Wea
Encyclopedia
The Wea were a Miami-Illinois-speaking tribe originally located in western Indiana, closely related to the Miami. The name Wea is used today as the a shortened version of their many recorded names. The Weas' name for themselves in their own language is waayaahtanwa, derived from waayaahtanonki, 'place of the whirlpool', their name where they were first recorded being seen and is where they were living at that time. The different spellings of their name is numerous with the influx of the many different settler's ethnic and educational backgrounds. One French recording of the name is "Ouiatenon", another "Ouiateno", these were their villages and are now known as Lafayette
Lafayette, Indiana
Lafayette is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 67,140. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on...

 and Terre Haute Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

 respectively. A marker was placed by the Indiana Historical Bureau in 2004 depicting the presence of the Wea Village in Terre Haute and the living descendants. The Wea spoke a dialect of the same language as the Miami Tribe
Miami tribe
The Miami are a Native American nation originally found in what is now Indiana, southwest Michigan, and western Ohio. The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma is the only federally recognized tribe of Miami Indians in the United States...

.

History

When the Wea had increased considerably in numbers at their village of Ouiatenon
Ouiatenon
Ouiatenon is a name that refers to a dwelling place of members of the Wea tribe of Native Americans. The name Ouiatenon, also variously given as Ouiatanon, Oujatanon, Ouiatano or other similar forms, is a French rendering of a term from the Wea dialect of the Miami-Illinois language which means...

, near present day Lafayette, Indiana, one of them separated himself from the village and offered to move and take part of the people with him further down the river and start a new village, which Piankeshaw established near the mouth of the Vermilion River
Vermilion River (Wabash River tributary)
The Vermilion River is a tributary of the Wabash River in the states of Illinois and Indiana, United States.There are two "Vermilion Rivers" in Illinois. The Wabash tributary flows south, while the other Vermilion River flows north to the Illinois River...

. This man who took the people to the new village had no holes or slits in his ears, as was customary at that day, and he was on that account called Piankeshaw ("the Torn-Ears People"). The Piankeshaw were the Deer Clan of the Weas.

The 19th century reflected only the Miami proper (Crane band), Wea, Eel River and Piankashaw remaining in Indiana. These tribes all signed treaties separately and were considered politically separate from each other.

The Wea had villages in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Their main homeland in the 18th century was in Indiana, as well as a few villages in Illinois and Ohio. The three largest villages of the Wea were Fort Ouiatenon
Fort Ouiatenon
Fort Ouiatenon was the first fortified European settlement in what is now called Indiana. It was a French trading post at the joining of the Tippecanoe River and the Wabash River located approximately three miles southwest of modern-day West Lafayette...

, west of what is now Lafayette, Indiana
Lafayette, Indiana
Lafayette is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 67,140. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on...

. There clustered together on the South side of the Wabash across from Fort Ouiatenon were 5 Villages. Four of those were the Wea, Piankeshaw, Pepicokia, and Gros all clans of the main body of Weas. Toward the west near Granville were the Kickapoo villages. The second largest village was where Terre Haute, Indiana is now, and the Wea had their third largest village in Vincennes that was called Chipicokia where they lived with their clan the Piankashaw.

With increased Euro-American settlement and Indian removal
Indian Removal
Indian removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States to relocate Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river...

s, many treaties were made, which in the 1854 lead to the Treaty that confederated the Weas who went west, the Kaskaskia
Kaskaskia
The Kaskaskia were one of about a dozen cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation or Illinois Confederation. Their longstanding homeland was in the Great Lakes region...

s, Peoria
Peoria (tribe)
The Peoria people are a Native American tribe. Today they are enrolled in the federally recognized Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. Historically, they were part of the Illinois Confederation.-History:...

s, and Piankeshaw
Piankeshaw
The Piankeshaw Indians were Native Americans, and members of the Miami Indians who lived apart from the rest of the Miami nation. They lived in an area that now includes western Indiana and Ohio, and were closely allied with the Wea Indians...

s into the Confederated Peoria Tribe of Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

 and later they became the Peoria Tribe of Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

.

There were many of the Wea Tribe that did not go west in the removals and instead remained in Indiana. They were referred to in treaties as the Wea on the Wabash, the Wabash Wea, and in history as the Wabash Confederacy or the Wabash Indians.

The descendants of this Tribe remained in Indiana after the removal period and did not move west of the Mississippi. These descendants reside today in Indiana, the United States and abroad.

Former Village Sites

Listed are just a few villages that were located in Indiana and Illinois.
  • Chicago Chicago, Ill
  • Kenapacomaqua Logansport, IN.
  • Ft. Ouiatenon Lafayette, IN. a marker is placed
  • Sugar Creek Village/Reserve Sugar Creek, IN.
  • Weauteno / Jacco's Towne Terre Haute, IN. (a marker is placed at Fairbanks Park)
  • Upper Wea Village/Town 2 miles above Terre Haute, IN.
  • Old Wea Town between Terre Haute and Vincennes IN.
  • Wea Reserve Parke County, IN. (a marker is placed there today)
  • Wea Village Danville, Ill.
  • Kethtippecahnunk Lafayette, IN

Signed Treaties

Below are some of the many Treaties were made with the US and the Wea.
  • Treaty of Greenville
    Treaty of Greenville
    The Treaty of Greenville was signed at Fort Greenville , on August 3, 1795, between a coalition of Native Americans & Frontiers men, known as the Western Confederacy, and the United States following the Native American loss at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. It put an end to the Northwest Indian War...

    , Aug 3, 1795
  • Fort Wayne Indiana Territory
    Treaty of Fort Wayne (1803)
    The Treaty of Fort Wayne was a treaty between the United States and several groups of Native Americans. The treaty was signed on June 7, 1803 and proclaimed December 26, 1803.-Parties:...

    , June 7, 1803

was not at the original treaty but signed later
  • Vincennes, Indiana Territory, Aug 13, 1803
  • Grouseland Indiana Territory
    Treaty of Grouseland
    The Treaty of Grouseland was an agreement negotiated by Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory on behalf of the government of the United States of America with Native American leaders, including Little Turtle and Buckongahelas, for lands in Southern Indiana, northeast Indiana, and...

    , Aug 21, 1805
  • Vincennes Indiana Territory, Dec 30, 1805
  • Fort Wayne Indiana Territory, Sept 30, 1809
  • Vincennes Indiana Territory, Oct 26, 1809
  • Fort Harrison, Indiana Territory, June 4, 1816
  • Vincennes Indiana Territory, Jan 3, 1818
  • St Mary’s Ohio
    Treaty of St. Mary's
    The Treaty of St. Mary's was signed on October 6, 1818 at Saint Mary's, Ohio between representatives of the United States and the Miami tribe and others living in their territory. The accord contained seven articles. Based on the terms of the accord, the Miami ceded to the United States...

    Oct 2, 1818
  • Vincennes Indiana Aug 11, 1820
  • St Joseph Michigan Sept 21,1826
  • St Joseph Michigan Sept 24, 1828
  • Caster Hill Missouri, Oct 29, 1832
  • Washington DC May 30, 1854
  • Washington DC Feb 23, 1867 (1)


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. “

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”,

The above treaties are referring to the Wea that are still in Indiana. These Wea remained in Indiana and the descendants are still here today.
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