Central Illinois, very loosely, was home to the following indigenous peoples. To discover the indigenous people who lived in your area visit Native-land.ca
1. Peoria -peewaareewa (modern pronunciation peewaalia)
- Part of the loose Illinois Confederation of tribes
- Spoke a dialect of the Miami-Illinois language, a Central Algonquian language
2. Ochethi Sakowin
- The Oceti Sakowin Oyate (People of Seven Council Fires, known to some as the Sioux Nation) are linguistically related peoples who speak three different dialects - Dakota , Nakota , and Lakota - of the same language.
3. Myaamia (mee ah mia)
- The Miami (Miami-Illinois: Myaamiaki) originally one of speakers of the Algonquian languages.
- Among the peoples known as the Great Lakes tribes
- They occupied territory that is now identified as North-central Indiana, southwest Michigan, and western Ohio.
4. Kiikaapoi
- Algonquian-speaking Native American and Indigenous Mexican tribe
- Originating in the region south of the Great Lakes
- Today, three federally recognized Kickapoo tribes are in the United States: the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas, the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma, and the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas.
5. Kaskaskia
- The Kaskaskia are a tribe that is no longer extant.
- They were once a part of the Illinois, a group of approximately twelve Algonquian-speaking tribes who shared the same culture.
- The Kaskaskia lived mainly in Illinois and eastern Missouri when Europeans began to settle in North America.
- They were closely related to the Miami natives, and were one of many groups making up the Illiniwek or Illinois Confederation
6. Bodwewadmi (Potawatomi)
- Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains.
- They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquin family.
- The Potawatomi call themselves Neshnabé, a cognate of the word Anishinaabe.
The Illinois Confederation, also referred to as the Illiniwek or Illini
- Made up of 12 to 13 tribes who lived in the Mississippi River Valley
- Eventually member tribes occupied an area reaching from Lake Michicigao (Michigan) to Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas
- The five main tribes were the Cahokia, Kaskaskia, Michigamea, Peoria, and Tamaroa.
- The name of the confederation was derived from the transliteration by French explorers of iliniwe to Illinois, more in keeping with the sounds of their own language.
- The tribes are estimated to have had tens of thousands of members, before the advancement of European contact in the 17th century that inhibited their growth and resulted in a marked decline in population.
Peoria Confederation
- In 1849, remnant members of the Kaskaskia, Peoria, Piankeshaw, and Wea tribes formed a confederacy under the Peoria name.
- The confederation included the last members and descendants of the Cahokia, Moingwena, Michigamea and Tamaroa tribes, who had assimilated with the Peoria many year before.
