Did you know the name "Iowa" is a Siouan Indian word? It is one of the tribal names of the Ioway people, meaning "sleepy ones." The Ioway were not the only native people of this region, however.

The original inhabitants of the area that is now Iowa included:

Illini Tribe

How do you pronounce "Illini?" What does it mean?
Illini is pronounced "ih-LIE-nee," and Illinois is pronounced "ih-lih-NOY" (like the state, which is named after the tribe.) They are both European adaptations of the Illinois Indians' original word for themselves, Illiniwek (pronounced "ih-lih-new-eck,") which means "the best people."

Where do the Illinois Indians live?
The Illini were original inhabitants of modern-day Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and Iowa. The Illini tribe was nearly wiped out by war in the 1700's, and the survivors had to move to Kansas and Oklahoma. The Peoria Tribe of Oklahoma is made up of original Illinois Indians.

How is the Illini Indian nation organized?
The Peoria tribe of Oklahoma has its own government, laws, police, and services, just like a small country. However, the Peorias are also US citizens and must obey American law. In the past, each Illini village had its own chief and was independent of the others. Illini chiefs made joint decisions in long councils. Today, the Peoria tribe is governed by a council of elected officials.

What language do the Illinois Indians speak?
Illinois Indian people speak English today. In the past, the Illini spoke their native Miami-Illinois language. It has this long name because two tribes, the Miami and Illini tribes, spoke the same language with different accents--just like Americans and Canadians both speak English. The Illinois Indian language is not spoken anymore. However, the Miami and Peoria tribes are working together to teach their children the language again.

If you'd like to know a few easy Illinois words, aya (pronounced ah-yah) means "hello" and niihka (pronounced nee-ka) means "friend.

What were Illini homes like in the past?
The Illinis didn't live in tepees. They lived in villages of large rectangular houses with walls made of woven reeds.










What were Illini Indian weapons, tools and artifacts like?
Illini hunters and warriors used bows and arrows, spears, and clubs. Illini men would also use shields of buffalo hide to deflect enemy arrows. Here is a website with pictures and information about American Indian weapons.

What are Illini art and crafts like?
The Illini tribe was known for their Native American quillwork, beadwork, and embroidery. Peoria Indians in Oklahoma still make beautiful beadwork today.



What kinds of stories do the Illini tell?
There are lots of traditional Illini legends and fairy tales. Storytelling is very important to the Illinois Indian culture.



Why are some American Indian people upset by the "Chief Illiniwek" mascot of the "Fighting Illini" sports teams?
There are three main reasons. First, the Illini mascot wears Sioux clothes and accessories, which are different from actual Illini traditions. So the mascot is misrepresenting Native American culture. Second, many Native Americans think Chief Illiniwek is disrespectful of their religion because he mimics certain Indian religious gestures. Just like anyone else, Native Americans are sensitive about their religious beliefs. And third, many people think it is inappropriate to use a racial costume at all. Some Native Americans feel hurt and embarrassed when a white person dresses up as an Indian chief, just as some African-Americans feel hurt and embarrassed when a white person dresses up in blackface.

Can you recommend a good book for me to read?
If you want to know more about Illini culture and history, two good sources for kids are Illinois Native Peoples and The Illinois Confederacy. Older readers may find useful information in the text Indian Villages of the Illinois Country. You can also browse through our Indian book recommendations in general.

They do the same things all children do--play with each other, go to school and help around the house. In the past, Indian kids had more chores and less time to play, just like colonial children. But Illini children did have toys and games, like child-sized bows and arrows and corn husk dolls. However, the idea of a child's doll as a lasting keepsake is not really traditional in a lot of Indian tribes. Dolls were usually made of perishable materials like cornhusk, palmetto fiber, or bundled pine needles; even dolls that were made out of wood or leather were not often built to last the way adult crafts were. In many tribes it was considered inappropriate to discipline a very young child, so they simply weren't given toys they weren't allowed to chew on and throw in the river. And in some tribes, the impermanence of children's dolls and toys was meaningful to parents-- as corn dolls and other childhood things naturally fell apart with time, it showed that a girl was growing up. Even though Native American dolls were not traditionally made to last, they were often beautifully adorned with miniature doll clothing and jewelry, beadwork or painting, and animal fur or even hair from the mother's head. Because native adornment and decorative patterns are so distinctive, handmade Indian dolls are distinctive as well, and today many people, adults and children alike, like to keep them as cultural collectibles as well as toys. Illini teenagers also liked to play lacrosse and other sports. As for babies, Illini mothers, like many Native Americans, traditionally carried their infants in cradleboards on their backs.

is a traditional kind of Native American baby carrier. The baby is swaddled (wrapped tightly in a small blanket) and strapped to a specially designed flat board, usually made of a wood plank (although some tribes wove them from basket fibers.) The cradleboard can then be carried in the mother's arms, worn on her back like a backpack for travel, propped up on the ground like a baby chair, or secured to a sled or travois for longer journeys. After horses were introduced to the Americas, cradleboards in some tribes began to be designed to hang off the side of a horse as well.

