598 



ILLINOIS 



[b. a. e. 



or less scattered over s. Wisconsin, n. 

 Illinois, and along the w. bank of the 

 Mississippi as far s. as Des Moines r., 

 Iowa. The whites first came in actual 

 contact with them (unless it be 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. In 1670 the 

 same priest found a number of them at 

 the Mascoutin village on upper Fox r., 

 some 9 m. from where Portage City now 

 stands, but this band then contemplated 

 joining their brethren on the Mississippi. 

 The conflicting statements regarding the 

 number of their villages at this period 

 and the indefiniteness as to localities ren- 

 der it ditticult to reach a satisfactory con- 

 clusion on these points. It ajipears that 

 some villages were situated on the w. side 

 of the Mississijipi, in what is now Iowa, 

 yet the major portion of the tril)es belong- 

 ing to the confederacy resided at points 

 in N. Illinois, chiefly on Illinois r. When 

 Marquette journeyed- down the Missis- 

 sippi in 1673 he found the Peoria and Mo- 

 ingwena on the w. side, about the mouth 

 of Des Moines r. On his return, 2 

 months later, he found them on Illi- 

 nois r. , near the present city of Peoria. 

 Thence he passed n. to the village of Kas- 

 kaskia, then on upper Illinois r., within 

 the present Lasalle co. At this time the 

 village consisted of 74 cabins and was occu- 

 pied by one tribe only. Hennepin esti- 

 mated them, about 1680, at 400 houses and 

 1 ,800 warriors, or about 6,500 souls. A few 

 years later (1690-94) missionaries reported 

 it to consist of 350 cabins, occupied by 8 

 tribes or bands. Father Sebastian Rasles, 

 who visited the village in 1692, placed the 

 numberofcabinsat 300, each of 4 "fires," 

 with 2 families to a fire, indicating a pop- 

 ulation of about 9,000 — perhaps an ex- 

 cessive estimate. The evidence, however, 

 indicates that a large part of the confeder- 

 acy was gathered at this point for awhile. 

 The Kaskaskia at this time were in some- 

 what intimate relation with the Peoria, 

 since Gravier, who returned to their vil- 

 lage in 1700, says he found them prepar- 

 ingto start s. , and believed that if he could 

 have arrived sooner "the Kaskaskians 

 would not thus have separated from the 

 Peouaroua [Peoria] and other Illinois." 

 By his persuasion they were induced to 

 stop in s. Illinois at the point to wdiich 

 their name was given. The Cahokia and 

 Tamaroawere at this time living at their 

 historic seats on the Mississippi in s. Illi- 

 nois. The lUinoiswere almost constantly 

 harassed by the Sioux, Foxes, and other 

 no'thern tribes; it was probably on this 

 account that they concentrated, about the 

 time of LaSalle's visit, on Illinois r. 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 tended 

 still further to weaken them. About the 

 year 1750 they were still estimated at 

 from 1,500 to 2,000 souls. The murder 

 of the celebrated chief Pontiac, by a 

 Kaskaskia Indian, about 1769, provoked 

 the vengeance of the Lake tribes on the 

 Illinoi:^, 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 

 Potawatorai took possession of their coun- 

 try. In 1778 the Kaskaskia still num- 

 bered 210, living in a village 3 m. n. of 

 Kaskaskia, while the Peoria and Michi- 

 gamea together numbered 170 on the Mis- 

 sissippi, a few miles farther up. Both 

 bands had become demoralized and gen- 

 erally worthless through the use of liquor. 

 In 1800 there were only about 150 left. 

 In 1833 the survivors, represented by the 

 Kaskaskia and Peoria, sold their lands in 

 Illinois and removed w. of the Mississii)pi, 

 and are now in the n. e. corner of Okla- 

 homa, consolidated with the Wea and 

 Piankashaw. In 1885 the consolidated 

 Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, and Piankashaw 

 numbered but 149, and even these are 

 much mixed with white blood. In 1905 

 their number was 195. 



Nothing definite is known of their tri- 

 bal divisions or clans. In 1736, accord- 

 ing to Cliauvignerie (N. Y. Doc. Col. 

 Hist., IX, 1056-1855), the totem of the 

 Kaskaskia was a feather of an arrow, 

 notched, or two arrows fixe<l like a St 

 Andrew's cross; while the Illinois as a 

 whole had the crane, bear, white hind, 

 fork, and tortoise totems. 



In addition to the principal tribes or 

 divisions above mentioned, the following 

 are given by early writers as seemingly 

 belonging to the Illinois: Albivi, Amono- 

 koa, Chepoussa, Chinko, Coiracoentanon, 

 Espeminkia, and Tapouara. In general 

 their villages bore the names of the tribes 

 occupying them, and were constantly va- 

 rying in number and shifting in location. 



The Illinois are described by early 

 writers as tall and robust, with pleasant 

 visages. The descriptions of their char- 

 acter given by the early missionaries differ 

 widely, but altogetherthey appearto have 

 been timid, easily driven from their 

 homes by their enemies, fickle, and 

 treacherous. They were counted excel- 

 lent archers, and, besides the bow, used 

 in war a kind of lance and a wooden club. 

 Polygamy was common among them, a 

 man sometimes taking several sisters as 

 wives. Unfaithfulness of a wife was pun- 

 ished, as among the Miami, the Sioux, the 

 Apache, and other tribes, by cutting off 



