Caution: Some of the materials presented and linked below may reflect outdated, biased, offensive, and possibly violent views and opinions and/or use outdated, biased, offensive, or otherwise harmful language. In addition, some of the materials may relate to violent or graphic events.
Cahokia
When European settlers encountered the Cahokia, a nation of the Illiniwek Confederation, in the late 1600s, their religious groups built multiple Christian missions, implying a sizable population. By 1752, disease, settler aggression, and an attack on their primary settlement by British soldiers and allied neighboring nations, the small number of surviving Cahokia joined the Michigamea. By the turn of the 19th century, the Cahokia had further dwindled and joined the Kaskaskia, and finally the Peoria. When the Peoria were forcefully removed to a reservation in present-day Oklahoma, their number, including all of the nations which joined them, was 157 individuals.
The Cahokia people who lived in Illinois at the time of European arrival are not the same group who built the famous Cahokia mounds (which had long been abandoned at that point), but lived in that area. The mounds are named for the Cahokia people, not the other way around.
Peoria Tribe of Indians of OklahomaTribal government page for the Peoria nation. Includes information on the Peoria languages and history as well as current information and programs.
Kaskaskia
The Kaskasia dominated what would become north-central Illinois from their main village across from Starved Rock near the present-day town which bears their name. That Grand Village was the perhaps the largest settlement in the Americas north of Mexico and is now am important archaeological site. The Kaskaskia, like the other nations of the Illiniwek Confederation, lost members and land to colonial aggression, disease, and warfare until the remnant joined the Peoria in the 1800s and were forcibly removed to Oklahoma with them.
The History of Starved Rock by Walczynski, MarkA "scholarly examination of events that occurred at and around the famous site of Starved Rock between summer 1673, when European explorers first viewed the bluff, to 1911, when Rock became the centerpiece of Illinois's second state park." The focus is heavily on interactions between the Kaskaskia and European colonizers.
Michigamea
The Michigamea lived in a single village near modern Prairie du Rocher when European colonists and missionaries arrived in what would be southern Illinois. The location of their village is now an important archaeological site. That village was destroyed by a coalition of Native enemies and the surviving Michigamea built a new village a few miles away. As with all the nations of the Illiniwek Confederation, the Michigamea were decimated by disease, warfare, and colonial aggression, eventually dwindling in number and joining the Peoria nation before they were forcibly removed to Oklahoma.
Peoria Tribe of Indians of OklahomaTribal government page for the Peoria nation. Includes information on the Peoria languages and history as well as current information and programs.
Kolmer Site from WikipediaOverview of the history and archaeological work at the place the Michigamea village stood at the time of French arrival.
Peoria
The Peoria, who gave their name to the Illinois city which stands on their traditional land, were pushed westward in stages as colonial aggression, disease, and warfare eroded their number. Over time, they joined with a number of other nations of the Illiniwek Confederation—including the Kaskaskia, Piankeshaw, Wea, Cahokia, Moingwena, Michigamea, Tamaroa, and Pepikokia—as the Confederated Peoria. There were 3,713 enrolled members of the Peoria nation in 2012. Their language, a dialect of Miami-Illinois, was nearly extinct before a 2022 effort to revitalize it.
Peoria Tribe of Indians of OklahomaTribal government page for the Peoria nation. Includes information on the Peoria languages and history as well as current information and programs.
Tamaroa
An estimated 3,000 Tamaroa lived near the mouths of the Illinois and Missouri rivers at the time European settlers and missionaries arrived in the area circa 1680. The Tamaroa no longer exist as a distinct polity, having been decimated by the aggression of European settlers, disease, and warfare with the Chickasaw and Shawnee peoples. The surviving Tamaroa united with the Kaskaskia in 1703 and then the Peoria in the 1830s. With the Peoria, they were relocated to a reservation in present-day Ottawa County, Oklahoma, in 1889. At the time, the Peoria, including the descendants of the Tamaroa and Kaskaskia, numbered 157 individuals.
Peoria Tribe of Indians of OklahomaTribal government page for the Peoria nation. Includes information on the Peoria languages and history as well as current information and programs.
