An Algonquian family that, when discovered by the
French in 1658, were seated near
Green Bay, Wis.; and their chief, having a body-guard, was treated with more reverence than was usual among the
Northern Indians.
The
English and the Five Nations called them Twightwees.
In 1683 they and their kindred (the
Illinois) were attacked by the
Iroquois Indians (q. v.), whom they drove back, though engaged at the same time in war with the fiery
Sioux.
Acting alternately as friends and foes of the
French, they were ruthless, and were not trusted by Europeans.
Some of them were with
De Nonville in his expedition against the Five Nations in 1687; and they joined the
Iroquois against the Hurons and opened intercourse with the
English.
In their wars with the
French and the
Sioux the Miamis lost heavily; and, finally, in 1721, they were mostly seated upon the
St. Joseph and the
Maumee, near
Fort Wayne, Ind. Miami and
Maumee are the same, the latter simply showing the
French pronunciation of the word.
When the struggle for dominion began between the
French and
English the Miamis hesitated; and when the
French power fell they would not allow the
English to pass through their country for a while, and joined
Pontiac (q. v.) in his operations.
During the
Revolutionary War they were friends of the
English; and when, in 1790,
General Harmar was sent against them, they put 1,500 warriors in the field, with the famous
Little Turtle at their head.
They defeated
Harmar.
but were crushed by
Wayne, and were parties to the treaty at
Greenville in 1795.
When
Tecumseh conspired they refused to join him, but favored the
British in the
War of 1812.
Since that time they have rapidly declined.
In 1822 they numbered about 2,500; in 1899, the remnant on the Quapaw reservation, in the
Indian Territory, was only ninety-two.
