Indians of the Chicago Region Collections

The Potawatomi of Illinois

The tribe that held the Chicago region from about the close of the seventeenth century until 1833 were the Potawatomi. They axe discussed here at some length, as they played an important role throughout the early American period, and we are fortunate in possessing quite detailed accounts of their mode of life. According to a tradition possessed by all three tribes, the Potawatomi, Chippewa, and Ottawa were once one people, and appear in history more or less simultaneously in the territory about the upper end of Lake Huron. The name Potawatomi means “People of the Place of Fire,” as did the … Read more

The Miami of Illinois

The Illinois were driven from the Chicago region by the Iroquois, for in 1671 Dablon states that they were then living across the Mississippi, where they had been driven by the former people. Their place seems to have been taken by the Miami, another Algonkian tribe, who appear to have been formerly associated with the Illinois, as well as the northern Lake tribes. These people were first met by the French near Green Bay, Wisconsin, where Perrot visited them on the headwaters of the Fox River in 1666 and 1670. In 1671, part of the tribe at least were living … Read more

The Illinois

When the French explorers and missionaries first came into the region about the southern end of Lake Michigan, it was occupied by a tribe, or confederation of tribes, who called themselves Iliniwek (“men”), which seems, and was apparently meant to be, derogatory to their neighbors. The French early changed this name to Illinois, the name by which the state is known at present. These people belonged to the great Algonkian speech family, and at the time of their discovery formed a confederacy of the Cahokia, Kaskaskia, Michigamea, Moingwena, Peoria, and Tamaroa tribes. On the authority of General Harrison it has … Read more

Indians of The Chicago Region

The history of the Chicago region is deeply intertwined with the lives and cultures of the indigenous peoples who inhabited this area long before the arrival of European settlers. This booklet, “Indians of The Chicago Region,” focuses particularly on the Illinois and Potawatomi tribes, drawing on extensive research and firsthand information. Prepared by Assistant Curator Strong, this work is based on materials collected by Mr. M. G. Chandler, an adopted member of the Potawatomi tribe, whose intimate knowledge of the central Algonkian group has been invaluable.

Illinois before the Beginnings of History

Like all the neighboring states, Illinois has long been noted for the various mounds and earthworks within her borders, and the nature of these aroused the curiosity of even the first settlers in the territory. For many years theories of all sorts were current, attributing the mounds to a race of “mound-builders” who, according to the predilections of the different writers, were supposed to have come direct from Asia, Mexico, or even more remote places. In the latter part of the last century the Bureau of American Ethnology undertook a survey of the mounds in the eastern United States. The … Read more

History of the Chicago Tribes

Such were the three tribes that we know once occupied the territory where the city of Chicago now stands, but in order to understand their coming and going, the history of this part of the Great Lakes region must be briefly considered. When the accounts of the great French explorers and priests such as Champlain, La Salle, and Marquette first describe the state of the tribes, we find the Iroquois Confederacy, located in what is now the State of New York, to be the dominant military power. Archaeologists are inclined to believe that the Iroquois came to New York from … Read more