Kiikaapoi
The Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo) are traditionally associated with a large area along the southern Wabash River near modern Terre Haute, Indiana, and were considered part of the Wabash Confederacy along with the neighboring Piankeshaw, Wea, Myaamia, and Mascouten nations. Like other Native peoples in what would become Illinois, they allied with the English in the United States' Revolutionary War in hopes to expelling white colonists from their lands. The combined effort failed and the Kiikaapoi were forced to cede the lands they controlled--over half of present Illinois--to the United States. The Kiikaapoi were first forcibly removed to Missouri, then to Kansas. Today there are about 3,000 enrolled members of the Kiikaapoi nation.
Kickapoo Kansas NationArchived copy of the official website of the Kiikaapoi nation in Kansas, the branch most recently associated with southern Illinois. Includes historical and cultural information as well as government services and programs. (The live website is currently blocked by many browsers due to an issue with its security certificate.)
Garrett, Matthew R. Kickapoo Foreign Policy, 1650-1830. 2006. University of Nebraska, MA.Thesis examining the Kiikaapoi use of diplomacy to protect and expand their land holdings and cultural identity during the colonial period and ultimate failure of this method to prevent forced removal by the government of the United States.
OLAC resources in and about the Kickapoo languageBibliography of online materials including primary texts, lexical resources, language descriptions, and other resources.
Kenekuk, the Kickapoo Prophet by Herring, Joseph B.Relatively brief biography of a Kiikaapoi chief of the Vermillion band of southern Illinois. Includes some historical information about the Kiikaapoi, especially near the time of their forced relocation to Oklahoma.
Myaamia
First encountered by Europeans in Wisconsin, the Myaamia (Miami) moved steady south and west, displacing other Native nations as they were pushed out by colonizers. By the mid-1800s, their numbers had dwindled due to disease, warfare, and colonial aggression. The remaining Myaamiaki were forcibly removed to first Kansas, then Oklahoma. As of 2011, there were about 4,000 enrolled members of the Myaamia nation.
Miami Tribe of OklahomaOfficial website of the Myaamia nation. Includes both historical and cultural information and pages related to current events and government services.
Miami Awakening = Myaamiaki eemamwiciki by Osawa, Sandy Sunrising; et al.Documentary film providing " ... a comprehensive look at the language and culture revitalization efforts of the Miami Tribe. ... captures moments of transition as myaamia people gain traditional knowledge and share it withink their homes and communities; features interviews with community elders, families, youth, and tribal educators as the Miami Tribe continue to reclaim their heritage and rebuild as a community."
People of the Ecotone: environment and indigenous power at the center of early America by Morrissey, Robert Michael"Robert Morrissey offers a human and environmental history of this bioregion from the fall of Cahokia (13th-14th century CE) through the mid-18th century, probing the complex rise and fall of the Illinois, the Meskwaki, and the Myaamia peoples, then among the most powerful native peoples in the interior, and perhaps on the continent. Morrissey views their histories through a long-term lens of environmental shifts over millennia, as changes in climate meant shifting bison geographies, and tribes that adapted their cultures to become pedestrian bison hunters. But rather than focusing on an individual tribe, Morrissey centers a dynamic zone. Rather than concentrating on the rupture of colonialism, the book concentrates on events that shaped Indigenous motivations well before first contact, and continued to do so profoundly right through the mid-18th century."
The Miami Indians by Anson, Bert"One of the small group of tribes comprising the Illinois division of the Algonquian linguistic family, the Miamis emerged as a pivotal tribe only during the French and British imperial wars, the Miami Confederacy wars of the 18th century and the treaty-making period of the 19th century."
Aakiiwaki
Often called the Sauk or Sac, the Aakiiwaki were strongly associated with Saginaw Bay in what is now Michigan, their long-time homeland. Pressures from other Native nations and European colonizers pushed the Aakiiwaki and the closely related and allied Meskwaki into present-day Illinois, where they and other allies fought and eventually crushed the nations of the Illiniwek Confederacy and claimed their lands for themselves. Even so, they were forcibly removed to Oklahoma by 1869 where they shared a reservation with the Meskwaki. Today, there are about 4,000 enrolled members of the Sac and Fox Nation.
