The Piankeshaw, Piankashaw or Pianguichia were members of the
Miami tribe
The Miami (Miami-Illinois: ''Myaamiaki'') are a Native American nation originally speaking one of the Algonquian languages. Among the peoples known as the Great Lakes tribes, they occupied territory that is now identified as North-central India ...
who lived apart from the rest of the Miami nation, therefore they were known as Peeyankihšiaki ("splitting off" from the others, Sing.: ''Peeyankihšia'' - "Piankeshaw Person"). When European settlers arrived in the region in the 1600s, the Piankeshaw lived in an area along the south central
Wabash River
The Wabash River ( French: Ouabache) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana in the United States. It flows fro ...
that now includes western
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
and
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
. Their territory was to the north of
Kickapoo (around
Vincennes
Vincennes (, ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is next to but does not include the Château de Vincennes and Bois de Vincennes, which are attached ...
) and the south of the
Wea
The Wea were a Miami-Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as either being closely related to the Miami Tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami.
Today, the descendants of the ...
(centered on
Ouiatenon
Ouiatenon ( mia, waayaahtanonki) was a dwelling place of members of the Wea tribe of Native Americans. The name ''Ouiatenon'', also variously given as ''Ouiatanon'', ''Oujatanon'', ''Ouiatano'' or other similar forms, is a French rendering of a ...
). They were closely allied with the Wea, another group of Miamis. The Piankashaw were living along the
Vermilion River in 1743.
History
The ''first'' ''Peeyankihšionki'' or ''Piankeshaw Village'' ("Place of the Piankashaw") was at the confluence of the Peeyankihšiaki Siipiiwi ("River of the Peeyankihšiaki/Piankashaw, i.e. Vermilion River") and the Waapaahšiki Siipiiwi ("white shining", "pure white" or "River over white stones, i.e. Wabash River") northeast of the town of
Cayuga, Indiana
Cayuga is a town in Eugene Township, Vermillion County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 1,162 at the 2010 census.
History
When the town was laid out on September 20, 1827, it was called Eugene Station, though it was also called ...
.
Sometime after the founding of the first Peeyankihšionki, a group split off and moved south following the Waapaahšiki Siipiiwi to just above its confluence with the
Embarras River. In that spot they built a village called ''Aciipihkahkionki / Chippekawkay / Chippecoke'' ("Place of ''edible'' Roots"). This name referred to the abundance of tuberous plants that grew in the area. Today the city of
Vincennes, Indiana
Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the lower Wabash River in the Southwestern Indiana, southwestern part of the state, nearly halfway between Evansville, Indi ...
lies in the vicinity of this historic Peeyankihšia village. Many of the descendants of the Peeyankihšia who built this village and the village to its north are citizens of the Peoria Tribe of Oklahoma. A smaller settlement was located at the confluence of the two main arms of the Vermillion River (near
Danville, Illinois
Danville is a city in and the county seat of Vermilion County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 33,027. As of 2019, the population was an estimated 30,479.
History
The area that is now Danville was once home to the Miami, K ...
).
In the 18th century a third important settlement outside the historic Wabash River Valley was established along the Ahsenisiipi ("Rocky, Stony River; i.e. Great Miami River") and called ''
Pinkwaawilenionki / Pickawillany'' ("Place of the Ash People") and developed into today's
Piqua in western Ohio.
The Piankeshaw are usually regarded as being "friendly" towards European settlers. They intermarried with
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
traders and were treated as equals by residents of
New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...
in the
Illinois Country
The Illinois Country (french: Pays des Illinois ; , i.e. the Illinois people)—sometimes referred to as Upper Louisiana (french: Haute-Louisiane ; es, Alta Luisiana)—was a vast region of New France claimed in the 1600s in what is n ...
. A principal Piankeshaw village was established on the
Wabash River
The Wabash River ( French: Ouabache) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana in the United States. It flows fro ...
near what became
Vincennes
Vincennes (, ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is next to but does not include the Château de Vincennes and Bois de Vincennes, which are attached ...
. In fact, some have suggested that the land around the
Grand Rapids Hotel
The Grand Rapids Hotel also known as The Grand Rapids Resort, was a hotel that existed outside of Mount Carmel, Illinois, in Wabash County, Illinois, United States in Southern Illinois from 1922 to 1929. The hotel was located on the Wabash River ...
that existed in the 1920s was part of a Piankeshaw Summer campground. Like their French neighbors, the Piankeshaw generally sided with the Americans during the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
.
