856 



MTCACDOPSTBA MICHIGAMEA 



[b. a. e. 



wise, to remote parts: to Florida in the 

 s. and to the upper Mississippi valley in 

 the N. w. The crystals were often of 

 large size, measuring 2 ft or more in 

 diameter. The sheets into which they 

 were readily divided were much prized 

 for mirrors, and were also cut into a 

 great variety of shajies for personal orna- 

 ments, and possibly also for ceremonial 

 use. Sheets of mica were used also for 

 burial with the dead and as sacrificial 

 offerings. Squier and Davis give an 

 account of the discovery of 14 human 

 skeletons that were carefully covered 

 with mica plates, estimated at 15 or 20 

 bushels, some of the plates being from 

 8 to 10 in. long and from 4 to 5 in. wide, 

 and all from h to 1 in. in thickness. At- 

 water describes the discovery of many 

 thick sheets, one of which measured 36 

 in. long by 18 in. wide. With a skeleton 

 in the Grave Creek mound, near Wheel- 

 ing, W. Va., 150 disks of sheet mica, meas- 

 uring from li to 2 in. in diameter and hav- 

 ing each 1 or 2 perforations, were found. 

 From the Turner mounds in Hamilton 

 CO., Ohio, several ornamental figures of 

 sheet mica were o])tained; one of them is 

 a grotesque human figure, others are 

 animal forms, including a serpent (Put- 

 nam). Mica occurs on many sacrificial 

 altars of the mound-builders, who no 

 doubt regarded it as of special signifi- 

 cance. 



Consult Atwater, Antiq. of Ohio, 1820; 

 Putnam in Peabody Mus. Reps. ; Ran in 

 Smithson. Rep. 1872, 1873; Squier and 

 Davis in Smithson. Cont., i, 1848; Moore- 

 head in The Antiquarian, i, 1897. 



(w. H. H.) 



Micacuopsiba. An unidentified Dakota 

 division formerly roaming on the upper 

 St Peter's (Minnesota) r., Minn., in 1804. 

 Cut bank,— Cirig. Jour. Lewis and Clark, I, 13.3, 

 1904. Mi ca cu op si ba.— Ibid. 



Michacondibi [jiiitcJia 'large', indibe or 

 gindibe 'head': 'big head' (Baraga), 

 "possibly referring to the Tetes de Boule). 

 An Algonquian (?) tribeor band, probably 

 a part of the Cree or of the Maskegon, 

 formerly on a river of the same name 

 (Albany r.?) entering the s. end of Hud- 

 son bay from the s. w. Lahontan placed 

 them about the headwaters of Ottawa r. 



Machakandibi.— Lahontan. New Voy., I, 231, 1703. 

 Machandibi.— Lahontan (1703). New Voy., map, 

 173.'). Machantiby.— La Chesnaye (1697) in Margry. 

 Dl'c, VI, 6, 1S86. Michacondibis.— Baequeville de 

 laPotherie, Hist. Am., ii, 49. 1753. 



Michahai. A Yokuts (Mariposan) tribe 

 near Squaw valley, in the Kings r. drain- 

 age, s. central Cal. 



Michaha.— Wessells (1853) in H. R. Ex. Doc. 76, 

 34th Cong., 3d sess., 31, 1857. Michahai.— A. L. 

 Kroeber, inf'n, 1906. 



Michibousa. Mentioned by Tonti 

 (French, Hist. Coll. La., i, 82, 1846) in 

 connection with and apparently as one of 

 the tribes of the Illinois confederacy in 



1681. Tlie name is perhaps an erroneous 

 designation for some well-known tribe or 

 Ixind . 



Michigamea (Algonquian: 'greatwater,' 

 from 7/1! (c// (' great, ' 'much,' (juma 'water'. 

 Baraga gives the correct form of ' Michi- 

 gan' as Mifihig<imau\ ' the big lake', while 

 Dr Wm. Jones says that the Chippewa 

 of the N. shore of L. Superior refer to L. 

 Michigan by the name Mhhaidiguma, 

 'big, wide, or expansive waste,' on ac- 

 count of the few or no islands). A 

 tribe of the Illinois confederacy, first vis- 

 ited by Marquette when he descended 

 the Mississippi in 1673. Their village was 

 situated at that time on the w. side of the 

 Mississippi and near a lake bearing the 

 samenameas the tribe, probably Big lake, 

 between the St Francis and Mississippi 

 rs., Ark. This tribe was the most south- 

 erly of the confederacy, and its extreme 

 southern situation has led some authors to 

 the conclusion that the people were not 

 Algonquian, but this is an evident error. 

 It must have been shortly ])revious to the 

 time that the first knowledge of the tribes 

 of this general region was obtained that a 

 group or division of the Illinois confeder- 

 acy, including the Cahokia, Tamaroa, and 

 possibly the Michigamea, pushed south- 

 ward to escape the attacks of the Sioux and 

 the Foxes. It is therefore probable that at 

 this period the Michigamea moved on into 

 s. Illinois, and thence passed over into s. e. 

 Missouri. The intimate relation of the an- 

 cient remains of these two sections would 

 seem to confirm this opinion. About the 

 end of the 17th century they were driven 

 out by the Quapaw or Chickasaw, crossing 

 over into Illinois and joining the Kaskas- 

 kia. According to Chauvignerie their 

 totem was the crane. He attributed to 

 them 250 warriors, which is evidently an 

 exaggeration, as he estimated the whole 

 Illinois confederacy at only 508 warriors. 

 It is probable that the Michigamea were 

 only a remnant at the time they joined 

 the Kaskaskia. They were never promi- 

 nent in Indian affairs. In 1803 Gen. 

 W. H. Harrison supposed that there was 

 but one man of the tribe left alive, but as 

 late as 1818 the names of 3 Michigamea 

 appear as signers of a treaty with the 

 Illinois. (j. M. c. T.) 



Machegamea.— Joutel (1687) in Margry, D^c, in, 

 465, 1S7.S. Machigama.— Freftch, Hist. Coll. La., 

 1,82, 184(1. Machigamea.— Jontel (1687), op. cit., 

 4t;0. Matchagamia.— Coxe, Carolana, 11, 1741. 

 Matsigamea. — Hennepin, New Discov., 169, 1698. 

 Medsigamea.— Iberville (1702) in Margry, D6c., 

 IV, 601, 1880. Meosigamia.— Neill, Minn., 173, 1858. 

 Mesigameas.— Proces Verbal (1682) in French, 

 Hist. Coll. La.. ll, 25, 1875. Metchagamis.— Lattr4, 

 map, 1784. Metchigamea.— Marquette, map (1673) 

 in Shea. Miss. Val., 268, isi'vi. Metchis.— Writer in 

 Smith, Bouquet's Exped., 65, 1766. Metehiga- 

 mis.— La Tour, map, 1782 (misprint). Metesi- 

 gamias.— Le Sueur (ca. 1700) in Shea, Early Voy., 

 92, ]8(n. Metsigameas.— Proces Verbal (1682) in 

 French, Hist. Coll. La., ii, 21,1875. Michiagamias.— 