Sac & Fox NationOfficial website of the Sac & Fox Nation in Oklahoma, focusing on current government programs and services.
Meskwaki
The Meskawi (Fox) have been historically located in the St. Lawrence River Valley along the Canadian border, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa. In the 1700s, they allied with the related Aakiiwaki (Sac or Sauk) to fight European colonizers and other Native nations pushing them to the southwest. The Meskwaki and Aakiiwaki were forcibly removed to Kansas in 1845, but through legal action and re-purchases the Meskwaki have reclaimed over 8,000 acres in Iowa and their population has increased to more than 1,450 enrolled members.
People of the Ecotone: environment and indigenous power at the center of early America by Morrissey, Robert Michael"Robert Morrissey offers a human and environmental history of this bioregion from the fall of Cahokia (13th-14th century CE) through the mid-18th century, probing the complex rise and fall of the Illinois, the Meskwaki, and the Myaamia peoples, then among the most powerful native peoples in the interior, and perhaps on the continent. Morrissey views their histories through a long-term lens of environmental shifts over millennia, as changes in climate meant shifting bison geographies, and tribes that adapted their cultures to become pedestrian bison hunters. But rather than focusing on an individual tribe, Morrissey centers a dynamic zone. Rather than concentrating on the rupture of colonialism, the book concentrates on events that shaped Indigenous motivations well before first contact, and continued to do so profoundly right through the mid-18th century."
Two summers among the Musquakies relating to the early history of the Sac and Fox tribe, incidents of their noted chiefs, location of the Foxes, or Musquakies, in Iowa, with a full account of their traditions, rites and ceremonies, and the personal experi by Busby, Allie B.Firsthand report of Meskwaki lifeways, history, and legends from 1886.
Ho-Chunk
The Ho-Chunk ranged across modern Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois, moving first south under pressure from other Native nations, then returning north as colonial aggression weakened those neighbors. Eventually, European colonists drove them south again, bringing the Ho-Chunk into direct conflict with the nations of the Illiniwek Confederacy. War erupted and the Ho-Chunk were nearly destroyed. Disease and continuing colonial aggression further lowered their numbers. The Ho-Chunk were forcibly removed—repeatedly—to Nebraska, but resisted by returning to their Wisconsin homeland so often the United State government was forced to concede and recognize the land acquired and occupied by the Ho-Chunk as an official sovereign reservation. A number of Ho-Chunk, the Winnebago of Nebraska, remained in Nebraska. In 1990, there were about 7,000 enrolled members of the Ho-Chunk nation.
Kaw
The Kaw, sometimes called Kansa or Kanza, lived along the Missouri River in what is now northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas. The Kaw often came into conflict with neighbors in this fairly crowded region and were already weakened by warfare when European colonizers arrived. Disease and aggression from the colonists decimated the Kaw and they were forcibly removed to Oklahoma in 1873. There the Kaw dwindled to less than 200 people before a slow recovery brought them to the current population of about 4,000.
Kaw NationOfficial website with cultural information as well as government services and programs.
Missouria
The ancestors of the Missouria (Niúachi) moved from north of the Great Lakes to settle near the mouths of the Grand and Missouri riivers in what would become the state which bears their name. In the colonial era, they were frequently attacked by the Aakiwaki and Meskwaki and suffered heavily from diseases brought by European colonists. By the time they were forcibly removed to Oklahoma, fewer than 100 survived and they joined with the related Otoe nation. Today, there are about 1,000 enrolled members of the Otoe-Missouria.
Otoe-Missouria TribeOfficial website of the Otoe-Missouria nation with copious links to history and culture resources and current government activities.
