Home Region:  Mississippi Basin (North America)

Early Illinois Confederation

D G SC WF HS EQ 2020  us_early_illinois_confederation / USIllin



Preceding Entity: Add one more here.
1400 CE 1650 CE Oneota (us_oneota)    [population replacement]

Succeeding Entity:
No Polity found. Add one here.

Our early Illinois period refers to the span of time from 1640 CE, the approximate date of the first European written reports of the Illinois (also known as Inoca, Illiniwek, Illini) Indians, [1] to 1717, when the Illinois Country was incorporated into the French colony of Louisiane. [2] From the 1660s and 1670s onwards, France claimed title to the Illinois Country (Pays des Illinois) as part of its North American colonial possessions, but French presence in the region before 1717 was generally limited to small numbers of missionaries and traders. [3] In this early contact period, the Illinois were theoretically under the ’protection’ of the French crown, but in practice maintained their autonomy. [4] The region referred to as the Illinois Country in both modern and older sources was located to the east of the Middle Mississippi river, bounded to the north by Lake Michigan, to the south by the Ohio river, and to the west by the Wabash. [5] However, it is likely that the Illinois-speaking groups encountered by Europeans in the 17th century had arrived in this area relatively recently, possibly migrating westwards from the Lake Erie basin. [6]
Population and political organization
Despite the use of the term ’Illinois Confederacy’ to describe Illinois society, there is no indication in the written sources of intertribal political organizations such as those found among Iroquoian groups to the northeast in the same period. [7] Political leadership was provided by both peace chiefs - who played important diplomatic roles, such as conducting calumet (peace pipe) ceremonies for visitors, but had relatively little formal authority - and war chiefs, who organized raids on other settlements. [8] [9]
In the post-contact period (specifically in the late 17th century), the Illinois formed large villages close to French forts and trading posts, most notably the Grand Village of the Kaskaskia. [10] It has traditionally been assumed that these large settlements, which included Illinois speakers from various subgroups as well as Chickasaws, Shawnees and others, functioned almost as refugee centres as the Illinois fled attacks from the Iroquois to the east and clustered together in the wake of disease and depopulation. [10] [11] Historian Robert Morrissey has offered an alternative interpretation, arguing that the large Illinois villages represented an aggressive ’bid for power’ based on bison hunting and slave raiding and strategically positioned between the woodlands to the east and the grasslands of the west. [12] Nevertheless, what is not in doubt is that the Illinois suffered drastic population losses in the post-contact period, falling from around 12,000 people in 1680 to just 1,900 by 1763. [13]

[1]: (Illinois State Museum 2000) Illinois State Museum. 2000. "The Illinois: History." MuseumLink Illinois. http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/il_hi.html. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/PT8275IS.

[2]: (Walthall and Emerson 1992, 9-10) Walthall, John A., and Thomas E. Emerson. 1992. "Indians and French in the Midcontinent." In Calumet and Fleur-De-Lys: French and Indian Interaction in the Midcontinent, edited by John A. Walthall and Thomas E. Emerson, 1-13. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2VQKWPMN.

[3]: (Walthall and Emerson 1992, 8-9) Walthall, John A., and Thomas E. Emerson. 1992. "Indians and French in the Midcontinent." In Calumet and Fleur-De-Lys: French and Indian Interaction in the Midcontinent, edited by John A. Walthall and Thomas E. Emerson, 1-13. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2VQKWPMN.

[4]: (Havard 2013, 117) Havard, Gilles. 2013. "’Protection’ and ’Unequal Alliance’: The French Conception of Sovereignty over Indians in New France." In French and Indians in the Heart of North America, 1630-1815, edited by Robert Englebert and Guillaume Teasdale, 113-37. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/IDG32ZN9.

[5]: (Walthall and Emerson 1991, 5) Walthall, John A., and Thomas E. Emerson. 1991. "French Colonial Archaeology." In French Colonial Archaeology: The Illinois Country and the Western Great Lakes, edited by John A. Walthall, 78-84. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/XQWPU4VH.

[6]: (Hall 1997, 173) Hall, Robert L. 1997. An Archaeology of the Soul: North American Indian Belief and Ritual. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/8KH357GV.

[7]: (Callender 1978, 673) Callender, C. 1978. "Illinois." In Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 15: Northeast, edited by B. Trigger. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TD2AIF67.

