Glenn

THE OHIO VALLEY-GREAT LAKES ETHNOHISTORY ARCHIVES: THE MIAMI COLLECTION
It is noted that the following work from the Miami Archives should be read and considered within the historical context in which it was composed and printed. The opinions expressed and the language used do not reflect the opinions or standards of the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, but are, rather, indicative of thought in that historical moment during which the document was published.


 

Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico


Hodge, Frederick Webb, ed., in: Smithsonian Institution
Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 30
in two parts, part 1: A-M, part 2: N-Z.

pp. 1 (Title page), 228, 229, 240, 241.

 


 

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
BULLETIN 30
_____

 

HANDBOOK

OF

AMERICAN INDIANS

NORTH OF MEXICO

____

EDITED BY
FREDERICK WEBB HODGE
____

 

IN TWO PARTS
PART 1

 

 

 


WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1907

 



(page 228)

Peoria
(through French Peouarea, from Peoria Piwarea, 'he comes carrying a pack on his back': a personal name.-Gerard). One of the principal tribes of the Illinois confederacy. Franquelin in his map of 1688 locates them and the Tapouaro (1. v.) on a river w. of the Mississippi above the mouth of Wisconsin r., probably the upper Iowa r. Early references to the Illinois which place them on the Mississippi, although some of the tribes were on Rock and Illinois rs., must relate to the Peoria and locate them near the mouth of the Wisconsin. When Marquette and Joliet descended the Mississippi in 1673, they found them and the Moingwena on the w. side of the Mississippi near the mouth of a river supposed to be the Des Moines, though it may have been one farther N. When Marquette returned from the S., he found that the Peoria had removed and were near the lower end of the expansion of Illinois r., near the present Peoria. At the close of the war carried on by the Sauk and Foxes and other northern tribes against the Illinois, about 1768, the Kickapoo took possession of this village and made it their principal settlement. About the same time a large part of the Peoria crossed over into Missouri, where they remained, building their village on Blackwater fork, until they removed to Kansas. One band, the Utagami, living near Illinois r., was practically exterminated, probably by the northern tribes, during the Revolutionary war (Gatschet, Sauk and Fox MS., B. A. E., 1882). Utagami, according to Dr. Wm. Jones, may mean the Foxes who were known to the northern Algonquians as 'people of the other shore.' The Foxes claim to have annihilated the Peoria for the help they gave the French and other tribes in the wars against them (the Foxes). The main body of the Peoria remained on the E. bank of Illinois r. until 1832, when, together with the other tribes of the old Illinois confederacy, they sold to the United States their claims in Illinois and Missouri, and to the consolidated tribes, under the names of Peoria and Kaskaskia, was assigned a reservation on Osage r., Kans. In 1854 the Wea and Piankashaw united with them, and in 1868 the entire body removed to Indian Ter. (Oklahoma), where they now reside. The Peoria made or joined in the treaties with the United States at Edwardsville, Ill., Sept. 25, 1818; Castor Hill, Mo., Oct. 27, 1832; Washington, D. C., May 30, 1854, and Feb. 23, 1867.

