For historic tribes of the state other than the Illini little is known
of their archaeology. Culturally it is almost a certainty that all were,
soon after contact, largely disorganized due to partial economic
dependence, European diseases and the alcohol trade, to diminishing
game, loss of other resources, and to military pressures from white
governments and contiguous Indian groups.
Only the broad outlines of the movements of the historic tribes that
lived, hunted, or made forays in Illinois need to be noted here. The
Iroquois, Winnebago and Chickasaw made no attempts to permanently occupy
Illinois territory as a result of their raids.
The Illini came under French influence after 1673 and leaned heavily on
their military support. At times the Illini warriors fought bravely
alongside the French, but generally they had little stomach for fighting
even in their own defense. They shifted their settlements frequently
after the Iroquois attack of 1680 and later under repeated pressure by
the Sauk, Fox, Kickapoo and Potawatomi, who invaded and occupied the
northern part of Illini territory.
Due to their dwindling courage and lack of incentive, more perhaps than
to their losses in enemy raids, the Illini tribes decreased rapidly in
numbers and importance. When they were removed to the west of the
Mississippi in 1832, the population of the once great Illini Confederacy
totalled little more than one hundred persons.
Even before this, the Miami had been pushed out of Illinois due to
inroads of the Kickapoo and Potawatomi. The Shawnee, too, probably
abandoned their permanent settlements in southern Illinois early in the
contact period though these lower counties may have still been
considered their territory. Other groups did not settle or hunt there
and the Shawnee did establish some villages there (e.g. Shawneetown)
briefly in the eighteenth century. Bands of Shawnee continued to hunt in
this region until 1828 or later.
The Sauk, Fox, Kickapoo and Potawatomi did not long enjoy the territory
they had wrested from the Illini and Miami. Immediately after the Black
Hawk War in 1832, steps were taken to move all Indians from the state.
By the Treaty of Chicago, the Indians gave up all their lands in
Illinois, and in 1837 the last bands (Potawatomi) crossed to the western
bank of the Mississippi. No land is reserved today in this state for
Indians. Its former resident tribes now live in reservations in Iowa,
Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and in the state of Coahuila in Mexico.