<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7  Next  >>

The Miami (peninsular people), one of the most important of the Algonquan tribes, was called by some of the early chroniclers the "Twightwees." The region over which they roamed was once outlined in a speech by their famous chief, Little Turtle, who said: "My fathers kindled the first fire at Detroit; thence they extended their lines to the headwaters of the Scioto; thence to its mouth; thence down the Ohio to the month of the Wabash, and thence to Chicago over Lake Michigan."

The men of the Miami tribe have been described as "of medium height, well built, heads rather round than oblong, countenances agreeable rather than sedate or morose, swift on foot and excessively fond of racing." The women spun thread of buffalo hair, of which they made bags in which to carry provisions when on a march. Their deities were the sun and the thunder, and they had but few minor gods. Six bands of the Miami were known to the French, the principal ones being the Piankashaw, Wea and Pepicokia.

Little Turtle, Miami War Chief, prominent in the late

 18th Century.

Black Hawk, Sac War Chief

In the early days of the confederacy there were numerous bands, but in time these were reduced to 14.  Black Hawk, the Sac War Chief, was a member of the thunder clan. After several treaties with the United States, the Sac and Fox in 1837 ceded their lands in Iowa and were given a reservation in Franklin and Osage Counties of Kansas. In 1859 the Fox returned from a buffalo hunt to find that in their absence the Sac had made a treaty ceding the Kansas reservation to the United States. The Fox chief refused to ratify the cession and with some of his trusty followers, set out for Iowa from which some of the Fox members had previously returned. They purchased a small tract of land near Tama City, Iowa and later made more purchases, until the tribe owned some 3,000 acres. From that time, this faction of the Fox had no further political connection with the Sac. In 1867, the Kansas reservation passed into the hands of the United States Government, the Indians accepting a reservation in the Indian Territory, and in 1889 they were allotted lands in severalty.

The Iowa (sleepy ones) were a southwestern Siouan tribe belonging to the Chiwere group, composed of the Iowa, Otoe and Missouri tribes, all of which sprang from Winnebago stock, to which they were closely allied by language and tradition. Old Iowa chiefs said that the tribe separated from the Winnebago on the shores of Lake Michigan, and at the time of the separation, received the name of "gray snow." Afterwards they lived on the Des Moines River, near the pipestone quarry in Minnesota, at the mouth of the Platte River, and on the headwaters of the Little Platte River in Missouri. In 1824, they ceded their lands in Missouri and in 1836 moved to a reservation in the northeast corner of Kansas. When this reservation was ceded to the United States the tribe removed to central Oklahoma, where in 1890 they were allotted lands in severalty.

The Kickapoo, a tribe of the central Algonquian group, is first mentioned in history about 1670, when Father Allouez found them living near the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. Ethnologically, the Kickapoo were closely related to the Sac and Fox, with whom they entered into a scheme for the destruction of Detroit in 1712. When the Illinois Confederacy was broken up in 1765, the Kickapoo had their headquarters for a time at Peoria, Illinois. They were allied with Shawnee Chief Tecumseh in his conspiracy early in the 19th century, and in 1832, took part in the Black Hawk War.

Five years later they aided the government in the war with the Seminole. After ceding their lands in central Illinois, they moved to Missouri and still later to Kansas, settling on a reservation near Fort Leavenworth. About 1852 a number of Kickapoo joined a party of Potawatomi and went to Texas. Later they went to Mexico and became known as the "Mexican Kickapoo." In 1905, the Bureau of Ethnology reported 434 Kickapoo -- 247 in Oklahoma and 167 in Kansas.

Among the Kickapoo the gentile system prevailed and marriage was outside of their bands. In summer they lived in houses of bark, and in winter, in oval lodges constructed of reeds. They practiced agriculture in a primitive way. Their mythology was characterized by many fables of animals, the dog being especially venerated and regarded as an object of offering always acceptable to the great Manitou.

Continued Next Page