The Amikwa (
Ojibwe
The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains.
According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...
: ''Amikwaa'', "Beaver People"; from ''amik'', "beaver"), also as Amicouës, Amikouet, etc., were a Native American clan, one of the first recognized by Europeans in the 17th century. The Amikwa were
Anishinaabe
The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawatomi, ...
g peoples, and spoke an
Ojibwe language
Ojibwe , also known as Ojibwa , Ojibway, Otchipwe,R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878''A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language''/ref> Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of North America of the Algonquian lan ...
. In the
Jesuit Relations
''The Jesuit Relations'', also known as ''Relations des Jésuites de la Nouvelle-France'', are chronicles of the Jesuit missions in New France. The works were written annually and printed beginning in 1632 and ending in 1673.
Originally written ...
, the Amikwa were referred to as the Nez Perce (not to be confused with the Pacific Northwest
Nez Perce people
The Nez Percé (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning "we, the people") are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest region for at least 11,500 years.Ames, K ...
). They inhabited the north shore of
Lake Huron
Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...
, opposite the island of
Manitoulin
Manitoulin District is a district in Northeastern Ontario within the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1888 from part of the Algoma District. The district seat is in Gore Bay.
It comprises Manitoulin Island primarily, as well as a ...
, along the shores between
Missisagi and
French Rivers, and along
Spanish River. In September 1753,
Bacqueville de la Potherie
Bacqueville de la Potherie, also known as Claude-Charles Le Roy, was a French chronicler of New France.
His most famous work is ''Histoire de I'Amérique septentrionale'', an account of French expeditions to the Great Lakes and Mississippi
...
claimed that they inhabited the shores of
Lake Nipissing
Lake Nipissing (; french: lac Nipissing, oj, Gichi-nibiinsing-zaaga’igan) is a lake in the Canadian province
Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under ...
.
They were a large, powerful group allied with the
Nipissings and related to the
Outchougai,
Mandua, and
Atchiligouan peoples.
The Amikwa were nearly wiped out by disease and wars with the
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
and the last of the tribe appear to have merged with the Nipissings or the
Ojibwe
The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains.
According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...
.
References
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Great Lakes tribes
First Nations in Ontario
Native American tribes in Michigan
Anishinaabe groups