The Illini were farming people. The women did most of the farming, harvesting corn, beans, and squash. Illini men hunted deer, wild turkeys, and small game. Sometimes they would also have large communal buffalo hunts. Several Illini villages would get together and use a ring of fire to herd buffalo towards a group of hunters. Illini Indian food included soup, cornbread, and stews.

The most important Native American food crop was Indian corn (also known as maize, which comes from the Taino Indian name for the plant.) The majority of American Indian tribes grew at least some corn, and even tribes that did not grow corn themselves often traded with neighbors for it. Other important American Indian crops included beans, squash, pumpkins, sunflowers, wild rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, peanuts, avocados, papayas, and chocolate.

Whether they were farming tribes or not, most Native American tribes had very meat-heavy diets. Favorite meats included buffalo, elk, caribou, deer, and rabbit; salmon and other fish; ducks, geese, turkeys and other birds; clams and other shellfish; and marine mammals like seals or even whales. But almost any animal who lived in the Americas in ancient times was sometimes added to the menu, even animals you might not think of as food like porcupines, monkeys, or snakes. Many Native American tribes had strong beliefs against wasting food, so if they killed an animal for any other reason, they would often try to eat it.

Other foods that could be found naturally in the Americas and were often eaten by American Indians included eggs, honey, maple syrup and sugar, salt, nuts (including peanuts, pine nuts, cashews, hickory nuts, and acorns,) fruit (including blueberries, raspberries, chokecherries, wild plums, and persimmons), and a wide variety of beans, roots, and greens.

Illini women wore skirts with leggings, and men wore breechclouts. The Illinis wore shirts in cool weather, but even in wintertime, Illini men didn't wear long pants. Illinois Indians also wore moccasins on their feet.

A breechcloth is a long rectangular piece of tanned deerskin, cloth, or animal fur. It is worn between the legs and tucked over a belt, so that the flaps fall down in front and behind. Sometimes it is also called a breechclout, loincloth, skin clout, or just a flap.

In most Native American tribes, men used to wear some form of breechclout. The style was different from tribe to tribe. In some tribes, the breechcloth loops outside of the belt and then is tucked into the inside, for a more fitted look. Sometimes the breechcloth is much shorter and a decorated apron panel is attached in front and behind.

A Native American woman or teenage girl might also wear a fitted breechcloth underneath her skirt, but not as outerwear. However, in many tribes young girls did wear breechcloths like the boys until they became old enough for skirts and dresses.

The Illini didn't wear war bonnets like the Souix. Sometimes they wore a beaded headband with a few colored feathers in it. Illini women usually wore their hair in long braids. Illini men often shaved their heads in the Mohawk style and wore a porcupine roach. (These roaches are made of porcupine hair, not their sharp quills!) . The Illini painted their faces for different occasions, and also tattooed themselves with more permanent designs.

Yes, the Illini made dugout canoes by hollowing out large trees. Over land, the Illini used dogs as pack animals. (There were no horses in North America until colonists brought them over from Europe.) The dogs carried backpacks or pulled wooden drag sleds called travois.

Though the Illinois and Miami Indians speak the same language and are historical allies, they have always considered themselves politically distinct. Today the Miami (Maumee or Myaamia, also called Twightwee or Twatwa by some of their neighbors) live in two groups, one of about 2000 Miami in Oklahoma and one of about 6000 in Indiana. These two groups consider themselves the same people, but only the Oklahoma tribe is recognized by the American government. There are also about 1000 Illinois Indians (primarily Peoria and Kaskaskia) living in Oklahoma today.

All human societies have economic systems for producing, obtaining, distributing, and consuming material goods and services. Economic systems are important because they allow people to adapt to their natural environment and produce the plant and animal foods they need to survive. Economic systems also involve the decisions people make about where to locate their settlements, the means people use to exchange products with other societies, and the extent to which people specialize in performing different jobs or activities.

The Illinois economy was largely self-sufficient. In the course of their yearly activities, the Illinois people produced virtually all of the foodstuffs and other material products they needed to maintain their way of life. However, the Illinois also participated in an extensive trading network. In exchange for hides, furs, and human slaves obtained from tribes living to their south and west, the Illinois traded with Great Lakes tribes

The Miami and Illinois Indians were very close relatives with nearly identical culture and language, but distinct political affiliation. Both nations were really loose confederations of several independent tribes, so perhaps there was some political rift which caused some tribes to group together as Miami and some as Illini. The Illini tribe was the more powerful of the two, until an Illinois man murdered the controversial but much-loved Chief Pontiac of the Ottawa Tribe; then almost every tribe of the central US except their kin the Miami turned on the Illini in a vengeful war that left only a few hundred survivors, mostly women and children. The Miami, meanwhile, were trying to fight off attempts by the young United States to drive them from their Ohio lands. With the alliance of the Shawnee and the generalship of the formidable Miami chief Little Turtle, they won two decisive victories against the Americans, but were eventually defeated. Some of the survivors were relocated to Oklahoma, while others remained in Indiana but were stripped of their treaty rights. The Indiana Miami remain unrecognized by the government (and dispossessed of their land) today.