[8]: (Callender 1978, 676) Callender, C. 1978. "Illinois." In Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 15: Northeast, edited by B. Trigger. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TD2AIF67.

[9]: (Illinois State Museum 2000) Illinois State Museum. 2000. "The Illinois Indians: Society: Leaders." MuseumLink Illinois. http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/soc_leaders.html. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/REVSHE82.

[10]: (Morrissey 2015, 681-82) Morrissey, Robert Michael. 2015. "The Power of the Ecotone: Bison, Slavery, and the Rise and Fall of the Grand Village of the Kaskaskia." Journal of American History 102 (3): 667-92. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZDDVHJMV.

[11]: (Nichols 1998, 36-37) Nichols, Roger L. 1998. Indians in the United States and Canada: A Comparative History. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/8H2XHS76.

[12]: (Morrissey 2015, 668-69) Morrissey, Robert Michael. 2015. "The Power of the Ecotone: Bison, Slavery, and the Rise and Fall of the Grand Village of the Kaskaskia." Journal of American History 102 (3): 667-92. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZDDVHJMV.

[13]: (Hauser 2015, 299) Hauser, Raymond E. 2015. "Illinois." In Colonial Wars of North America, 1512-1763: An Encyclopedia, edited by Alan Gallay, 299-300. Abingdon: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QS4Z9FFR.

General Variables
Social Complexity Variables
Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Religion Tolerance Coding in Progress.
Human Sacrifice Coding in Progress.
Crisis Consequences Coding in Progress.
Power Transitions Coding in Progress.

NGA Settlements:

Year Range Early Illinois Confederation (us_early_illinois_confederation) was in:
 (1640 CE 1717 CE)   Cahokia
Home NGA: Cahokia

General Variables
Identity and Location
Original Name:
Early Illinois Confederation

Inoca. [1]

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Identity (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/hi_decline.html


Capital:
None (Absent Capital)

Quasi-polity: "The Illinois or Illiniwek Nation consisted of several independent American Indian tribes that spoke a common language, had similar ways of life, and shared a large territory in the central Mississippi River valley" [1] .

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Identity (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/hi_decline.html


Alternative Name:
Aliniouek

[1]

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Identity (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/hi_decline.html

Alternative Name:
Iliniouek

[1]

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Identity (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/hi_decline.html

Alternative Name:
Illini

[1]

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Identity (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/hi_decline.html

Alternative Name:
Early Illinois

[1]

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Identity (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/hi_decline.html

Alternative Name:
Liniouek

[1]

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Identity (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/hi_decline.html

Alternative Name:
Illiniwek

[1]

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Identity (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/hi_decline.html


Temporal Bounds
Duration:
[1,640 CE ➜ 1,717 CE]
 

1640 does not correspond with the actual "beginning" of this quasi-polity, but, rather, with the earliest written records describing the Illinois Confederacy. [1] Small numbers of French explorers, missionaries, and traders were present from the 1670s onwards, [2] but it was not until 1717 (the beginning of Walthall and Emerson’s ’colonization period’) that the Illinois Country was incorporated into the French colony of Louisiane, and there was a ’florescence of French activity in the Mississippi Valley’. [3]

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, History (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/il_hi.html

[2]: (Emerson and Brown 1992, 79) Thomas E. Emerson and James A. Brown. 1992. ’The Late Prehistory and Protohistory of Illinois’, in Calumet and Fleur-De-Lys: French and Indian Interaction in the Midcontinent, edited by J. Walthall and T. Emerson, 77-125. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.

[3]: (Walthall and Emerson 1992, 9-10) John A. Walthall and Thomas E. Emerson. 1992. ’Indians and French in the Midcontinent’, in Calumet and Fleur-De-Lys: French and Indian Interaction in the Midcontinent, edited by J. A. Walthall and T. E. Emerson, 1-13. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.


Political and Cultural Relations
Suprapolity Relations:
nominal allegiance to [---]

In 1663, ’New France is declared a royal colony. Eight years later [i.e. 1671], France claims title to the unexplored Illinois Country’, [1] although they did not enter it until 1673. [2] The complex French relationship to Indian societies in the American mid-continent has been discussed by Gilles Havard, who characterizes it as one of ’unequal alliance’ or ’protection’ of the Indians by the French crown, in which Indian sovereignty was generally retained. [3]

[1]: (Warren and Walthall 1998, 5) Robert E. Warren and John A. Walthall. 1998. ’Illini Indians in the Illinois Country 1673-1832’. The Living Museum 60 (1): 4-8.