Quapaw / O-ga-xpa Ma-zhoⁿ / O-ga-xpa
The ancestors of the Quapaw, also known as the O-ga-xpa or O-ga-xpa Ma-zhoⁿ, came from the lower Ohio River valley along with the ancestors of the Omaha, Ponca, Osage, and Kaw, eventually settling in the area of the confluence of the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers by the mid-17th century. European missionaries and traders report four or five villages of Quapaw in the region housing about 5,000 people. Smallpox outbreaks quickly claimed the inhabitants of two of those villages shortly after colonization began in earnest. The remaining Quapaw were steadily pushed west by colonial aggression and eventually forcibly removed to northeastern Oklahoma in 1834. At that time, there were about 500 Quapaw remaining, including those of mixed Quapaw ancestry. Today, there are 3,240 enrolled members of the Quapaw.
Quapaw NationOfficial website of the Quapaw Nation government. Includes sections on culture, history, government structure, and current programs.
O-ga-xpa Ma-zhoⁿ: Quapaw CountryPaper with copious citations covering Quapaw history with a focus on the locations where Quapaw bands lived before their forced removal.
Quapaw LanguageOnline English-Quapaw dictionary with links to other resources on the Quapaw language.
Ponca
When Europeans arrived in the central part of North America, the Ponca lived around the mouth of the Niobrara River in northern Nebraska, having moved there from the Ohio River valley in the late 1400s. More agrarian than their neighbors, the Ponca were especially hard-hit by disease. Their leadership was destroyed by hostile Lakota (part of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ) in 1824 and the remaining Ponca were forcibly removed to Oklahoma in 1876. In a famous civil rights case, Ponca chief Standing Bear won recognition that Native Americans are "persons within the meaning of the law" in the United States. This was the first such admission by the government of the United States and came in 1879. Today, there are well over 6,000 enrolled members of the Ponca nation.
Ponca Tribe of NebraskaOfficial website of the Nebraska Ponca government. Includes resources on history and culture, as well as government services and upcoming events.
Ponca Tribe of OklahomaOfficial website of the Ponca government. Focused on tribal events and current programs and services.
Omaha & Ponca Digital DictionaryDictionary allowing translation of terms from English to Omaha or Ponca and vice versa.
Clyde Warrior: tradition, community, and Red Power by McKenzie-Jones, Paul R."The phrase Red Power, coined by Clyde Warrior (1939–1968) in the 1960s, introduced militant rhetoric into American Indian activism. In this first-ever biography of Warrior, historian Paul R. McKenzie-Jones presents the Ponca leader as the architect of the Red Power movement, spotlighting him as one of the most significant and influential figures in the fight for Indian rights."
Omaha
The Omaha (Umoⁿhoⁿ) nation grew out of a larger group from the area of the Ohio and Wabash rivers, which also branched into the Ponca and Quapaw peoples. The Omaha moved west under pressure from European settlers and other Native nations, eventually settling near the Missouri River in what would be northwestern Iowa and Nebraska. They were early adopters of horse culture and formed an extensive network of semi-nomadic bison hunters and fur traders. Despite a reputation for never taking up arms against white colonizers and settlers, the Omaha were pushed out of their lands and their numbers decreased by disease and colonial aggression. They were confined to a reservation in Nebraska in about 1856. Beginning in the 1960s, the Omaha have fought a number of legal battles to regain additional land, with some success. Today, there are about 6,000 enrolled members of the Omaha nation.
Umoⁿhoⁿ Indian Heritage, University of Nebraska LincolnCollection of photographs, images of artifacts, scholarly texts, writings in Omaha, and tribal information.
Omaha Indian Music Collection, Library of CongressHundreds of digitized recordings of Omaha traditional music collected beginning in the 1890s and through to the present day. Includes written contextual material.
Omaha Language Curriculum Development Project, University of NebraskaCollection of documents in Omaha including recipes, place names, plant names, and stories.
Omaha & Ponca Digital DictionaryDictionary allowing translation of terms from English to Omaha or Ponca and vice versa.
