Published: December 01, 2007 07:00 pm            

Genealogy: Miami Indians were predominant tribe of Indiana

TERRE HAUTE — The Miami Indians were the predominant tribe of Indiana. They were first encountered by Europeans in the mid-1600s, when they were living in the Green Bay area of Wisconsin. They gradually migrated southward and settled south of Lake Michigan near Chicago and on the St. Joseph River in southern Michigan and northern Indiana. In 1703, they had a settlement in the Detroit area as well as their villages in northern Indiana. By 1711, they had been driven from the St. Joseph River by the Potawatomi and the Kickapoo and were moving south along the Wabash River and also east into Ohio on the Miami River.

At the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, the Miami relinquished their eastern territories to the Shawnee and withdrew to Indiana. Between 1812 and 1840, they gradually disposed of most of their Indiana lands except for one tract. In exchange, the United States government gave them land in the northeastern corner of Oklahoma, then Indian Territory. By 1867, most of the tribe had removed to Oklahoma. Only one group, called Meshingomesia’s Band, stayed in Indiana and lived on the remaining land there. Members of the Miami tribe who are descended from Meshingomesia’s Band are still citizens of Indiana.

The Miami tribe belonged to the Algonquin linguistic group. The Miamis referred to themselves as “Twightwees,” signifying the call of a crane. The Chippewa called them “Omaumeg,” meaning “people of the Peninsula.” This is where the name “Miami” is derived. The Miami had several subdivisions, or bands, including the Piankashaw, Wea, Atchatcha, Kangouen, Kilatika, Mengakonkia and Pepicokia. The Piankashaw and Wea came to be recognized as separate tribes.

Early Miami settlements in Indiana include the Piankashaws, most likely including the Pepicokia band, at Vincennes, Knox County; Choppatee’s Village on the west bank of the St. Joseph River, near Fort Wayne, Allen County; Kekionga on the east bank of the St. Joseph River, near Fort Wayne; Little Turtle’s village, 20 miles northwest of Fort Wayne; a Wea village called “Kenapacomaqua” on the Eel River near Logansport, Cass County; Kokomo in Howard County; Kowashikka, also called Thorntown, on Sugar Creek in Boone County; Meshingomesia, a reservation on the Mississinewa River, in Wabash County; Mississinewa, on the same river at its juncture with the Wabash River, in Miami County; Missinquimeschan, a Piankashaw village near Washington, Daviess County; Papakeecha (named for its chief), at Indian village, Noble County; Piankashaw, a village of Piankashaws, on the Wabash and Vermilion rivers, in Vermilion County; Seek’s Village, near Columbia City on the Eel River, Whitley County; and White Raccoon’s Village, near Aboite, Allen County.

It is estimated that there were 4,500 Miami (including Wea and Piankashaw) in 1650. Estimates from 1764 and 1765 were 1,750 and 1,250. An 1825 count totaled 1,400 Miami, Wea, and Piankashaw combined, 327 of whom were Wea. An 1885 count of Miami in the Indian Territory (not including Wea or Piankashaw) was only 57 individuals. The 1900 census enumerated 243 Miami (of both pure and mixed ethnicity) in Indiana. The 1910 census enumerated 90 Miami in Indiana and 123 in Oklahoma. In 1923, the U.S. Indian Office Report showed 125 Indians in Indiana. The 1930 census showed 47 Miami in Indiana. In 1937, there were 287 Miami reported in Oklahoma.

This information is from The Indian Tribes of North America, by John R. Swanton, which was reviewed last week. For more detailed information on the history and population of the Miami and allied tribes, visit www.dickshovel.com/mia.html.

        

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