it off by means of a tool.' The Foxes have always held the
Peoria in low esteem, and in their traditions claim to have destroyed
most of them on a rocky island in a river. Wm. Jones). Once the
leading tribe of the Illinois confederacy, and perhaps rightly to be
considered as the elder brother of the group. Although the first
knowledge of this confederacy obtained by the whites related, in all
probability, to the Peoria while they yet resided on the Mississippi,
it is probable that the references to them in the Jesuit Relations of
1670 and 1671, from the reports of Father Allouez, apply to the
Kaskaskia on upper Illinois river and possibly to some minor tribes or
bands connected therewith whose names have not been preserved.
Although it has been asserted that earlier visits than that of
Marquette in 1673 were made to this people by the whites, there is no
satisfactory evidence to justify this conclusion. Their chief village,
which had the same name as that of the tribe, is supposed to have been
situated about the present site of Utica, La Salle county, Ill. Marquette
states that at the time of his first visit the village was composed of
74 cabins. He returned again in the spring of 1674 and established the
mission of Immaculate Conception among them. It appears that by this
time the village had increased to somewhat more than a hundred cabins.
Allouez, who followed as the next missionary, states that when he came
to the place in 1677 the village contained 351 cabins, and that while
the village formerly consisted of but one nation (tribe), at the time
of his visit it was composed of 8 tribes or peoples, the additional
ones having come up from the neighborhood of the Mississippi. Although
the known Peoria village was some distance away, it may be that at
this time this tribe and the Moingwena resided at the Kaskaskia
village. This is implied in an expression by Gravier, who speaks of
the Mugulasha "forming a village with the Baiougoula [Bayogoula] as
the Pioüaroüa [Peoria] do with the Kaskaskia." This, however, would
lead to the supposition, if the statement by Allouez be accepted as
correct, that there were other bands or tribes collected here at the
time of his mission whose names have not survived. Possibly they may
have been bands of the Mascoutin or the Miami. Kaskaskia was the
village of the Illinois which La Salle reached about the close of
Dec., 1679, on his first visit southward from the lakes. He found it
unoccupied, however, the inhabitants being on a hunting expedition.
The French mission was maintained at this place under Fathers Rasles,
Gravier, Binneteau, Pinet, and Marest, until about the close of 1700.
At that time the Kaskaskia, influenced by a desire to join the French
in Louisiana, resolved to separate from their brethren and migrate to
the lower Mississippi. Gravier was much opposed to this movement, and
although he arrived on the ground too late to prevent their departure,
he was successful in checking the blow which the indignant Peoria and
Moingwena were about to inflict on them. It was also through his
influence that
they were induced to halt at the month of Kaskaskia river, where they
made their home, on or near the site of the present town of Kaskaskia,
Randolph county, Ill., until their removal west of the Mississippi under
the treaty of Oct. 27, 1812. According to Hutchins, in 1764 the
Kaskaskia numbered (500, but he gives the number 1778 as 210
individuals, including 60 warriors. They were then in a village about
3 miles north of the present town of Kaskaskia, greatly degenerated
and debauched,
The tribe participated in the treaties of Greenville,
Ohio, Aug. 3, 1795, and Ft Wayne, Ind., June 7, 1803, made by the
tribes of the northwest with Anthony Wayne and William H. Harrison. In the
treaty of Aug. 13, 1803, at Vincennes, Ind., it is stated that the
tribe constitutes "the remains of and rightfully represents all the
tribes of the Illinois Indians, originally called the Kaskaskia, Mitchigamia, Cahokia, and Tamaroi." By this treaty they were taken
under the immediate care and patronage of the United States and
promised protection against the other Indians. By treaty made at
Castor Hill, Mo., Oct. 27,1832, they ceded to the United States all
their lands east of the Mississippi except a single tract reserved to
Ellen Ducoigne, the daughter of their late chief. Previous to this,
however, the remnants of the various tribes of the Illinois
confederacy had consolidated with the Kaskaskia and Peoria. By the
treaty of Washington, May 30, 1854, the consolidated tribes ceded to
the United States part of the tracts held by them under the treaty of
1832, above mentioned, and under the treaty with the Piankashaw and
Wea, Oct. 29, 1832, reserving 160 acres for each member of the tribe
and 10, sections as a tribal reserve. By the treaty of Washington,
Feb. 23, 1867, land was assigned them in the north east corner of Indian Territory
The consolidated bands, including also the remnant of the
Wea and
Piankashaw and now known officially as Peoria, numbered altogether in
1905 only 195, hardly one of whom was of pure Indian blood.
Their totem or crest was an arrow notched at the feather, or two
arrows supporting each other like a St Andrew's cross.
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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