[2]: (Illinois State Museum 2000) Illinois State Museum. 2000. ’The Illinois Indians: Society: Neighbors: The French’. MuseumLink Illinois. Available online at http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/soc_french.html, accessed 3 January 2017.

[3]: (Havard 2013, 117) Gilles Havard. 2013. ’"Protection" and "Unequal Alliance": The French Conception of Sovereignty over Indians in New France’, in French and Indians in the Heart of North America, 1630-1815, edited by Robert Englebert and Guillaume Teasdale, 113-37. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University.


Succeeding Entity:
Late Illinois Confederation

Relationship to Preceding Entity:
population migration

Hall refers to ’new knowledge of the archaeological identity of the Illinois that suggests that the Illinois had a much shallower history of occupation in Illinois than previously believed and were more likely indigenous to a location in or near the Lake Erie basin than that of Lake Michigan’. [1] Emerson and Brown write: ’What is clear ... is that the historic groups encountered by the French in Illinois were themselves newcomers, with little connection to the prehistoric inhabitants’. [2] The Huber Oneota phase is ’now believed to have died out by the 1630s’. [3]

[1]: (Hall 1997, 173) Robert L. Hall. 1997. An Archaeology of the Soul: North American Indian Belief and Ritual. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

[2]: (Emerson and Brown 1992, 113) Thomas E. Emerson and James A. Brown. 1992. ’The Late Prehistory and Protohistory of Illinois’, in Calumet and Fleur-De-Lys: French and Indian Interaction in the Midcontinent, edited by J. Walthall and T. Emerson, 77-125. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.

[3]: (Ehrhardt 2010, 264) Kathleen L. Ehrhardt. 2010. ’Problems and Progress in Protohistoric Period Archaeology since Calumet and Fleur-de-Lys.’ Illinois Archaeology 22 (1): 256-87.


Preceding Entity:
us_oneota   population replacement   us_early_illinois_confederation
 

Hall refers to ’new knowledge of the archaeological identity of the Illinois that suggests that the Illinois had a much shallower history of occupation in Illinois than previously believed and were more likely indigenous to a location in or near the Lake Erie basin than that of Lake Michigan’. [1] Emerson and Brown write: ’What is clear ... is that the historic groups encountered by the French in Illinois were themselves newcomers, with little connection to the prehistoric inhabitants’. [2] The Huber Oneota phase is ’now believed to have died out by the 1630s’. [3]

[1]: (Hall 1997, 173) Robert L. Hall. 1997. An Archaeology of the Soul: North American Indian Belief and Ritual. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

[2]: (Emerson and Brown 1992, 113) Thomas E. Emerson and James A. Brown. 1992. ’The Late Prehistory and Protohistory of Illinois’, in Calumet and Fleur-De-Lys: French and Indian Interaction in the Midcontinent, edited by J. Walthall and T. Emerson, 77-125. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.

[3]: (Ehrhardt 2010, 264) Kathleen L. Ehrhardt. 2010. ’Problems and Progress in Protohistoric Period Archaeology since Calumet and Fleur-de-Lys.’ Illinois Archaeology 22 (1): 256-87.


Degree of Centralization:
quasi-polity

"Though they are often described as a confederacy [...] and sometimes assembled into very large settlements that incorporated several tribes, there is no evidence of any overall intertribal organization or political institutions like those found among the Creeks or the League of the Iroquois" [1] .

[1]: C. Callender, Illinois, in B. Trigger, Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 15: Northeast (1978), pp. 673-680


Language
Linguistic Family:
Algonquian

Language:
Miami Illinois

[1]

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Identity: Language (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/id_lang.html


Religion

Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale
Population of the Largest Settlement:
[2,000 to 3,000] people
1640 CE