The early estimates of the numbers of the Peoria are altogether unreliable, and later estimates shed no light on their population from the fact that several Illinois tribes were then consolidated under the same name. In 1736 Chauvignerie estimated the Peoria at about 250 souls. They were so nearly exterminated soon afterward by the northern tribes that about the year 1800 Gov. William Henry Harrison of the Northwest Ter. could find only 4 men of the tribe living. In 1829 the Indians consolidated under that name numbered 120. According to the report of the Indian Office the Peoria and allied tribes in Oklahoma numbered 192 in 1906.    (J. M.  C. T.)
Opea.
-Whiteside (1811) in Am. St. Papers, Ind. Aff., I, 804, 1832. Payories.-Volney, View of U. S. A., 352, 1804. Peaouarias.-Cadillac (1695) in Margry, Déc., V, 124, 1883. Pecuarias.-Jefferys, Fr. Doms., pt. 1, map, 1761. Peoiras.- Hunter, Narr., 178, 1823. Peola.-Long, Exped. Rocky Mts., II, 285, 1823. Peonas.-Sen. Misc. Doc. 53, 45th Cong., 3d sess., 73, 1879. Peonies.-Porter (1829) quoted by Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 592, 1853. Peores.-Writer of 1812 quoted by Schoolcraft, ibid., 555. Peorians.-Knox (1792) in Am. St. Papers, Ind. Aff., I, 309, 1832. Peorias.-Joutel (1687) in Margry, Déc., III, 481, 1878. Peouarewi.-Shea, Rel. de la Mission du Miss., 26, 1861. Peouarias.-Homann Heirs' Map, 1756. Peouarius.-Jefferys, Fr. Doms., pt. 1, 138, 1761. Peoüaroüa.-Gravier (ca. 1680) in Shea, Early Voy., 116, 1861. Peoucaria.-La Salle (1681) in Margry, Déc., II, 134, 1877. Peoueria.-La Salle (1682), ibid., 201. Peouria.-Allouez (1680), ibid., 96. Péouryas.-Vater, Mith., pt. 3, sec. 3, 351, 1816. Perouacca.-Marquette (ca. 1673), Discov., 349, 1698. Perouasca.-Ibid., 333. Peroueria.-Joutel (1688) in French, Hist. Coll. La., I, 185, 1846. Pianrias.-Imlay, West. Ter., 290, 1797. Piantias.-Smith (1785) quoted by Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 555, 1853. Piorias.-Bouquet (1764) quoted by Jefferson, Notes, 143, 1825. Pioüaroüa.-Gravier (1701) in French, Hist. Coll. La., II, 88, 1875. Pronaria.-Morse, Hist. N. Am., 256, 1776. Proneseas.-La Salle (ca. 1682) quoted in Hist. Mag., 1st s., V, 197, 1861. Pronevoa.-Hennepin, New Discov., 310, 1698. Prouaria.-Coxe, Carolana, map, 1741.

Pepatlenok ( 'the flyers'). A gens of the Tenaktak (q. v.).-Boas in Rep. Nat. Mus. 1895, 331, 1897.

Pepawitlenok ( 'the flyers'). A gens of the Klaskino, a Kwakiutl tribe.-Boas in Rep. Nat. Mus. 1895, 329, 1897.

Pepegewizzains (Chippewa: pipikiwisens, 'pigeon-hawk.'-Gerard). A gens or society of the Chippewa and also of the Ottawa.-Tanner, Narr., 314, 1830.

Pepikokia.  An Algonquian tribe or band mentioned in the latter part of the 17th century as a division of the Miami. In 1718 both they and the Piankashaw were mentioned as villages of the Wea. That the relation between these three groups was intimate is evident. They were located on the Wabash by Chauvignerie (1736) and by other writers of the period. They are spoken of in 1695 as Miamis of Maramek r., that is, the Kalamazoo. A letter dated 1701 (Margry, Déc., IV, 592, 1880) indicates that they were at that time in Wisconsin. Chauvignerie says that Wea, Piankashaw, and Pepikokia "are the same nation, though in different villages," and that "the devices of these Indians are the Serpent, the Deer, and the Small Acorn." They were sometimes called Nation de la Gruë, as though the crane was their totem. They disappear from history (page 229) before the middle of the 18th century and may have become incorporated in the Piankashaw, whose principal village was on the Wabash at the junction of the Vermilion.   (J. M.)
Kipikavvi.-St Cosme, (1699) in Shea, Rel. de la Mission du Miss., 17, 1861. Kipikawi,-St Cosme (1699) in Shea, Early Voy. Miss., 50, 1861. Kipikuskvvi.-St Cosme (1699) in Shea, Rel. de la Mission du Miss., 18, 1861. Pegoucoquias.- Memoir of 1701 in Margry, Déc., IV, 592, 1880. Pepepicokia.- Coxe, Carolana, 12, 1741. Pepepoaké.-La Salle (1682) in Margry, Déc., II, 216, 1877. Pepicoquias.- Bacqueville de la Potherie, IV, 56, 1753. Pepicoquis.-Writer of 1695 in N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., IX, 621, 1855. Pepikokia.-La Salle (1683) in Margry, Déc., II, 319, 1877. Pepikokis.-Bacqueville de la Potherie, II, 261, 1753. PepiKouKia.-Jes. Rel., LVIII, 40, 1899. Pepikoukia.- Tailhan, Perrot Mém., 222, 1864. Petikokias.-Chauvignerie (1736) in N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., IX, 1057, 1855. Petitscotias.-Memoir (1718), ibid., 891. Pettikokias.-Chauvignerie (1736) quoted by Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 555, 1853. Tepicons.- Longueuil (1752) in N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., X, 246, 1858 (identical?).

