Thursday Thirteen

November is American Indian Heritage Month. So, in honor of that, I would like to share 13 facts about American Indians. Of course, since there are a large number of tribes to study, I decided I should focus in on just one. I chose the Illini tribe, since I live in Illinois. Hope you enjoy reading and learn at least one thing. I know I learned a lot during my research. :-)

1. The Illini originally lived in what is now called Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and Iowa. The tribe was nearly wiped out during a war in the 1700's, and they had to move to what we now call Kansas and Oklahoma.

2. The Illini people lived in villages made up of large rectangular houses. The walls of the houses were made of woven reeds.

3. They were farmers and hunters. The women did most of the farming, and the men did most of the hunting. They ate a lot of soups and stews with cornbread. While they lived by many lakes and rivers, they were not especially fond of fish.

4. They did not have good relations with many other neighboring tribes. They fought with the Iroquois, Sioux, and the Winnebago. They did, however, get along well with the Miami tribe, and many of the Illini people joined up with the Miami tribe.

5. They were known for their quillwork. Quilling involved softening and dying porcupine quills. Then they would weave them onto leather or bark from a birch tree.

6. The Illini people were also known for their beadwork. The Peoria tribe, which is made up of original Illinois indians, still does beadwork, and they even teach beading classes.

7. The men wore breechcloth. This was a long rectangular piece of deerskin that had been tanned, cloth or animal fur. They wore this between the legs and tucked it over a belt. The flaps would fall down in front and behind. For years I thought they would be bare underneath if you lifted thos flaps, but this picture helped me understand.

Illini women wore skirts and leggings.

8. Children played with corn husk dolls, child-sized bow and arrows, as well as lacrosse and other sports.

9. They made canoes by hollowing out trees. On land, they used dogs as pack animals, since there weren't any horses here yet.

10. The Illini would hunt with bows and arrows, spears and clubs. The men would use shields created from buffalo hide to protect themselves from enemy arrows.

11. They would paint their faces for different occasions, and they also got tattoos.

12. The Illini spoke their native Miami-Illinois language. Aya (pronounced ah-yah) means hello. Niihka (pronounced nee-ka) means friend.

13. The Illini people told a legend about a woman who married a man, left her people to live with him, and then three years later realized he was a rattlesnake. I suppose that is where the idea that men can be snakes come from. Well, that or Satan in the Garden of Eden.



I found the above information here and here.