Inhabitants. "In eastern North America, densities were higher on average, although individual settlements rarely exceeded 2,000 people. For instance, Jacques Cartier met 1,000 people at the large Iroquoian village of Hochelaga on the St. Lawrence River in 1535 (Pendergast 1998) and other Mohawk and Huron villages in the early 17th century averaged 600-1,700 people (Chilton, this volume; Muller 1997:table 5.6). Likewise, some 1,000 or more people lived at one of the largest Mississippian towns in Alabama (Steponaitis 1998), while an uncounted number of Plains villages, Illinois-valley towns, and St. Francis-type central Mississippian centers had populations of hundreds to perhaps 2,000 people each (e.g., Conrad 1991; Phillips et al. 1951)." [1] useful consideration of population densities to use in our estimates. AD
"Jacques Marquette’s opportunity to visit the Illinois finally arose in 1673, when he accompanied Louis Jolliet, a young Canadian fur trader, on an expedition to explore the Mississippi River. [...] The explorers held council with the "great Captain" or chief of the Illinois, where they smoked the chief’s calumet, exchanged gifts, made speeches, and feasted on servings of corn, fish, and bison. The chief’s village consisted of 300 lodges and was called "pe8area" or "peouarea" (Peoria)." [2]
"When visited by Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette in 1673, three villages of Peoria and Tapouaro on the Iowa river had a total population of 8,000; and the village of the Kaskaskia on the Illinois River consisted of 74 lodges, representing about 1,200 persons [...]. René-Robert Cavelier de la Salle in 1680 found all or part of 11 Illinois tribes living at the ’Grand Kaskaskia Village’, then grown to 460 lodges (Hennepin 1880: 153). There were also 200 families (about 3,000 individuals) of Tamaroa on the Mississippi (Margry 1876-1886, 1:506, 479)." [3]
Pimitéoui population in the 1690S: 3,500 individuals, 6 groups, 260-300 lodges. [4] Village left in 1700.Kaskaskia community of about 60 lodges in early 1700s. In 1714, epidemic reducing the population to one fourth.Tamaroas (part of the Illinois confederacy) in 1682 had 180+ lodges, in 1700 it had about 30 lodges.in 1700 the Cahokia moved close to the Tamaroas and the two villages were composed of some 90 lodges. [4]

[1]: (Pauketat and Loren 2005, 4)

[2]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, History: Exploration (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/hi_explore.html

[3]: (Bauxar in B. Trigger, Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 15: Northeast (1978), pp. 594-595)

[4]: (Bauxar in B. Trigger, Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 15: Northeast (1978), pp. 595)


Polity Territory:
[14,000 to 19,000] km2

in squared kilometers. Map in Bauxar in B. Trigger, Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 15: Northeast (1978), pp. 596197981.19 sq. km estimate calculated using Google Area Calculator.[175,000-225,000]: 1650-1700CE A group of 12 related villages or tribes = to be divided by 12? result would be 16,666 sq km per polity. New estimate: 14,000-19,000 to account for a ’typical’ Illinois polity.


Polity Population:
[8,000 to 12,000] people
1700 CE

People. AD: Estimates given at century marks. Real code is: 10,000: 1673 CE; 300: 1832 CE "In 1673, the Illinois were a large, powerful group of tribes that numbered more than 10,000 people and occupied a vast territory. However, in 1832, when they ceded the last of their Illinois lands to the United States, they had been reduced, in the State of Illinois, to a single village of fewer than 300 people" [1]

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, History: The Illinois Decline (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/hi_decline.html

Polity Population:
[600 to 300] people
1800 CE *Bad Years, polity duration: [1640, 1717]

People. AD: Estimates given at century marks. Real code is: 10,000: 1673 CE; 300: 1832 CE "In 1673, the Illinois were a large, powerful group of tribes that numbered more than 10,000 people and occupied a vast territory. However, in 1832, when they ceded the last of their Illinois lands to the United States, they had been reduced, in the State of Illinois, to a single village of fewer than 300 people" [1]

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, History: The Illinois Decline (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/hi_decline.html


Hierarchical Complexity
Settlement Hierarchy:
[1 to 3]

levels. [1]
1. Semipermanent summer villages
PT: levels 2 and 3 below should not be counted because they are impermanent hunting camps. Additionally, why should summer and winter camps count as _separate_ levels?
2. Summer hunting camps
3. Winter camps
The Illinois had about 60 villages in 1660CE. [2]

[1]: C. Callender, Illinois, in B. Trigger, Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 15: Northeast (1978), pp. 673-680

[2]: (Muller 1997, 207)


Religious Level:
1

levels. [1]
1. Shamans

[1]: C. Callender, Illinois, in B. Trigger, Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 15: Northeast (1978), pp. 673-680