Pequaock. See Pooquaw.

Pequawket (a name of disputed etymology, the most probably rendering, according to Gerard, being 'at the hole in the ground,' from pekwakik). A tribe of the Abnaki confederacy, formerly living on the headwaters of Saco r. and about Lovell's pond, in Carroll co., N. H., and Oxford co., Me. The tribe is famous for a battle fought in 1725 near the village, between about 50 English under Capt. Lovewell and 80 Indians, the entire force of the tribe, under their chief, Paugus. Both leaders were killed, together with 36 of the English and a large part of the Indian force. By this loss the Pequawket were so weakened that, together with the Arosaguntacook, they soon after withdrew to the sources of Connecticut r. After being here for a short while, the Arosaguntacook removed to St Francis in Canada, while the Pequawket remained on the Connecticut, where they were still living under their chief at the time of the Revolution. Some of them seem to have found their way back to their old home some time after the Lovewell fight.   (J. M.)
Pâgwâki.-Kendall, Trav., III, 173, 1809 (correct form). Paquakig.-Gyles (1726) in Me. Hist. Soc. Coll., III, 358, 1853. Peckwalket.-Sullivan in N. H. Hist. Soc. Coll., I, 27, 1824. Peg8akki.-French letter (1721) in Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 2d s., VIII, 262, 1819. Pegouakky.-Vaudreuil (1721) in N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., IX, 904, 1855. Pegwacket.-Denison (1676) in Me. Hist. Soc. Coll., I, 223, 1865. Pegwackit.-Georgetown treaty (1717), ibid., III, 373, 1853. Pegwackuk.- Martin (1676), ibid., I, 223, 1865. Pegwaggett.-Winthrop in N. H. Hist. Soc. Coll., I, 27, 1824. Pegwakets.-Kidder in Me. Hist. Soc. Coll., VI, 235, 1859. Pehqwoket.-Drake, Ind. Chron., 173, 1836. Pequakets.-Drake, Bk. Inds., X, 1848. Pequaquaukes.-Potter in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, v, 222, 1855. Pequauket.-Writer in N. H. Hist. Soc. Coll., V, 207, 1837. Pequawett.-Willis in Me. Hist. Soc. Coll., IV, 109, 1856. Pequawket.-Pike (1703) in N. H. Hist. Soc. Coll., III, 51, 1832. Pickpocket.-Pike (1704), ibid., 54. Pickwacket.-Doc. of 1749 in Me. Hist. Soc. Coll., IV, 155, 1856. Pickwocket.-N. H. Hist. Soc. Coll., I, 27, note, 1824. Picqwaket.-Freeman (ca. 1830) in Me. Hist. Soc. Coll., I, 333, 1865. Picwocket.-Kendall, Trav., III, 173, 1809. Piggwacket.-Symmes (ca. 1725) quoted by Drake, Bk. Inds., bk. 3, 131, 1848. Pigocket.-Jefferys, Fr. Doms., pt. 1, 123, 1761. Piguachet.-McKeen in Me. Hist. Soc. Coll., III, 324, 1853. Pigwachet.-Sullivan in Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 1st s., IX, 210, 1804. Pigwacket.-Penhallow (1726) in N. H. Hist. Soc. Coll., I, 20, 1824. Pigwackitt.-Wendell (1749) in N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., VI, 542, 1855. Pigwocket.-Drake, Bk. Inds., bk. 3, 135, 1848. Pigwolket.-Kendall Trav., III, 173, 1809. Piquachet.-Me. Hist. Soc. Coll., III, 358, note, 1853.

