Meskwaki
The Illinois or Illiniwek Confederacy was a Native American nation.
Contents
History
The confederacy was a set of loosely associated tribes:
- Kaskaskia
- Cahokia
- Peoria
- Tamaroa
- Moingwena
- Michigamea
- Chepoussa
- Chinkoa
- Coiracoentanon
- Espeminkia
- Maroa
- Tapouara
The most well known settlement was that of the Kaskaskia tribe on the Illinois River; it became known as the Grand Village of the Illinois.
The Illinois were surrounded by military threats. The powerful Haudenosaunee and Osage nations pressed from east and west, respectively. As the Sauk and Meskwaki nations were forced to migrate south, they encountered the Illinois and competed for land. And as United States began to relocate tribes into Ohio, such as the Shawnee, they began to press from the south. By the mid 1700s the confederacy had dwindled to just the Cahokia, Kaskaskia, Michigamea, Peoria, and Tamaroa.
The confederacy was conquered by this massive coalition and dissolved. The survivors joined the Peoria nation.