Military Level:
2

levels.
1. War chief"The Illinois also had war chiefs, men who planned and directed raids on other tribes. Any aspiring warrior could become a war chief, but only if he could convince his fellow warriors that his personal animal spirit (war manitou) would protect the war party and ensure victory. The authority of a war chief was strictly limited to the duration of his expedition, and he was allowed to lead new expeditions only if his previous raids were successful" [1] .
2. Warriors

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois: Society: Leaders (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/soc_leaders.html


Administrative Level:
2

levels.
1. Peace chief"Political leadership was provided by peace chiefs, who were highly respected by tribal members and who were responsible for directing communal hunting expeditions and for interacting with the leaders or representatives of other ethnic groups. [...] Peace chiefs had relatively little power and authority; they presided over the tribe using persuasion rather than force" [1] .
2. Village chiefSuggested by the following quote: "The role of [peace] chief was generally reserved for men, although women of influence sometimes became village chiefs" [1] .

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois: Society: Leaders (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html


Professions
Bureaucracy Characteristics
Specialized Government Building:
present

"Some evidence suggests that each village included a very large lodge used for ritual and perhaps for a council house". [1]

[1]: (Callendar 1978: 678-80) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/LAJ7JQRL.

Specialized Government Building:
absent

"Some evidence suggests that each village included a very large lodge used for ritual and perhaps for a council house". [1]

[1]: (Callendar 1978: 678-80) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/LAJ7JQRL.


Examination System:
unknown

No known writing system.


Law
Professional Lawyer:
absent

Though contemporary sources do not mention the specific absence of lawyers, they say that "[t]he statute-book, the judiciary, and courts of law with their prisons and instruments of punishment, were unknown" [1] .

[1]: J. Monette, History of the discovery and settlement of the valley of the Mississippi, by the three great European powers, Spain, France, and Great Britain (1971 [c. 1846]), p. 191


Judge:
absent

"The statute-book, the judiciary, and courts of law with their prisons and instruments of punishment, were unknown" [1] .

[1]: J. Monette, History of the discovery and settlement of the valley of the Mississippi, by the three great European powers, Spain, France, and Great Britain (1971 [c. 1846]), p. 191


Formal Legal Code:
absent

"The statute-book, the judiciary, and courts of law with their prisons and instruments of punishment, were unknown" [1] .

[1]: J. Monette, History of the discovery and settlement of the valley of the Mississippi, by the three great European powers, Spain, France, and Great Britain (1971 [c. 1846]), p. 191


Court:
absent

"The statute-book, the judiciary, and courts of law with their prisons and instruments of punishment, were unknown" [1] .

[1]: J. Monette, History of the discovery and settlement of the valley of the Mississippi, by the three great European powers, Spain, France, and Great Britain (1971 [c. 1846]), p. 191


Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Irrigation System:
unknown

Not mentioned in the literature, probably not necessary in this geographic region? Inference confirmed by Peter Peregrine.


Transport Infrastructure
Road:
absent

"Although there were important highways (often called "warpaths") across over- land areas in Historie times, water transportation appears to have been at least as important. Large canoes are documented in historical times, and archaeological finds elsewhere in the Southeast have shown that prehistoric Mississippian people made similar vessels." [1]
"The specifics regarding overland transportation before the early 1800s in Illinois are not well documented, however. Only recently have we have begun to recognize the importance of such trails in the formation of early American settlements, and in particular, the importance of a single trail that formed a link between the old French villages in the American Bottom and the fur trading communities at Peoria Lake. Before his death in 1907, Springfield historian Zimri Enos began writing an article about an “old Indian trail” that passed immediately east of Springfield (figure 3.6). He remembered faint trace of the trail from his childhood in the 1830s. Former Illinois governor and early pioneer John Reynolds had provided the best period description of the trail, when he wrote of its use in a campaign against the Kickapoo and Potawatomi during the War of 1812. It was from this campaign that the trail became known as Edwards’ Trace after Territorial Governor Ninian Edwards, who led the militia up the old road. In the late nineteenth century, Enos was able to plot its course from Edwardsville (on the northern edge of the American Bottom) to just north of Springfield. He knew, as Reynolds and others had remembered, that the trail ultimately found its way to Peoria. Finally, in 1986, historian John Mack Faragher reminded us of the importance of the road, along which the first settler of Sangamon County (Robert Pulliam) had built a cabin in 1817.12In the late 1980s, I began to look at the land purchase and county court records of Sangamon County, and I found that the trail crossed through the heart of the earliest settlements associated with the San- gamo Country.13 The fledging county government also recognized that the road’s improvement was one of the first orders of business upon the creation of Sangamon County. Clearly, the old Indian trail not only predated American settlement of the region, but it actually helped shape that settlement." [2] "There were no formal “ports”, although rivers were major transportation routes. There was an extensive network of footpaths that crisscrossed Eastern North America as one of your quotes suggests. I wouldn’t really call them roads, though. Most of them paralleled rivers and were unimproved or informal—they simply represented the best route between locations and so were used over and over. They were not part of a formally planned transportation system." [3]