Women Elders' Life Stories of the Omaha Tribe by Summers, Wynne L."Eleanor Baxter, Alice Saunsoci, and Hawate (Wenona Caramony) are female elders of the Omaha Tribe in Macy, in the northeast corner of Nebraska. All three grew up on the Omaha reservation, moved away in later life, and held careers outside the reservation. Yet all returned to their community, bringing the skills they learned in the “white world” and the knowledge they gained as children from their own elders to contribute to the well-being of the Omaha people. ... With a balanced focus on traditional culture and modern success, each of these three women guides the tribe in her own way toward a better understanding of what it means to be Omaha."
Osage
The Osage (Ni Okašką or Wazhazhe) moved west from the Ohio River valley after pressure from eastern nations pushed out by European colonizers. They settled near the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers and rapidly became one of the dominant forces in the region. This was no protection against disease and colonial aggression, however, and the nomadic, bison-hunting Osage were forced westward into Kansas and then removed to Oklahoma by the mid-1800s. For a short time in the early twentieth century, members of the Osage attained immense wealth by leasing the oil and mineral rights for their allotted land. A series of murders, frauds, and manipulations by unscrupulous businessmen brought an end to the riches. Today, there are nearly 50,000 enrolled members of the Osage nation.
Osage NationOfficial website of the Osage Nation. Includes information on government, social services, history, and culture.
Colonial Entanglement: constituting a twenty-first-century Osage nation by Dennison, Jean"By situating the 2004-6 Osage Nation reform process within its historical and current contexts, Dennison illustrates how the Osage have creatively responded to continuing assaults on their nationhood. A fascinating account of a nation in the midst of its own remaking, Colonial Entanglement presents a sharp analysis of how legacies of European invasion and settlement in North America continue to affect indigenous people's views of selfhood and nationhood."
The Osage Ceremonial Dance I'n-Lon-Schka by Callahan, Alice A."In English, I'n-Lon-Schka means "playground of the eldest son." The dance, in which women are allowed only a peripheral role, celebrates traditional masculine values while helping to break down factionalism and feuding within the tribe. ... The I'n-Lon-Schka is religious in content and continues to establish conduct and ways of living for tribal members."
Osage Women and Empire: gender and power by Edwards, Tai"[S]eeks to refocus the history of Osage power and decline to fully include the role women played in the tribe's religious and political life. Histories of the Osage have almost entirely emphasized the lives of men, but throughout much of the 18th and 19th centuries, women constituted the majority of the Osage population and both women and men viewed female activities as central to tribal existence. Osage religious beliefs, which saw men and women as necessary pairs, affected how Osage men and women experienced and adapted to colonization, as these complementary gender roles manifested in virtually every aspect of their lives."
Onödowáʼga
The Onödowáʼga arrived in the lower Ohio River valley around the time of the United States' Revolutionary War, driven out of what would become western New York by aggression from European colonizers . The migration brought about 100 years of relative stability before the Onödowáʼga were forcibly removed to Oklahoma in the 1830s and assigned land already promised to and occupied by the Cherokee. Today, there are over 5,000 enrolled members of the Seneca-Cayuga Nation, the descendants of the Onödowáʼga removed from the Ohio River region. The Onödowáʼga language is considered critically endangered, but revitalization efforts are underway.
Senca-Cayuga NationOfficial website of the Senca-Cayuga nation, headquartered in Oklahoma.
Ganyáhde: Cultural Resources for the Seneca–Cayuga NationCollection of legends and traditions, along with government and historical documents from the Seneca-Cayuga Nation.
Sullivan-Clinton CampaignIn 1779, George Washington ordered two generals under his command, Sullivan and Clinton, to lead roughly 25% of the colonial army against the Iroquois Confederacy, including the Onödowáʼga, ordering the British-allied natives "not merely be overrun but destroyed." This online archive summarizes the military campaign and its aftermath.
Očhéthi Šakówiŋ
Commonly called the Sioux, the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ controlled large portions of what is now Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Iowa, and Nebraska as European colonists pushed into their territory. The Očhéthi Šakówiŋ also expanded westward, using their adoption of horse culture to transition from a farming and gathering culture to one centered on the bison hunt. Even so, the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ were forced onto reservations and their people killed by European disease and aggression. Notably, the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ have fought long legal battles with the government of the United States over ownership of the tribe's traditional lands. In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ over the Black Hills in South Dakota and Wyoming, saying the U.S. owed the tribe $100 million for the land. The Očhéthi Šakówiŋ have refused to accept the monetary settlement, demanding instead the return of the land. There were over 170,000 enrolled members of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ tribes as of the 2010 census.