Although part of the
Wabash Confederacy
The Wabash Confederacy, also referred to as the Wabash Indians or the Wabash tribes, was a number of 18th century Native American villagers in the area of the Wabash River in what are now the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. The Wabash ...
, the Piankeshaw nation took no part in the
Northwest Indian War
The Northwest Indian War (1786–1795), also known by other names, was an armed conflict for control of the Northwest Territory fought between the United States and a united group of Native American nations known today as the Northwestern ...
that followed the American Revolution. However, Piankeshaw suffered retaliation from colonizers for attacks made by other native tribes. President
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
issued a proclamation forbidding harm to the Piankeshaw.
During the late 18th century, the Piankeshaw population began to decline. Many of the Piankeshaw simply left and joined other Miami tribes. After the Americans and French suffered setbacks in the Revolution, notably the disastrous
LaBalme expedition, some Piankeshaw joined tribes aligned with the British. At that time, in the West, the British looked as if they would be the victors.
Others left during the economic depression caused by a depreciated United States currency and stagnated
fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...
(due to unrest in the Northwest Indian Wars). The Piankeshaw suffered especially when 1781 brought a severe Winter followed by a Summer
drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
.
Despite overall good relations with the new United States, some Piankeshaw resented the new settlers encroaching on their territory. Vincennes residents attacked a nearby village in the 1786
Battle of the Embarras River
During the onset of the Northwest Indian War (1786–1795), there were numerous skirmishes around Vincennes in 1786 between American settlers and Native Americans near Vincennes, a frontier town on the Wabash River. American pioneers had been pour ...
. An exodus of Piankeshaw left the Vincennes area and moved to
Terre Haute
Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...
, where they joined the Wea, or moved to
Kaskaskia, Illinois
Kaskaskia is a village in Randolph County, Illinois. Having been inhabited by indigenous peoples, it was settled by France as part of the Illinois Country. It was named for the Kaskaskia people. Its population peaked at about 7,000 in the 18th c ...
. They joined with other tribes in attacking American settlers later that year, but aborted the attack after French residents pleaded for peace.
By 1818, the Piankeshaw Chief Chekommia signed a treaty selling rights to much of their land to the United States.
Johnson v. M'Intosh
''Johnson v. M'Intosh'', 21 U.S. (7 Wheat.) 543 (1823), is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that held that private citizens could not purchase lands from Native Americans. As the facts were recited by Chief Justice John Marshall, t ...
The plaintiff Johnson had inherited land, which was originally purchased from the Piankeshaw tribes. The defendant McIntosh claimed the very same land, he had purchased it under a grant from the United States government. In 1775 members of the Piankeshaw tribe sold certain land in the Indiana Territory to Lord Dunmore. He was a royal governor of Virgina. In 1805 the Piankeshaw conveyed much of the same land to William Henry Harrison, Governor of the Indiana Territory, which made conflicting title claims. In reviewing whether the courts of the United States should recognize land titles obtained from Native Americans prior to American independence, the court decided that they should not. Chief Justice John Marshall had large real-estate holdings that would have been affected if the case were decided in favor of Johnson. Rather than abstaining from the case due to conflicting interest, the Chief Justice wrote the decision for a unanimous Supreme Court. Marshall found that ownership of the land is given to the ones that discovered it, which is a rule that had been repeated by all European contries with settlements in the New World. Marshall ruled that legally, the United States was the true owner of the land because it inherited it from Britain, whom he considered the original discoverers.
Today
The descendants of the Piankeshaw, along with the
Kaskaskia
The Kaskaskia were one of the indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands. They were one of about a dozen cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation, also called the Illinois Confederation. Their longstanding homeland was in t ...
and
Wea
The Wea were a Miami-Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as either being closely related to the Miami Tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami.
Today, the descendants of the ...
, are enrolled in the
Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
The Peoria, also Peouaroua, are a Native American people. They are enrolled in the federally recognized Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma headquartered in Miami, Oklahoma.
The Peoria people are descendants of the Illinois Confederation. The ...
, a
federally recognized tribe
This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...
in
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
.
[House, Office of the Law Revision Counsel]
''United States Code 2006, Volume 15''.
§1224, page 986
Notes
References
*
*
*
External links
Ohio History Central - Piankashaw Indians
{{authority control
Native American tribes in Indiana
Native American tribes in Missouri
Native American tribes in Ohio
Miami tribe
Algonquian ethnonyms
Illinois Confederation