Kaskaskia Indians
Kaskaskia Indians
In 1673, after traveling down the Great River
- "Misisipiwe", Pere Marquette
and Louis Joliet went up the river that is
now known as the Illinois. After going around
a great bend, and passing a huge rock, laRoche
in French, and now known as Starved Rock,
they came upon a village of 75 or so, lodges.
This was the Kaskaskias, one of the tribes
of the Illini confederation.
The natives welcomed the explorers, so they
stayed with them for awhile. When it came
time to leave, the Kaskaskias implored Marquette
and Joliet to return someday. Marquette vowed
he would. They left, returning to St. Ignatius
Mission, in Canada, by way of " the
place of the smelly garlic", (Chikagoua),
and Lake Michigan.
Pere Marquette kept his promise in 1675,
and returned to the Kaskaskia village, which
now had a populations of 4500 natives. During
this visit he established Immaculate Conception
Mission, but because he was ill, he was only
there for a few days. As he returned to Canada,
he died in route.
The Kaskaskia had been very receptive to
Makata Kira Pere Marquette, (the black robe
Fr. Marquette). They also received his successors,
Pere Allouez (1677-1678), Pere Gravier (1678-1705),
and Peres Pinet, Marest, LeBoullanger and
Mermet, sharing their tribal life with the
missionaries.
The life of the Kaskaskia and their fellow
Illiniwek tribes (which consisted of the
Peoria, Cahokia, Tamaroa, Metchigamea and
Moingwena) followed a seasonal cycle. In
spring the Illiniwek lived in their permanent
villages of bark lodges. In April, Crow Moon,
women planted corn, beans, squash and sunflowers.
After hoeing the crops in June, Hoeing Moon/Whippoorwill
Moon, and the hilling of the corn in July,
Corn Moon, the tribes traveled to the open
prairies for the men to hunt buffalo.
The old men and women, and the very young
children stayed in the permanent villages
to tend the gardens, gather rushes for mats,
and generally look after things.
On the buffalo hunt, the women did most of
the butchering and preparation of meat and
hides, with the meat being dried for winter
consumption.
After the summer hunt, the tribes returned
to their villages for the harvest of the
Green Corn Festival. The final harvest was
near the beginning of fall. Although there
was feasting, the bulk of the harvest was
dried for use during the winter months.
Fall and winter hunts were undertaken in
smaller family groups. During this time the
smaller family groups would customarily live
in the more portable lodges made of mats.
The mats were woven of dried rushes. Maple
syrup and sugar were produced late in the
winter. Raiding other tribes in the early
spring completed the cycle of the Illiniwek
year.
Trade with other tribes and Europeans was
done throughout the year, as was collection
of firewood, wild foods, herbs and natural
medicines, which was done by the women.
The Illiniwek tribes hoped strong ties with
the French would protect and strengthen them
in their ongoing wars with the Hodenosauneega
(Iroquois tribes), the Nadouessioux (Sioux
tribes) and other enemies such as the Mesquakie
(Fox).
The focus of the Black Robes, however, was
near the Kaskaskia village on the Illinois
River, where LaSalle and his men built Ft.
St. Louis, in the winter of 1682. They encouraged
other tribes to join the Kaskaskia for security
against their enemies.
The Grand Village of the Kaskaskia grew to
more than 20,000 villagers, including the
Miami, Wea, Mascouten, Shawnee, Pepikukia,
Kilatica and Ouabana tribes. Even so, the
Iroquois lay siege to Ft. St. Louis for six
days in 1684.
Afterwards, some of the Kaskaskia had moved
to Pimiteoui (Lake People). By 1687, four
years later, the Grand Village of the Kaskaskia
was deserted and the Kaskaskia had all moved
to Pimiteoui with the Peoria tribe.
The French built another fort at Pimiteoui
during the winter of 1691 (Ft. Creve Coeur
had been built there in 1680 and was abandoned.).
The Kaskaskia stayed at this location with
the Peoria until the year 1700, when tensions
between the two tribes ended in a tribal
separation.
It was then the Kaskaskia moved their village
to a river that became known as LeRiviere
desPeres - The River of the Fathers, named
for the Jesuit priests who accompanied them.
This village and mission were located within
the present boundaries of St. Louis, 64 years
before the city was founded by Laclede and
Chouteau.
Three years later, the Kaskaskia moved the
village down the Misisipiwe, to the mouth
of a river that we now call the Kaskaskia.
(also known as the Okaw).
After Ft. Chartres was finished, in 1721,
they moved the village further upriver, to
remove themselves from the increasing commerce
of the fort.
The Kaskaskia presence was felt on the river
for over 100 years, through the Treaty of
1818, after which the majority of the Illiniwek
tribal members left the new state of Illinois.
The Illiniwek that left moved to treaty lands
in Missouri Territory, (near St. Genevieve),
then on to the first Indian Territory, which
was Paola, Kansas, after the 1832 treaty,
and finally to the second Indian Territory
(Miami, Oklahoma) after the 1867 treaty.
The descendants of these tribal members are
now known as the Peoria Indian Tribe of Oklahoma,
a federally organized tribe.
Those Kaskaskia, Metchigamea and Tamaroa
who remained in Illinois married with the
French, German and other settlers. Their
descendants are now incorporated as the Tamaroa
Metchigamae and Kaskaskia Tribes of Illinois.
© 1997, The County Journal, used by permission
see also Marie Rouensa
