Piankashaw (possibly connected with
Päyangitchaki 'those who
separate,' from pevangiani, ' I separate from,' according to Gatschet; the
Miami form, according to J. P. Dunn, is Payŭnggǐsh'ah).
Formerly a subtribe of the Miami, but later a separate people. In an
account of the rivers and peoples of the west, La Salle, about 1682,
mentions the Piankashaw as one of the tribes gathered about his Illinois
fort; these were bands brought from their usual habitat. In the account by
Cadillac (1695) they are spoken of as being west of the Miami village on
St Joseph river, Mich., with the Mascoutens, Kickapoo, and other tribes.
It is probable they were then on Vermillon river, in Indiana and Illinois.
St Cosme (1699) says that the village of the Peanzichias Miamis was on
Kankakee river, Ill., but that they, formerly lived on the Mississippi.
They had possibly been driven west by the Iroquois. Their ancient village
was on the Wabash at the junction of the Vermillion; at a later period
they established another settlement, Chippekawkay, lower down the river,
at the present site of Vincennes, Ind.
About 1770 they gave permission to the Delawares to
occupy the east part of their territory. Chauvignerie (1736) says that the
Wea, the Piankashaw, and the Pepicokia were the same nation in different
villages, and gives the deer as the Piankashaw totem. In the beginning of
the present century they and the Wea began to cross over into Missouri,
and in 1832 the two tribes sold all their claims in the east and agreed to
remove to Kansas as one tribe.
About 1854 the consolidated tribe united with the
remnant of the Illinois, then known as Peoria and Kaskaskia, and in 1867
the entire body sold their lands in Kansas and removed to the present
Oklahoma, where they are now known under the name of Peoria.
The Piankashaw made or participated in treaties with
the United States at:
Greenville, Ohio, Aug. 3, 1795;
Ft Wayne, Ind., June
7,1803;
Vincennes, Ind., Aug. 7, 1803,
Aug. 27, 1804, and Dec. 30, 1805;
Portage des Sioux, Mo., July 18, 1815;
Vincennes, Ind., Jan. 3, 1818 (not
ratified);
Castor Hill, Mo., Oct. 29, 1832;
Washington, D. C., May 30,
1854, and Feb. 23, 1867.
The Piankashaw probably never numbered many more than
1,000 souls. In 1736 Chauvignerie estimated the Piankashaw, Wea, and
Pepicokia together at about 1,750. In 1759 the Piankashaw alone were
estimated at 1,500, and five years later at 1,250. This was reduced to 950
in 1780 , and 800 in 1795. In 1825 there were only 234 remaining, and in
1906 all the tribes consolidated under the name of Peoria numbered but
192, none of whom was of pure blood.