Pequea (Piqua, 'dust,' 'ashes'). A Shawnee village on Susquehanna r., at the mouth of Pequea cr., in Lancaster co., Pa. It was settled by the tribe on its removal from the S. about the year 1694, and abandoned about 1730 for another location.   (J. M.)
Pequa.-Lewis (1824) quoted by Day, Penn., 208, 1843. Pequea.-Barton, New Views, xxxii, 1798. Pequehan.-Evans (1707) quoted by Day, op. cit., 381. Piqua Town.-Johnston (1812) in Am. St. Papers, Ind. Aff., I, 807, 1832. Piqued.-Putnam, Mid. Tenn., 365, 1859.

Pequen. An unidentified pueblo in New Mexico in 1598.- Oñate (1598) in Doc. Inéd., XVI, 103, 1871.

Pequimmit. A village of Christian Indians near Stoughton, Norfolk co., Mass., in 1658.- Homer (ca. 1798) in Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 1st s., v, 267, 1806.

Pequot (contr. of Paquatauog, 'destroyers.'- Trumbull). An Algonquian tribe of Connecticut. Before their conquest by the English in 1637 they were the most dreaded of the southern New England tribes. They were originally but one people with the Mohegan, and it is possible that the term Pequot was unknown until applied by the eastern coast Indians to this body of Mohegan invaders, who came down from the interior shortly before the arrival of the English. The division into two distinct tribes seems to have been accomplished by the secession of Uncas, who, in consequence of a dispute with Sassacus, afterward known as the great chief of the Pequot, withdrew into the interior with a small body of followers. This body retained the name Mohegan, and through the diplomatic management of Uncas acquired such prominence that one the close of the Pequot war their claim to the greater part of the territory formerly subject to Sassacus was recognized by the colonial government. The real territory of the Pequot was a narrow strip of coast in New London co., extending from Niantic r. to the Rhode Island boundary, comprising the present towns of New London, Groton, and Stonington. They also extended a few miles into Rhode Island to Wecapaug r. until driven out by the Narraganset about 1635. This country had been previously in possession of the Niantic, whom the Pequot invaded from the N. and forced from their central position, splitting them into two bodies, thenceforth known as the Eastern and Western Niantic. The Eastern Niantic put themselves under the protection of

(page 240)
but these peculiarities must be charged largely, if not entirely, to differences in mental training and habits. The reasoning of the Indian and his ideation, though modified by his views, have often been shown to be excellent. His power of imitation, and even of invention, are good, as is his aptitude in several higher arts and in oratory. An Indian child reared under the care of whites, educated in the schools of civilization, and without having acquired the notions of its people, is habitually much like a white child trained in a similar degree under similar conditions.

Consult Boteler, Peculiarities of the American Indian from a Physiological and Pathological Standpoint, 1880-81; Mays, Experimental Inquiry, 1887; Holder, Age of Puberty of Indian Girls, 1890; Currier, Study Relative to Functions of Reproductive Apparatus, 1891; Parker, Concerning American Indian Womanhood, 1891-92; Eleventh Census, Rep. on Indians, 1894; Hrdlicka (1) Physical and Physiological Observations on the Navaho, 1900, (2) Bull. 34, B. A. E., 1908. See also the bibliographies under Anatomy and Health and Disease.    (A. H.)

Pia ().  A former Siuslaw village on Siuslaw r., Oreg.- Dorsey in Jour. Am. Folk-lore, III, 230, 1890.

Piacaamanc.  A rancheria, probably Cochimi, formerly connected with Purísima (Cadegomo) mission, which was near the w. coast of Lower California, about lat. 26o 20´.-Doc. Hist. Mex., 4th s., v, 189, 1857.