List of Sioux government sites from WikipediaLinks to the official webpages of the numerous reservations and tribal governments serving the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ.
Landrum, Cynthia Leanne. Acculturation of the Dakota Sioux: The boarding school experience for students at Flandreau and Pipestone Indian schools. 2002, University of Oklahoma, PhD."This study is a further investigation into Indian education and its role in assimilation. ... Despite the efforts of federal official [sic], by the middle of the twentieth century it was obvious that complete assimilation of the students failed because the system accommodated many of the Indian traditions. ... In short, the government boarding schools changed as much as the American Indian population, due the pressures from the Native American community, the Indian Field Service teaching staff, and the Merium Report and subsequent Indian New Deal. Ultimately, a sense of “Pan-Indianism” or comradery developed among members of various tribes, which was fostered and facilitated by the boarding school system."
Translated Nation: rewriting the Dakhóta Oyáte by Pexa, Christopher J."From Nicholas Black Elk to Charles Alexander Eastman to Ella Cara Deloria, Pexa analyzes well-known writers from a tribally centered perspective that highlights their contributions to Dakhota/Lakhota philosophy and politics. He explores how these authors, as well as oral histories from the Spirit Lake Dakhota Nation, invoke thiospaye (extended family or kinship) ethics to critique U.S. legal translations of Dakhota relations and politics into liberal molds of heteronormativity, individualism, property, and citizenship. He examines how Dakhota intellectuals remained part of their social frameworks even while negotiating the possibilities and violence of settler colonial framings, ideologies, and social forms."
The Sioux: the Dakota and Lakota nations by Gibbon, Guy"[C]overs the entire historical range of the Sioux, from their emergence as an identifiable group in late prehistory to the year 2000. As an archaeologist, author Guy Gibbon has studied the material remains of the Sioux for many years. His expertise, his informative and engaging writing style, dozens of photographs, and the comprehensive endnotes and further reading lists make this a compelling and indispensable text for students, scholars, and readers of Sioux history."
Terrible Justice: Sioux chiefs and U.S. soldiers on the upper Missouri, 1854-1868 by Chaky, Doreen"They called themselves Dakota, but the explorers and fur traders who first encountered these people in the sixteenth century referred to them as Sioux, a corruption of the name their enemies called them. That linguistic dissonance foreshadowed a series of bloodier conflicts between Sioux warriors and the American military in the mid-nineteenth century. Doreen Chaky's narrative history of this contentious time offers the first complete picture of the conflicts on the Upper Missouri in the 1850s and 1860s, the period bookended by the Sioux's first major military conflicts with the U.S. Army and the creation of the Great Sioux Reservation."
General Resources
The Illini Confederation: Lords of the Mississippi ValleyBrief overview of the history of the nations of the Illini Confederation with links to source materials and related topics. Created by an instructor from John A. Logan College.
Bilodeau, Christopher. ""They Honor Our Lord among Themselves in Their Own Way": Colonial Christianity and the Illinois Indians." American Indian Quarterly, vol. 25, no. 3 (Summer 2001), pp. 352-377.Scholarly article on the worldview of the cultures of the Illinois Confederacy and how their spirituality interacted with that of early French missionaries, as well as how these interactions affected intercultural relations.
The Illinois IndiansOlder website providing a historical and cultural overview of the Native nations who lived in Illinois before colonization. Created by the Illinois State Museum.
Beckwith, Hiram W. The Illinois and Indiana Indians. 1884.Plain-text transcription of a history of native peoples in what became Illinois and Indiana centered on early colonial encounters. Nations covered include the Myaaamia, Illinois Confederacy (Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Tamaroa, Peoria, and Michigamea), Ho-Chunk (Winnebago), Aakiiwaki (Sac or Sauk), Meskwaki (Fox), and Kiikaapoi.
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
