The Wea were a Miami–Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as being either closely related to the Miami tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami.[1]
The name Wea is used today as the a shortened version of their numerous recorded names. The Wea name for themselves (autonym) in their own language is waayaahtanwa, derived from waayaahtanonki, 'place of the whirlpool', where they were first recorded being seen and where they were living at that time.[4]
The many different spellings of the tribe's name include Waiatanwa, Ouaouiatanoukak, Aoiatenon, Aouciatenons, Ochiatenens, Ouatanons, Ouias, Ouiatanon, Wah-we-ah-tung-ong, Warraghtinooks, and Wyatanons.[5]
The Wea lived north of the Ohio River in parts of western Indiana and southeastern Illinois.[6] The first written mention of the tribe is from 1673.[5] French explorers wrote about them in the 17th and early 18th centuries. Another Miami sub-tribe, the Pepikokia were a separate tribe until 1742 but then later became part of the Wea tribe.[6] In the 18th century, the Wea, Miami, and Piankashaw remained distinct tribes.[7] The Wea population of 1765 is estimated to have been around 1,200.[8]
In 1747, British colonists began trading with a band of Miami living on the Great Miami River in Ohio. Weas began trading with them as well, until the French destroyed their trading post. By 1763, the Wea joined Odawa war chief Pontiac in Pontiac's War against the British.[10] The Wea first were neutral during the American Revolution but later joined the Miami in fighting with the British. The Wea were forced to move to Missouri and Arkansas in 1820.[3] They were later forced into Kansas and finally Indian Territory,[11] which became Oklahoma.
With increased Euro-American settlement and the United States's policy of Indian removal, the US federal government made many treaties with these tribes.
In 1854, the Wea signed a treaty that merged them politically with other remnant tribes of the Illinois Confederacy to become the Confederated Peoria Tribe. The Miami people also joined the Confederated Peoria Tribe in 1873.[6]
Former village sites
Listed are just a few villages that were located in Indiana and Illinois.
Chicago Chicago, Illinois
Kenapacomaqua Logansport, Indiana
Ouiatenon Lafayette, Indiana, where a marker notes the site
Kethtippecahnunk Lafayette
Sugar Creek Village/Reserve Sugar Creek, Indiana
Weauteno / Jacco's Towne Terre Haute, Indiana (a marker is placed at Fairbanks Park)
Upper Wea Village/Town 2 miles above Terre Haute
Old Wea Town, Between Terre Haute and Vincennes
Wea Reserve Parke County, Indiana (a marker notes the site)
Some mentions of Wea people in treaties include the following:
Treaty of St. Marys 1820 in Article 3:
"As it is contemplated by the said Tribe, to remove from the Wabash, it is agreed, that the annuity secured to the Weas, by the Treaty of Saint Mary's, above mentioned, shall hereafter be paid to them at Kaskaskia in the state of Illinois."[13]
Treaty of Castor Hill 1832 in Article 4:
"The United States will also afford some assistance to that part of the Wea tribe now residing in the State of Indiana, to enable them to join the rest of their tribe on the lands hereby assigned them,...."[14]
^ abcdefgh"Peoria Tribe". Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
^Costa, David J. "Miami-Illinois Tribe Names", in John Nichols, ed., Papers of the Thirty-first Algonquian Conference (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba, 2000), 30-53.
^Commissions of Indian Affairs (1837). "Piankeshaws and Weas". Treaties Between the United States of America and the Several Indian Tribes from 1778 to 1837. Washington, DC: Langtree and O'Sullivan. p. 557.
References
Callender, Charles, "Miami," in Handbook of North American Indians, Raymond D. Fogelson, ed. (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2004), 681–89.
