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Lesson 1: Who Were the First People in Illinois?

The French explorers were the first white men to discover the inhabitants named the “Illiniwek” in the 1600’s. The name “Illiniwek” means “the best people.” This translated into “Illinois” due to the French man’s translation, and is why Illinois is named so.
The Illini tribe, as they were called, were the original people in what is now Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Iowa.
In the 1700’s, the Illini tribe was nearly wiped out by war. Survivors fled to the areas now known as Kansas and Oklahoma.
There are still Indians living in Oklahoma today. One such tribe is called the Peoria Tribe of Oklahoma and is made up of original Illinois Indians.
Today, the Peoria Tribe of Oklahoma has its own government made up of elected officials, its own laws, and its own police. However, they still must also obey US laws because they are citizens of the United States.
Before they migrated, each Illini village had its own chief and was independent of others. Tribes did come together every so often to make joint decisions at long councils.
Just like different countries have their own languages, so did the Illini. It was called Miami-Illinois language because the Miami and Illini tribes spoke the same language, but they had different accents.
Some words of the Illini

Aya (ah-yah) = Hello

Niihka (nee-ka) = friend

The Indian children would play, go to school and help around the house. Some toys they played with were bows and arrows and cornhusk dolls. Teenagers played lacrosse and other sports. Children were expected to help out a lot around the house and had lots of chores.
Normally, we would picture tee-pee’s, but this is a misconception. Not all Indians lived in tee-pees. The Illini lived in villages of large, rectangular houses made of wooden reeds.
Women wore skirts and leggings. Men wore breechclouts, which were long rectangular pieces of cloth or buckskin worn between the legs and tucked under a belt so that it fell in front and behind.

The Illini tribe did not wear long headdresses. Instead, they sometimes wore a beaded headband with a few colored feathers, and women wore their hair in braids. The men also shaved their heads in a Mohawk style and wore a porcupine roach. They also would paint their faces for different occasions and tattoo themselves with more permanent designs.

Of course, there were not any cars during this time, so the Indians had to find other ways to travel. They would hallow out large trees to make dugout canoes to travel by water. They also used dogs as pack animals to travel over land. The dogs would carry backpacks or pull wooden drag sleds called travois.
The Illini were hunters and gatherers. The women did most of the farming and harvested corn, beans and squash. The men were the hunters and hunted deer, wild turkeys, and small game, like rabbits. They would use bows and arrows, spears, clubs, and even shields made out of buffalo hide when they would go out to hunt. Large communal buffalo hunts occurred in which a ring of fire was used to herd buffalo toward a group of hunters. They used what they gathered and hunted to make soups, cornbread and stews.
Religion and ritual is very sacred and complicated. One ritual called dream-seeking occurs when a male is fifteen. His face is painted, and he goes off to a secluded area to fast and pray in hope of a vision that would reveal a spirit guardian to them who would be their helper throughout life.
One tradition Indians are famous for is storytelling. The stories and legends passed down through the generations taught about life and how the world around them came to be. One such story is “Rabbit and Possum,” which we will read briefly.
You are all probably wondering, if our theme is Lincoln, why are we learning about Indians? Well, when Lincoln moved to Illinois with his family in 1830, there were still tribes of Indians living here. Not all of them migrated or were forced out. One such tribe was called Black Hawk, which we mentioned in the skit. We will be learning more about this tribe in the coming weeks. However, the Illini tribe is important to Illinois history because it is responsible for the naming of our state and also puts into perspective what life what life in different parts of the state when Lincoln came here as a young man.

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