The Peoria Now
The Peoria nation currently resides in Oklahoma but there is a long story behind their living at that location. This story begins at the end of their time in Illinois and with the move to Missouri. In the 1818 treaty in which the Peoria ceded their land in Illinois, the Peoria, the Kaskaskia, the Mitchigamia, the Cahokia, and the Tamaroi nations joined together in order to build up power and strength through kinship and numbers.1 Had the Peoria not united with these nations along with the three other nations that currently reside on their reservation with them, there is a strong possibility that they would no longer exist today.
After the Peoria nation left Illinois, they ended up in Missouri on 640 acres of land on which they already had a village. The treaty is very clear to state that “the tract is not included with a private claim.”2 The U.S. government really wanted white settlers on the land who were willing to pay. With the rapid expansion of the United States in the mid-nineteenth century, the Peoria along with the Kaskaskia, Mitchigamia, Cahokia, and Tamaroi, signed an 1832 treaty ceding their land in Missouri for a reservation in Kansas totalling 96,000 acres or 150 sections of land.3,4 During their time in Kansas, a relationship formed between the Peoria, the Kaskaskia, the Wea, and the Piankashaw nations under “increased pressure from white settlers.”5 Through this close relationship, kinship ties were created and the groups signed a treaty on May 30, 1854 establishing the Confederated Peoria.6
1885 map of Oklahoma
With this union established and recognized by the government, these nations increased their power through the increase in their numbers. During their time in Kansas, the Civil War erupted and, in the words of the Peoria nation, “caused considerable turmoil… especially [for] the Indians,” with the U.S. government pushing them to take land in what is currently Oklahoma (then called Indian Territory).7 The Confederated Peoria signed the Omnibus Treaty in 1867 purchasing land in Oklahoma from the Seneca and Quapaw nations and creating a community there.8 Had this alliance not been formed, this land may not have been given to them. The U.S. government would not have recognized such a small nation on its own. It was only through rallying together and creating relationships that these nations were able to secure a stable environment for their communities.
By Kyra Smith
1 U.S. Government, Ratified Indian Treaty 99: Tribes of the Illinois Nation (Peoria, Kaskaskia, Michigamea, Tamaroa, and Cahokia), Sept. 25, 1818, Indian Treaties Series: 1789-1869, National Archives and Records Administration, Accessed May 20, 2021, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/163545480.
2 U.S. Government, Ratified Indian Treaty 99.
3 Emily J. Blasingham, "The Depopulation of the Illinois Indians, Part I." Ethnohistory 3, no. 3 (1956): 216, Accessed May 27, 2021, doi:10.2307/480408.
4 U.S. Government, Treaty with the Kaskaskia, ect. 1832, 7 Stat. 403, Oct 27, 1832, GovInfo.gov, Accessed May 27, 2021, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-Y4_IN2_11-1c227893bfbe1da6dd96b6883fd0205b/pdf/GOVPUB-Y4_IN2_11-1c227893bfbe1da6dd96b6883fd0205b.pdf.
5 “History,” The Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. Accessed May 27, 2021. https://peoriatribe.com/history/.
6 U.S. Government, Ratified Indian Treaty 273: Kaskaskia, Peoria, Piankeshaw and Wea - Washington, DC, May 30, 1854, Indian Treaties Series: 1789-1869, National Archives and Records Administration, Accessed May 27, 2021, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/16960664.
7 “History,” Peoria Tribe.
8 U.S. Government, Treaty between the United States of America and the Senecas, mixed Senecas and Shawnees, Quapaws, confederated Peorias, Kaskaskias, Weas, and Piankeshaws, Ottowas of Blanchard's Fork and Roche de Bœef, and certain Wyandottes, Feb 23, 1867, HathiTrust, Accessed May 27, 2021, https://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101078161591.
Image: Strum, Gustave P. and Julius Bien. Indian Territory. [map]. 1:760,320. New York: Julius Bien & Co., 1885. Oklahoma State University Collections. https://dc.library.okstate.edu/digital/collection/p17279coll11/id/287.