[1]: (Muller 1997, 366)

[2]: (Mazrim 2007, 58)

[3]: (Peregrine 2016, personal communication)


Port:
absent

"Most of the movement between the American Bottom and Peoria occurred on the water—up and down the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. Canoes and bateaux of the seventeenth and eighteenth century were capable of transporting tons of cargo, and the lack of rapids and the slow currents of these rivers presented few problems for upstream travel. Further, throughout most of human history in North America, most people spent much of their time in the river valleys, where game, water, and rich soils were abundant." [1] "There were no formal “ports”, although rivers were major transportation routes. There was an extensive network of footpaths that crisscrossed Eastern North America as one of your quotes suggests. I wouldn’t really call them roads, though. Most of them paralleled rivers and were unimproved or informal—they simply represented the best route between locations and so were used over and over. They were not part of a formally planned transportation system." [2]

[1]: (Mazrim 2007, 57-58)

[2]: (Peregrine 2016, personal communication)


Canal:
absent

not mentioned in the literature and not visible archaeologically. Inference approved by Peter Peregrine.


Bridge:
absent

Bridge present in 1735 but probably built by the French settlers. "The 1735 map also illustrates a bridge over Riviere du Pont connecting with the road to Falling Springs, where the missionaries had built a water mill." [1]

[1]: (Gums et al 1991, 86)


Special-purpose Sites
Mines or Quarry:
present

"Not sure about Mill Creek but there were still quarries being used; indeed Blood Run has a lot of material from the Pipestone National Monument in Minnesota as I recall, so that was certainly a “mine” of sorts." [1]

[1]: (Peregrine 2016, personal communication)


Information / Writing System
Written Record:
unknown

Script:
unknown

Phonetic Alphabetic Writing:
unknown

Nonwritten Record:
present

The burial grounds "of distinguished war chiefs were marked by an upright tree trunk, painted to record their exploits. To this was tied a small log for each enemy killed by the person it commemorated" [1] .

[1]: C. Callender, Illinois, in B. Trigger, Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 15: Northeast (1978), pp. 673-680


Mnemonic Device:
present

The burial grounds "of distinguished war chiefs were marked by an upright tree trunk, painted to record their exploits. To this was tied a small log for each enemy killed by the person it commemorated" [1] .

[1]: C. Callender, Illinois, in B. Trigger, Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 15: Northeast (1978), pp. 673-680


Information / Kinds of Written Documents
Scientific Literature:
unknown

Sacred Text:
unknown

Religious Literature:
unknown

Practical Literature:
unknown

Philosophy:
unknown

Lists Tables and Classification:
unknown

History:
unknown

Fiction:
unknown

Calendar:
unknown

Information / Money
Token:
unknown

Paper Currency:
unknown

Indigenous Coin:
unknown

Article:
unknown

Information / Postal System
Information / Measurement System

Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications
Wooden Palisade:
absent

In terms of settlement organisation, the main defensive strategy seems to have been to construct larger villages [1] .

[1]: Illinois State Museum, Illinois Economy: Settlements (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/ec_settle.html


Stone Walls Non Mortared:
absent

In terms of settlement organisation, the main defensive strategy seems to have been to construct larger villages [1] .

[1]: Illinois State Museum, Illinois Economy: Settlements (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/ec_settle.html


Stone Walls Mortared:
absent

In terms of settlement organisation, the main defensive strategy seems to have been to construct larger villages [1] .

[1]: Illinois State Museum, Illinois Economy: Settlements (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/ec_settle.html


Settlements in a Defensive Position:
absent

In terms of settlement organisation, the main defensive strategy seems to have been to construct larger villages [1] .