Piachi.  A walled town, probably of the Choctaw, formerly on Tombigbee r., w. Ala.; visited by De Soto in 1540. Lewis thinks it probable that it was on Black Warrior r., Ala.
Piache.-Gentl. of Elvas (1557) in French, Hist. Coll. La., II, 156, 1850. Piachi.-Gentl. of Elvas in Lewis, Exped. De Soto, 188, 1907.

Piagadme.  A rancheria, probably Cochimi, formerly connected with Purísima (Cadegomo) mission, Lower California.-Doc. Hist. Mex., 4th s., v, 189, 1857.

Piamato.  A pueblo of the Tigua or the Tewa of New Mexico in 1598.
Piamato.-Oñate (1598) in Doc. Inéd., XVI, 102, 1871. Xiomato.-Ibid., 116.

Pianbotinu ( 'white mountain people'). A clan of the pueblo of Taos, N. Mex.-Hodge, field notes, B. A. E., 1899.

Piankashaw (possibly connected with Päyangitchaki, 'those who separate,' from pevangiani, 'I separate from,' according to Gatschet; the Miami form, according to J. P. Dunn, is Payunggish´ah). Formerly a subtribe of the Miami, but later a separate people. In an account of the rivers and peoples of the W., La Salle, about 1682, mentions the Piankashaw as one of the tribes gathered about his Illinois fort; these were bands brought from their usual habitat. In the account by Cadillac (1695) they are spoken of as being w. of the Miami village on St. Joseph r., Mich., with the Mascoutens, Kickapoo, and other tribes. It is probably they were then on Vermillion r., in Indiana and Illinois. St Cosme (1699) says that the village of the Peanzichias Miamis was on Kankakee r., Ill., but that they formerly lived on the Mississippi. They had possibly been drive w. by the Iroquois. Their ancient village was on the Wabash at the junction of the Vermillion; at a later period they established another settlement, Chippekawkay, lower down the river, at the present site of Vincennes, Ind. About 1770 they gave permission to the Delawares too occupy the E. part of their territory. Chauvignerie (1736) says that the Wea, the Piankashaw, and the Pepicokia were the same nation in different villages, and gives the deer as the Piankashaw totem. In the beginning of the present century they and the Wea began to cross over into Missouri, and in 1832 the two tribes sold all their claims in the E. and agreed to remove to Kansas as one tribe. About 1854 the consolidated tribe united with the remnant of the Illinois, then known as Peoria and Kaskaskia, and in 1867 the entire body sold their lands in Kansas and removed to the present Oklahoma, where they are now known under the name of Peoria. The Piankashaw made or participated in treaties with the United States at Greenville, O., Aug. 3, 1795; Ft. Wayne, Ind., June 7, 1803; Vincennes, Ind., Aug. 7, 1803, Aug. 27, 1804, and Dec. 30, 1805; Portage des Sioux, Mo., July 18, 1815; Vincennes, Ind., Jan. 3, 1818 (not ratified); Castor Hill, Mo., Oct. 29, 1832; Washington, D. C., May 30, 1854, and Feb. 23, 1867.

