Editing Wea

{{Short description|Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana}}
{{Other uses|WEA (disambiguation)}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2009}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
|image=File:George Catlin - Go-to-ków-páh-ah, Stands by Himself, a Distinguished Brave - 1985.66.248 - Smithsonian American Art Museum.jpg
|caption=Go-to-ków-páh-ah, He who Stands by Himself, a Wea warrior, oil portrait by [[George Catlin]], 1830, collection of the [[Smithsonian American Art Museum]].
|group=Wea
|population=extinct as a tribe
|popplace=[[United States]] ([[Indiana]], [[Illinois]], [[Ohio]], descendants in [[Oklahoma]])
|rels=Traditional tribal religion
|langs= [[Miami–Illinois language|Miami–Illinois]]
|related= [[Miami people|Miami]], [[Peoria people|Peoria]], [[Kaskaskia]]
}}

The '''Wea''' were a [[Miami–Illinois language|Miami–Illinois]]-speaking [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribe originally located in western [[Indiana]]. Historically, they were described as being either closely related to the [[Miami people|Miami tribe]] or a sub-tribe of Miami.<ref>Callendar, "Miami," 681</ref> 

Today, the descendants of the Wea, along with the [[Kaskaskia]], [[Piankeshaw]], and [[Peoria people|Peoria]], are enrolled in the [[Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma]], a [[federally recognized tribe]] in [[Oklahoma]].<ref>House, Office of the Law Revision Counsel. [https://books.google.com/books?id=T57ZGCu24t4C&dq=Kaskaskia%20enrolled%20tribe%20-college&pg=PA986 ''United States Code 2006, Volume 15''.] §1224, page 986</ref><ref name="peoria">{{cite web |title=Peoria Tribe |url=https://www.peoriatribe.com/about/ |website=Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma |access-date=25 January 2020}}</ref>

== Name ==
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.<ref>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.</ref>

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.<ref name=c689/>

== Language == 
The Wea spoke a dialect of [[Miami–Illinois language]], part of the [[Algonquian language family]].

== History ==
[[File:Granville, Indiana Cemetery Marker.png|thumb|300px|"The Wea Plains," a historical marker near the [[ghost town]] of [[Granville, Indiana|Granville]] in [[Tippecanoe County, Indiana]]]]
The Wea lived north of the [[Ohio River]] in parts of western Indiana and southeastern Illinois.<ref name=c681/> The first written mention of the tribe is from 1673.<ref name=c689>Callendar, "Miami," 689</ref> 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.<ref name=c681>Callender, "Miami," 681</ref> In the 18th century, the Wea, Miami, and Piankashaw remained distinct tribes.<ref>Callendar, "Miami," 682</ref> The Wea population of 1765 is estimated to have been around 1,200.<ref>Callendar, "Miami," 688</ref>

In the early 18th century, Wea people settled in villages along the [[Wabash River]] between what would become [[Terre Haute, Indiana|Terre Haute]] and [[Logansport, Indiana]].<ref name=c686>Callendar, "Miami," 686</ref> They established a large settlement called [[Ouiatenon]], near what is now [[Lafayette, Indiana|Lafayette]], and the French colonists established [[Fort Ouiatenon]], which facilitated trade with the Wea and [[Kickapoo people|Kickapoo]].<ref name=c686/>

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 (Ottawa leader)|Pontiac]] in [[Pontiac's War]] against the British.<ref>Callendar, "Miami," 686–87.</ref> 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.<ref name=peoria/> They were later forced into Kansas and finally [[Indian Territory]],<ref name=c687>Callendar, "Miami," 687</ref> 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.<ref name=c681/>

==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)
* Wea Village    Danville, Illinois
* Paola, Miami County, Kansas{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

In 2004, the Indiana Historical Bureau installed a marker in Terre Haute that commemorates the Wea Village and Chief [[Jacco Godfroy]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Wea Tribe at Terre Haute |url=https://www.in.gov/history/markers/462.htm |website=Indiana Historical Bureau |access-date=25 January 2020}}</ref>

==Signed treaties==
Below are some of the many Treaties were made between the US and the Wea.  
* [[Treaty of Greenville]], Aug 3, 1795<ref name=peoria/>
* [[Treaty of Fort Wayne (1803)|Fort Wayne Indiana Territory]], June 7, 1803, was not at the original treaty but signed later{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}
* Vincennes, Indiana Territory, Aug 13, 1803{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}
* [[Treaty of Grouseland|Grouseland Indiana Territory]], Aug 21, 1805{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}
* Vincennes Indiana Territory, Dec 30, 1805{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}
* [[Treaty of Fort Wayne (1809)|Fort Wayne Indiana Territory]], Sept 30, 1809{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}
* Vincennes Indiana Territory, Oct 26, 1809{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}
* Fort Harrison, Indiana Territory, June 4, 1816{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}
* Vincennes Indiana Territory, Jan 3, 1818{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}
* [[Treaty of St. Mary's|St Mary's Ohio]] Oct 2, 1818, ceded most lands in Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio, and established small [[Indian reservation|reservation]] in Indiana on the Wabash River<ref name=peoria/>
* Vincennes, Indiana, Aug 11, 1820, ceded last land in Indiana, removed to Missouri and Arkansas<ref name=peoria/>
* St Joseph, Michigan, Sept 21,1826{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}
* St Joseph, Michigan, Sept 24, 1828{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}
* Treaty of Oct 29, 1832, acquired 250 sections of land in [[Miami County, Kansas]]<ref name=peoria/>
* Treaty of May 30, 1854<ref name=peoria/>
* Omnibus Treaty of February 23, 1867<ref name=peoria/>

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, Illinois|Kaskaskia]] in the state of Illinois."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Commissions of Indian Affairs |title=Treaties Between the United States of America and the Several Indian Tribes from 1778 to 1837 |date=1837 |publisher=Langtree and O'Sullivan |location=Washington, DC |page=285 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1UyBgKlwM-MC&q=%22As+it+is+contemplated+by+the+said+tribe%22&pg=PA557}}</ref>

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,...."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Commissions of Indian Affairs |title=Treaties Between the United States of America and the Several Indian Tribes from 1778 to 1837 |date=1837 |publisher=Langtree and O'Sullivan |location=Washington, DC |page=557 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1UyBgKlwM-MC&q=%22The+United+States+will+also+afford+some+assistance+to+that+part+of+the+Wea+tribe+now+residing+in+the+State+of+Indiana%22%2C&pg=PA557 |chapter=Piankeshaws and Weas}}</ref>

== Notable Wea people ==
* [[Stone Eater]], 18th-century Wea war chief

== Notes ==
{{reflist|2}}

== References ==
* Callender, Charles, "Miami," in ''Handbook of North American Indians,'' Raymond D. Fogelson, ed. (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2004), 681–89.

== External links ==
* [https://www.peoriatribe.com/ Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma], official website

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[[Category:Wea| ]]
[[Category:Native American tribes in Indiana]]
[[Category:Native American tribes in Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Native American history of Indiana]]
[[Category:Algonquian ethnonyms]]
[[Category:Algonquian peoples]]
[[Category:Illinois Confederation]]