[1]: Illinois State Museum, Illinois Economy: Settlements (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/ec_settle.html


Modern Fortification:
absent

Moat:
absent

In terms of settlement organisation, the main defensive strategy seems to have been to construct larger villages [1] .

[1]: Illinois State Museum, Illinois Economy: Settlements (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/ec_settle.html


Fortified Camp:
absent

In terms of settlement organisation, the main defensive strategy seems to have been to construct larger villages [1] .

[1]: Illinois State Museum, Illinois Economy: Settlements (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/ec_settle.html


Earth Rampart:
absent

In terms of settlement organisation, the main defensive strategy seems to have been to construct larger villages [1] .

[1]: Illinois State Museum, Illinois Economy: Settlements (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/ec_settle.html


Ditch:
absent

In terms of settlement organisation, the main defensive strategy seems to have been to construct larger villages [1] .

[1]: Illinois State Museum, Illinois Economy: Settlements (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/ec_settle.html


Complex Fortification:
absent

In terms of settlement organisation, the main defensive strategy seems to have been to construct larger villages. [1] .

[1]: Illinois State Museum, Illinois Economy: Settlements (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/ec_settle.html


Long Wall:
absent

Military use of Metals
Steel:
absent

"The Illinois made tools and utensils out of many different materials obtained from nature, including wood, bone, antler, shell, and stone." [1]

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Tools and Utensils (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_tools.html


Iron:
absent

"The Illinois made tools and utensils out of many different materials obtained from nature, including wood, bone, antler, shell, and stone." [1]

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Tools and Utensils (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_tools.html


Copper:
absent

"The Illinois made tools and utensils out of many different materials obtained from nature, including wood, bone, antler, shell, and stone." [1]

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Tools and Utensils (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_tools.html


Bronze:
absent

"The Illinois made tools and utensils out of many different materials obtained from nature, including wood, bone, antler, shell, and stone." [1]

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Tools and Utensils (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_tools.html


Projectiles
Tension Siege Engine:
absent

Sources only mention bows and arrows, muskets, war-clubs, knives, and hatchets [1] . It should be noted that sources that specifically describe the way the Illinois Confederation waged war are relatively rare.

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html


Sling Siege Engine:
absent

Sources only mention bows and arrows, muskets, war-clubs, knives, and hatchets [1] . It should be noted that sources that specifically describe the way the Illinois Confederation waged war are relatively rare.

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html


Sling:
absent

Sources only mention bows and arrows, muskets, war-clubs, knives, and hatchets [1] . It should be noted that sources that specifically describe the way the Illinois Confederation waged war are relatively rare.

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html


Self Bow:
present

Bow type not specified [1] .

[1]: D.E. Worcester and T.L. Schilz, The Spread of Firearms among the Indians on the Anglo-French Frontiers (1984), American Indian Quarterly 8(2): 103-115


Javelin:
absent

Sources only mention bows and arrows, muskets, war-clubs, knives, and hatchets [1] . It should be noted that sources that specifically describe the way the Illinois Confederation waged war are relatively rare.

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html


Handheld Firearm:
present

Muskets acquired from Iroquois and Ottawa middlemen, who themselves had acquired the guns from French traders: it is worth noting that the Illinois "possessed an insufficient supply of ammunition and so had to rely mainly on bows and arrows and clubs for actual combat" [1] .

[1]: D.E. Worcester and T.L. Schilz, The Spread of Firearms among the Indians on the Anglo-French Frontiers (1984), American Indian Quarterly 8(2): 103-115


Gunpowder Siege Artillery:
absent

Sources only mention bows and arrows, muskets, war-clubs, knives, and hatchets [1] . It should be noted that sources that specifically describe the way the Illinois Confederation waged war are relatively rare.

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html


Crossbow:
absent

Sources only mention bows and arrows, muskets, war-clubs, knives, and hatchets [1] . It should be noted that sources that specifically describe the way the Illinois Confederation waged war are relatively rare.

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html


Composite Bow:
absent

Sources only mention bows and arrows, muskets, war-clubs, knives, and hatchets [1] . It should be noted that sources that specifically describe the way the Illinois Confederation waged war are relatively rare.