A society can be defined as a population of humans (or other animals) that has an organized way of life.Social rules are passed down from generation to generation and affect many different aspects of human behavior, including marriage, political leadership, the social status of individuals, recreational activities, and relationships with other societies.

Illinois society was traditionally egalitarian, which means that all individuals had more-or-less equal access to resources and political power. Political leaders (chiefs) were influential individuals chosen based on their ability to maintain social well-being. Although chiefs were important people in Illinois society, tribal decisions were reached by consensus and the chief wielded little power or authority over tribal members.

Humans are distinguished from other animals by our production and use of complex tools, which we use to provide ourselves with food, clothing, shelter, defense, and other necessities of life. The technology of a societyconsists of the ways in which the society provides itself with the material objects of its culture. Some of these objects have economic value, such as hoes used to cultivate agricultural fields and weapons used to obtain game animals. Other objects may operate in the society's social or belief systems. For example, special clothing may identify a person as a member of a particular ethnic group, while a religious symbol like a cross may signify one's faith in a particular belief system.

Illini technology included a wide variety of objects that had value in the economic, social, and belief systems of the society. Most of these objects were obtained by the tribe from their natural environment and fashioned into such things as dwellings, tools, or weapons. Other objects were obtained from trading partners in other societies, including members of neighboring Indian tribes.

Art is a creative process that produces objects or images that have aesthetic value and also express symbolic or representational meaning. Art has many different media, including paint, stone, wood, ceramics, basketry, textiles, and composite materials. Objects created for specific purposes can be considered works of art if they are embellished in some way with aesthetically pleasing or meaningful contours or designs. As noted by Marvin Harris, "most regard the skilled wood carver, basketmaker, potter, weaver, or sandalmaker as an artist."

Music consists of vocal or instrumental sounds that express ideas and emotions through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and/or color. Music provides enjoyment and entertainment for audiences and performers alike. It can also have important social and religious functions. For example, music is an effective way to create bonds of cooperation among individuals and to teach various aspects of a society's cultural traditions.

The artistic and musical expressions of the Illinois Indians were not created in isolation. Rather, art and music were functional components of the tribes' economic, social, and belief systems. Art objects, for example, portrayed symbolic representations of game animals as well as gods. Similarly, the only traditional piece of music that can be attributed to the Illinois was performed at public ceremonies held to declare peace with other nations.

The Snake Husband

There was a woman who left her village to get some firewood. She heard someone whistling at her from a distance. She looked around and saw that it was a very handsome man who was whistling. He made a sign for her to come. She went to him and they talked, and he persuaded her to go away with him. He said to her, "You will only be gone for three days. At the end of the third day, some of the villagers will find you." So she went off with him. They traveled a long distance until they came to a cave. He told her, "You will stay here for three days, here in my house." She thought he meant three days, but it was really three years. Meanwhile, her people hunted and hunted for her, and at last, after three years, they found her in the cave. Her husband was away trapping. He had always provided her with lots of meat and birds and skins. She told her people all about what she had been doing, and while she was talking, she saw her husband coming. But now he looked different, not like the man she had followed into the cave. He said to her, "Your people have found you at last, and so your time is up. I am not a man at all, but a rattlesnake." At that she gazed at him as he dropped to the ground, and there before her lay a big timber rattler. Her people told her that she shouldn't have paid attention to that whistling she heard when she was in the woods. "When you hear a noise like that in the woods, you don't look around," they told her. (As told by an unidentified Peoria informant to Truman Michelson, 1916; after Knoepfle

Rabbit and Possum

The Possum and the Rabbit gambled together to see if it should be dark all the time or light all the time. Possum kept singing a song that it should be dark, and he sang this over and over. Rabbit kept singing his song that it should be daylight. Along toward morning, Rabbit began to get a little bit tired. Possum said, "You might as well give it up, Rabbit. It's going to be night all the time." Well, they argued about this. Then Possum said to Rabbit, "Suppose you did win and daylight came to stay. Why, children would abuse you. They would chase you into a hollow log and take a stick and twist the fur off of you." Rabbit said, "I don't care. They'll have lots of fun playing with me anyway." Now, while they were arguing, Rabbit kept singing, "Daylight, daylight, daylight!" And when Possum looked around, there he saw the daylight was coming. He grabbed Rabbit's mouth to make him shut up, and split his upper lip. That's why Rabbit has a split lip. (As told by Nancy Stand to Truman Michelson, 1916; after Knoepfle 1993)

Nancy Stand,

Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma

The Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma is a confederation of Kaskaskia, Peoria, Piankeshaw and Wea Indians united into a single tribe in 1854. The tribes which constitute The Confederated Peorias, as they then were called, originated in the lands bordering the Great Lakes and drained by the mighty Mississippi. They are Illinois or Illini Indians, descendants of those who created the great mound civilizations in the central United States two thousand to three thousand years ago.

Find out more about the Illini past and present at the link below.