The Piankashaw probably never numbered many more than 1,000 souls. In 1736 Chauvignerie estimated the Piankashaw, Wea, and Pepicokia together at about 1,750. In 1759 the Piankashaw alone were estimated at 1,500, and five years later at 1,250. This was reduced to 950 in 1780, and 800 in 1795. In 1825 there were only 234 remaining, and in 1906 all the tribes consolidated under the name of Peoria numbered but 192, none of whom was of pure blood.    (J. M.)
Hopungieasaw.-Woodward, Reminisch., 23, 1859 ('dancing Indians,' from opúnga,
'to dance': Creek name). Hopungiesas.-Ibid., 94. -Gatschet, Caddo MS., B. A. E., 1884 (Caddo name). Päyangitchaki.-Gatschet, Miami MS., B. A. E., 1888 (correct Miami form). Peahushaws.- McKenney and Hall, Ind. Tribes, III, 79, 1854. Peangichia.-La Salle (1682) in Margry, Déc.< II, 201, 1877. Peanguicheas.-McKenney and Hall, Ind. Tribes, op. cit. Peanguichias.-Doc. of 1718 in N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., IC, 891, 1855. Peanguischias.-Beauharnois (1745), ibid., X, 25, 1858. Peanguiseins.-Cadillac (1695) in Margry, Déc., v, 124, 1883. Peankshaws.-Lang and Taylor, Rep., 23, 1843. Peanquichas.-Chauvignerie (1736) quoted by Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 555, 1853. Peanzichias Miamis.-St Cosme (1699) quoted by Shea, (page 241) Early Voy., 58, 1861. Peauguicheas.-McKenney and Hall, Ind. Tribes, III, 79, 1854. Pecankeeshaws.-Hough in Indiana Geol. Rep., map, 1883. Pehenguichias.McKenney and Hall, Ind. Tribes, III, 80, 1854. Pelagisía.-Gatschet, Shawnee MS., B. A. E., 1879 (Shawnee name; plural, Pelagisíagi). Peouanguichías.-Bacqueville de la Potherie, II, 335, 1753. Piancashaws.-Vater, Mith., pt. 3, sec. 3, 351, 1816. Piangeshaw.-Jones, Ojebway Inds., 178, 1861. Pianguichia.-Coxe, Carolana, map, 1741. Pianguisha.-Croghan (1757) in N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., VII, 268, 1856. Piankashaws.-Johnson (1763), ibid., 583. Piankaskouas.-Tailhan, Perrot Mém., 222, note, 1864. Piankeshas.-McCoy, Ann. Reg., 21, 1836. Piankeshaws.-German Flats conf. (1770) in N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., VIII, 233, 1857. Piankichas.-Vater, Mith., pt. 3, sec. 3, 351, 1816. Piàkishas.-Croghan (1759) quoted by Jefferson, Notes, 146 1825. Piankishaws.-Harrison (1814) quoted by Drake, Tecumseh, 160, 1852. Piankshaws.-De Butts (1795) in Am. St. Papers, Ind. Aff., I, 582, 1832. Pianquicha.-Smith, Bouquet's Exped., 64, 1766. Pianquiches.-Perkins and Peck, Annals of the West, 687, 1850. Pianquishaws.Croghan (1759) quoted by Rupp, West. Penn., 146, 1846. Pi-auk-e-shaws.-Beckwith in Indiana Geol. Rep., 41, 1883. Piawkashaws.-Vater, Mith., pt. 3. sec., 3, 344, 1816. Pinkeshaws.-Kelton, Ft Mackinac 38, 1884. Piouanguichias.-Bacqueville de la Potherie, II, 346, 1753. Plankishaws.-Dalton (1783) in Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 1st s., x, 123, 1809 (misprint). Poüaankikias.-Tailhan, Perrot Mém., 222, note, 1864. Pyankashees.-Esnauts and Rapilly Map, 1777. Pyankeeshas.-Croghan (1765) in N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., VII, 781, 1856. Pyankehas.-Croghan (1765) quoted in Am. Jour. Geol., 272, 18:11. Pyankestiaws.-Croghan (1765), ibid., 265. Pyankishaws.-Volney, View of U.S.A., 352, 1804. Tukachohas.-Loskiel (1794) quoted by Ruttenber, Tribes Hudson R., 336, 1872.

Piankatank. A tribe of the Powhatan confederacy on Piankatank r., Va. They numbered about 200 in 1608. Their principal village, also called Piankatank, was on the river of the same name in Middlesex co.
Payankatanks.-Simons in Smith (1629), Va., I, 160, 1819. Payankatonks.-Jefferson, Notes, 138, 1801. Piankatanks.-Drake, Bk. Inds., bk. 4, 9, 1848.