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html


Atlatl:
absent

Sources only mention bows and arrows, muskets, war-clubs, knives, and hatchets [1] . It should be noted that sources that specifically describe the way the Illinois Confederation waged war are relatively rare.

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html


Handheld weapons
War Club:
present

"The Illinois war-club was made of wood or antler, and was shaped like a cutlass-type sword with a large ball at the striking end" [1] .

[1]: Illinois State Museum, Illinois Society: Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_weapons.html


Sword:
absent

Sources only mention bows and arrows, muskets, war-clubs, knives, and hatchets [1] . It should be noted that sources that specifically describe the way the Illinois Confederation waged war are relatively rare.

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html


Spear:
absent

Sources only mention bows and arrows, muskets, war-clubs, knives, and hatchets [1] . It should be noted that sources that specifically describe the way the Illinois Confederation waged war are relatively rare.

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html


Polearm:
absent

Sources only mention bows and arrows, muskets, war-clubs, knives, and hatchets [1] . It should be noted that sources that specifically describe the way the Illinois Confederation waged war are relatively rare.

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html


Dagger:
present

"Warriors also carried knives, hatchets, and war-clubs." [1] .

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html


Battle Axe:
present

"Warriors also carried knives, hatchets, and war-clubs." [1] .

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html


Animals used in warfare
Elephant:
absent

Donkey:
absent

Dog:
absent

Not mentioned by sources. [1] [2]

[1]: Illinois State Museum, Illinois Society: Warfare (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/soc_war.html

[2]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html


Camel:
absent

Armor
Wood Bark Etc:
present

Sources only mention shields [1] . It should be noted that sources that specifically describe the way the Illinois Confederation waged war are relatively rare. Shields made using some wood? 1000-1650 CE period but may not apply in Cahokia region: "Braves of some of eastern North American Indian nations wore wooden armor that worked well enough against arrows ... This wooden armor was quickly abandoned, along with the bows and arrows, once firearms were widely adopted in the 17th century." [2]

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html

[2]: (Nolan 2006, 27) Cathal J Nolan. 2006. The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Volume 1 A - K. Greenwood Press. Westport.


Shield:
present

"To protect themselves in battle, warriors carried large, arrow-proof shields made of bison hide." [1] .

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html


Scaled Armor:
absent

"The Illinois made tools and utensils out of many different materials obtained from nature, including wood, bone, antler, shell, and stone." [1]

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Tools and Utensils (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_tools.html


Plate Armor:
absent

"The Illinois made tools and utensils out of many different materials obtained from nature, including wood, bone, antler, shell, and stone." [1]

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Tools and Utensils (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_tools.html


Limb Protection:
absent

Sources only mention shields [1] . It should be noted that sources that specifically describe the way the Illinois Confederation waged war are relatively rare.

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html


Leather Cloth:
absent

Sources only mention shields [1] . It should be noted that sources that specifically describe the way the Illinois Confederation waged war are relatively rare.

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html


Laminar Armor:
absent

"The Illinois made tools and utensils out of many different materials obtained from nature, including wood, bone, antler, shell, and stone." [1]

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Tools and Utensils (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_tools.html


Helmet:
absent

Sources only mention shields [1] . It should be noted that sources that specifically describe the way the Illinois Confederation waged war are relatively rare.

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html


Chainmail:
absent

"The Illinois made tools and utensils out of many different materials obtained from nature, including wood, bone, antler, shell, and stone." [1]

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Tools and Utensils (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_tools.html


Breastplate:
absent

Sources only mention shields [1] . It should be noted that sources that specifically describe the way the Illinois Confederation waged war are relatively rare.

[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html


Naval technology
Specialized Military Vessel:
absent

Not mentioned by sources [1] .

[1]: Illinois State Museum, Illinois Society: Warfare (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/soc_war.html


Small Vessels Canoes Etc:
absent

Not mentioned by sources [1] .

[1]: Illinois State Museum, Illinois Society: Warfare (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/soc_war.html


Merchant Ships Pressed Into Service:
absent

Not mentioned by sources [1] .

[1]: Illinois State Museum, Illinois Society: Warfare (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/soc_war.html



Human Sacrifice Data
Human Sacrifice is the deliberate and ritualized killing of a person to please or placate supernatural entities (including gods, spirits, and ancestors) or gain other supernatural benefits.
Coding in Progress.
Coding in Progress.
Power Transitions
Coding in Progress.