The Illiniwek and “The Illinois Country”

The Illiniwek and “The Illinois Country”. . The first Europeans to enter what is now Illinois were the French-trappers, traders, explorers, and missionaries. The first official contact was in 1673 when the Jesuit Jacques Marquette and trader Louis Jolliet set out from Sault Ste. Marie in upper Michigan and made their way to the Mississippi. However, it is likely that French fur traders had traveled to Illinois some years before. , , In the "Illinois Country" the French encountered a large group of tribes that called themselves "Illiniwek," which may have meant "the real men." These tribes occupied the area up to Chicago and on down through most of what is now the state of Illinois. They were Algonquian speakers, meaning that their language indicated that they were related to tribes that stretched eastward up through Canada, and southward toward Virginia. , , In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the Illini formed strong trading relationships with the French. After the French and Indian War pushed the French from most of North America, the Illini were left with few trading partners and much disruption of their traditional lands. Their population declined, and many Illinois groups combined with other tribes; by the time of the official removal of the tribes in the 1830s, there were no groups left that could be identified as "the Illiniwek." , , Early European travelers left us with some descriptions of the Illiniwek. They were a numerous group of tribes, with elaborate social customs, a lifeway based on a mixture of agriculture and hunting and gathering, and a fondness for strenuous athletics, including long distance running and huge games of lacrosse that might involve hundreds of players and last for days. , , Relatively few artifacts have survived from the Illiniwek, who made little pottery and usually did not live in permanent settlements. The elegantly painted hides depicted above were collected by French officials in the eighteenth century and sent to France as New World curiosities, where they are still preserved in the Musée de l'homme in Paris. , , [Caption below photo:] , Illiniwek painted hides, late eighteenth century. Now in the Musée de l'homme, Paris