Wea
This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(August 2009) |
![]() Go-to-ków-páh-ah, He who Stands by Himself, a Wea warrior, oil portrait byGeorge Catlin,1830, collection of theSmithsonian American Art Museum. | |
Total population | |
---|---|
extinct as a tribe | |
Regions with significant populations | |
United States(Indiana,Illinois,Ohio,descendants inOklahoma) | |
Languages | |
Miami–Illinois | |
Religion | |
Traditional tribal religion | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Miami,Peoria,Kaskaskia |
TheWeawere aMiami–Illinois-speakingNative Americantribe originally located in westernIndiana.Historically, they were described as either being closely related to theMiami tribeor a sub-tribe of Miami.[1]
Today, the descendants of the Wea, along with theKaskaskia,Piankeshaw,andPeoria,are enrolled in thePeoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma,afederally recognized tribeinOklahoma.[2][3]
Name
[edit]The nameWeais used today as the a shortened version of their numerous recorded names. The Wea name for themselves (autonym) in their own language iswaayaahtanwa,derived fromwaayaahtanonki,'place of the whirlpool', where they were first recorded being seen and where they were living at that time.[4]
The many different spellings of the tribe's name include Waiatanwa, Ouaouiatanoukak, Aoiatenon, Aouciatenons, Ochiatenens, Ouatanons, Ouias, Ouiatanon, Wah-we-ah-tung-ong, Warraghtinooks, and Wyatanons.[5]
Language
[edit]The Wea spoke a dialect ofMiami–Illinois language,part of theAlgonquian language family.
History
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Granville%2C_Indiana_Cemetery_Marker.png/300px-Granville%2C_Indiana_Cemetery_Marker.png)
The Wea lived north of theOhio Riverin parts of western Indiana and southeastern Illinois.[6]The first written mention of the tribe is from 1673.[5]French explorers wrote about them in the 17th and early 18th centuries. Another Miami sub-tribe, the Pepikokia were a separate tribe until 1742 but then later became part of the Wea tribe.[6]In the 18th century, the Wea, Miami, and Piankashaw remained distinct tribes.[7]The Wea population of 1765 is estimated to have been around 1,200.[8]
In the early 18th century, Wea people settled in villages along theWabash Riverbetween what would becomeTerre HauteandLogansport, Indiana.[9]They established a large settlement calledOuiatenon,near what is nowLafayette,and the French colonists establishedFort Ouiatenon,which facilitated trade with the Wea andKickapoo.[9]
In 1747, British colonists began trading with a band of Miami living on theGreat Miami Riverin Ohio. Weas began trading with them as well, until the French destroyed their trading post. By 1763, the Wea joined Odawa war chiefPontiacinPontiac's Waragainst the British.[10]The Wea first were neutral during theAmerican Revolutionbut later joined the Miami in fighting with the British. The Wea were forced to move to Missouri and Arkansas in 1820.[3]They were later forced into Kansas and finallyIndian Territory,[11]which became Oklahoma.
With increased Euro-American settlement and the United States's policy ofIndian removal,the US federal government made many treaties with these tribes.
In 1854, the Wea signed a treaty that merged them politically with other remnant tribes of theIllinois Confederacyto become theConfederated Peoria Tribe.The Miami people also joined the Confederated Peoria Tribe in 1873.[6]
Former village sites
[edit]Listed are just a few villages that were located in Indiana and Illinois.
- Chicago Chicago, Illinois
- Kenapacomaqua Logansport, Indiana
- Ouiatenon Lafayette, Indiana, where a marker notes the site
- Kethtippecahnunk Lafayette
- Sugar Creek Village/Reserve Sugar Creek, Indiana
- Weauteno / Jacco's Towne Terre Haute, Indiana (a marker is placed at Fairbanks Park)
- Upper Wea Village/Town 2 miles above Terre Haute
- Old Wea Town, Between Terre Haute and Vincennes
- Wea Reserve Parke County, Indiana (a marker notes the site)
- Wea Village Danville, Illinois
- Paola, Miami County, Kansas[citation needed]
In 2004, the Indiana Historical Bureau installed a marker in Terre Haute that commemorates the Wea Village and ChiefJacco Godfroy.[12]
Signed treaties
[edit]Below are some of the many Treaties were made between the US and the Wea.
- Treaty of Greenville,Aug 3, 1795[3]
- Fort Wayne Indiana Territory,June 7, 1803, was not at the original treaty but signed later[citation needed]
- Vincennes, Indiana Territory, Aug 13, 1803[citation needed]
- Grouseland Indiana Territory,Aug 21, 1805[citation needed]
- Vincennes Indiana Territory, Dec 30, 1805[citation needed]
- Fort Wayne Indiana Territory,Sept 30, 1809[citation needed]
- Vincennes Indiana Territory, Oct 26, 1809[citation needed]
- Fort Harrison, Indiana Territory, June 4, 1816[citation needed]
- Vincennes Indiana Territory, Jan 3, 1818[citation needed]
- St Mary's OhioOct 2, 1818, ceded most lands in Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio, and established smallreservationin Indiana on the Wabash River[3]
- Vincennes, Indiana, Aug 11, 1820, ceded last land in Indiana, removed to Missouri and Arkansas[3]
- St Joseph, Michigan, Sept 21,1826[citation needed]
- St Joseph, Michigan, Sept 24, 1828[citation needed]
- Treaty of Oct 29, 1832, acquired 250 sections of land inMiami County, Kansas[3]
- Treaty of May 30, 1854[3]
- Omnibus Treaty of February 23, 1867[3]
Some mentions of Wea people in treaties include the following: Treaty of St. Marys 1820 in Article 3: "As it is contemplated by the said Tribe, to remove from the Wabash, it is agreed, that the annuity secured to the Weas, by the Treaty of Saint Mary's, above mentioned, shall hereafter be paid to them atKaskaskiain the state of Illinois. "[13]
Treaty of Castor Hill 1832 in Article 4: "The United States will also afford some assistance to that part of the Wea tribe now residing in the State of Indiana, to enable them to join the rest of their tribe on the lands hereby assigned them,...."[14]
Notable Wea people
[edit]- Stone Eater,18th-century Wea war chief
Notes
[edit]- ^Callendar, "Miami," 681
- ^House, Office of the Law Revision Counsel.United States Code 2006, Volume 15.§1224, page 986
- ^abcdefgh"Peoria Tribe".Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma.Retrieved25 January2020.
- ^Costa, David J. "Miami-Illinois Tribe Names", in John Nichols, ed.,Papers of the Thirty-first Algonquian Conference(Winnipeg: University of Manitoba, 2000), 30-53.
- ^abCallendar, "Miami," 689
- ^abcCallender, "Miami," 681
- ^Callendar, "Miami," 682
- ^Callendar, "Miami," 688
- ^abCallendar, "Miami," 686
- ^Callendar, "Miami," 686–87.
- ^Callendar, "Miami," 687
- ^"Wea Tribe at Terre Haute".Indiana Historical Bureau.Retrieved25 January2020.
- ^Commissions of Indian Affairs (1837).Treaties Between the United States of America and the Several Indian Tribes from 1778 to 1837.Washington, DC: Langtree and O'Sullivan. p. 285.
- ^Commissions of Indian Affairs (1837)."Piankeshaws and Weas".Treaties Between the United States of America and the Several Indian Tribes from 1778 to 1837.Washington, DC: Langtree and O'Sullivan. p. 557.
References
[edit]- Callender, Charles, "Miami," inHandbook of North American Indians,Raymond D. Fogelson, ed. (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2004), 681–89.
External links
[edit]- Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma,official website