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In the 1600s, when American Indians first came into contact with Europeans in the Great Lakes region, two Illinois Indian Tribes inhabited the land that would eventually become the State of Illinois: the Illinois Confederation (also known as Illiniwek Indians) and the Miami tribe.
The first group–known to French explorers and missionaries as the Illinois or Illiniwek Indians–was a confederation of twelve tribes that occupied a large section of the central Mississippi River valley, including most of what is today Illinois.
The second group, the Miami tribe, lived in villages located south and west of Lake Michigan.During the 1700s and early 1800s, the territory of the Illinois Indians shrank and the Miami tribe moved eastward.
Other tribes then moved into Illinois to take over land formerly occupied by the Illinois and Miami. Some of the newly arrived tribes included the Fox (Mesquakie), Ioway, Kickapoo, Mascouten, Piankashaw, Potawatomi, Sauk, Shawnee, Wea, and Winnebago.
FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED TRIBES
(Federal List Last Updated 5/16)
None
None
The People of the Mountains. Letter of Intent 6/3/2004
The Illinois confederacy of Algonquian tribes, formerly occupying south Wisconsin, northern Illinois, and sections of Iowa and Missouri, included the Cahokia, Kaskaskia, Michigamea, Moingwena, Peoria, and Tamaroa.
Their exact location when first heard of by the whites can not be determined with certainty, as the tribes and bands were more or less scattered over southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois, and along the west bank of the Mississippi as far south as Des Moines river, Iowa.
The whites first came in actual contact with them (unless it’s true that Nicollet visited them) at La Pointe (Shaugawaumikong), where Allouez met a party in 1667, which was visiting that point for purposes of trade.
It appears that some villages were situated on the west side of the Mississippi, in what is now Iowa, but the major portion of the tribes belonging to the confederacy resided at points in northern Illinois, chiefly on the Illinois River.
The Cahokia and Tamaroa were at this time living at their historic seats on the Mississippi in south Illinois.
The Illinois were almost constantly harassed by the Sioux, Foxes, and other northern tribes.
About the same time,the Iroquois waged war against them, which lasted several years, and greatly reduced their numbers, while liquor obtained from the French weakened them further.
About the year 1750 they were still estimated at from 1,500 to 2,000 souls.
Then the murder of the celebrated chief Pontiac, by a Kaskaskia Indian, about 1769, provoked the vengeance of the Lake tribes on the Illinois, and a war of extermination was begun which, in a few years, reduced them to a mere handful, who took refuge with the French settlers at Kaskaskia, while the Sauk, Foxes, Kickapoo, and Potawatomi took possession of their country.
In addition to the principal tribes or divisions above mentioned, the following are given by early writers as seemingly belonging to the Illinois: Albivi, Amonokoa, Chepoussa, Chinko, Coiracoentanon, Espeminkia, and Tapouara.
In 1800 there were only about 150 Illinois left.
In 1833 the survivors, represented by the Kaskaskia and Peoria, sold their lands in Illinois and removed west of the Mississippi, and are now in the northeast corner of Oklahoma, consolidated with the Wea and Piankashaw.
In 1885 the consolidated Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, and Piankashaw numbered only 149, much of them with mixed white blood.
10,000 BC- 8000 BC – Paleo Indians roam the area, briefly occupying small camps in coniferous forests and subsisting on large game and wild plants.
8000 BC- 500 BC – Archaic period Indians inhabied deciduous forests in small groups, hunted deer and small game, weaved baskets, and ground seeds with stones.
500 BC- AD 900 – Woodland culture Indians developed a maize agriculture, built villages and burial mounds, invented the bow and arrow for hunting, and began making pottery.
900- 1500 A.D. – Indians of the Mississippian culture improved agricultural methods, built temple mounds and large fortified villages. Most of the settlements were abandoned prior to the historic period.
Indians hunted in Illinois as far back as 5000 B.C. and today you can still view the remains of their civilization at places such as Cahokia Mounds – North America’s largest and most valuable prehistoric earthwork relic.
The earliest inhabitants of Illinois were the prehistoric Mound Builders. Dickson Mounds Indian Museum near Lewiston features special exhibits which chronicle the Indian’s valuable place in Illinois history.
These groups of Native Americans left behind more than 10,000 temple and burial mounds throughout the state. Monk’s Mound, near present-day Cahokia, is the largest prehistoric earthen structure in the United States.
Before white men entered the region, it was occupied by a group of six united tribes known as the Illiniwek or Illini, a native word meaning “superior men.”
The Illini consisted of the Cahokia, Kaskaskia, Michigamea, Moingwena, Peoria and Tamarosa tribes. They were all part of the Algonkian family.
Some of the other tribes that played a part in the state’s early history were the Chippewa, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Winnebago, Kickapoo, and Shawnee.
In 1680, the Iroquois entered the region to attack the Illinois tribes. Many were killed in the conflict. By 1800 few Natives remained.
RESOURCES
Sources of records on US Indian tribes
Tap a state name below to explore Native American tribes by State.
Excerpted from The Indian Tribes of North America, by John R. Swanton The primary Indian group in the state of Illinois was the Illinois, a large native group made up of several related tribes. Their tribal name “Illiniwek” means “men”…