Piasa (probably cognate with Cree piyesiw, referring to an imaginary bird, a name of the thunderbird, and also cognate with the Chippewa binêssi, 'a large bird.'Hewitt). The name given to a prehistoric pictograph formerly on the face of the rocky bluff where Alton, Ill., is now situated. It was first mentioned and described by Marquette, in the account of his journey down the Mississippi in 1673, who, however, speaks of two (Jes. Rel. 1673-75, Thwaites ed., LIX, 139,1900; Shea, Discov. Miss., 39, 1852): "While skirting some rocks, which by their height and length inspired awe, we saw upon one of them two painted monsters which at first made us afraid, and upon which the boldest savages dare not long rest their eyes. They are as large as a calf; they have horns on their heads like those of deer, a horrible look, red eyes, a beard like a tiger's, a face somewhat like a man's, a body covered with scales, and so long a tail that it winds all around the body, passing above the head and going between the legs, ending in a fish's tail. Green, red, and black are the three colors composing the picture." Marquette further says that the painting was well done. Douay, who visited the locality on his journey from Texas in 1686, considers this description as exaggerated, saying: "This frightful monster is a horse painted on a rock with matachia [an old term for paint] and some other wild beasts made by the Indians" (Shea, Discov. Miss., 223, 1852). He says he reached them without difficulty, and adds: "The truth is that Miamis pursued by Mitchigamias having been drowned here the Indians since then offer tobacco to these figures." St Cosme, who journeyed down the Mississippi in 1699, says that the figures were then almost erased (Shea, Early Voy., 66, 1861). In 1836 John Russell published what he claimed to be the Indian "tradition of the Piasa," which is copied by McAdams in his Records of Ancient Races, 1887. The tradition is admitted to be chiefly imaginary, and is substantially the same as that given by Jones (Illinois and the West, 54-56, 1838). McAdams, who had studied the literature and local traditions relating to these figures, states that a figure made in 1825 by a Mr Dennis represented the animal as winged, and adopts this form in his book. The figure as seen by Marquette appears to have been almost precisely of the form and detail of the "medicine animal of the Winnebago" given by Schoolcraft (Ind. Tribes, II, pl. 55, fig. 224, 1852), and hence is probably connected with some myth. The latter author says the figure was drawn for him by Little Hill, a Winnebago chief, who stated that the animal was seen only by medicine-men. Parkman (Discov. Great West, 59, 1874) says that when he passed the place in 1867 "a part of the rock had been quarried away, and instead of Marquette's monster, it bore a huge advertisement." See also Mallery in 10th Rep. B. A. E., 77-79, 1893; Armstrong, The Piaza, or, the Devil among the Indians, 1887; Bayliss in Rec. of the Past, VII, pt. 2, 1908.   (C.T.)

Piato. Mentioned as a division of the Pima who inhabited the region of Caborca and Tubutama, in Sonora, Mexico (Orozco y Berra, Geog., 348, 1864). They were really a branch of the Papago, and probably the same as the Soba.

Piattuiabbe (Pi-at-tui´-ab-be). A tribe of the Paviotso, consisting of five bands, near Belmont, s. central Nevada; pop. 249 in 1873.-Powell in Ind. Aff. Rep. 1873, 52, 1874.

Piba. The Tobacco phratry of the Hopi, which comprises the Piba and Chongyo (Pipe) clans. According to Stephen these form part of the Rabbit (Tabo) phratry. The Piba people were strong at Awatobi before its destruction.
Piba.-Bourke, Snake Dance, 117,1884. Pi-ba nyû-mû.-Fewkes in Am. Anthrop., VII, 405, 1894.


Continue to next section of Handbook (pp. 852-855).
[return to Ohio Valley-Great Lakes Ethnohistory Archive menu]
[return to Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology List of Publications]
[return to Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology Home]


Last updated: 27 March 2001
URL: http://www.gbl.indiana.edu/home.html
Comments: webmaster@www.gbl.indiana.edu
Copyright 1996, Glenn Black Laboratory of Archaeology and The Trustees of Indiana University