History of Indiana

Native Indian Tribe

Names of the Indiana State Indian Tribes
Indiana’s earliest inhabitants were groups of Native Americans known as Mound Builders.The Potawatomi were the last group of Native Americans to enter Indiana and the last to leave. Indiana is a state of the north-central United States. There are many famous Native American tribes who played a part in the history of the state and whose tribal territories and homelands are located in the present day state of Indiana.

The names of the Indiana tribes included the Illinois tribe (Illini), Chippewa, Delaware, Erie, Iroquois, Kickapoo, Potawatomi and Miami.

Fast Facts about the History of Indiana Native Indians
The climate, land, history, environment and natural resources that were available to the indigenous Indian tribes in Indiana resulted in the adoption of the Northeast Woodlands culture

  • Name of State: Indiana
  • Meaning of State name: Named after the Indian word meaning 'Land of the Indians'
  • Geography, Environment and Characteristics of the State of Indiana: Hilly south; fertile rolling plains in central area, flat, heavily glaciated north and dunes along Lake Michigan shore
  • Culture adopted by Indiana Indians: Northeast Woodlands Cultural Group
  • Languages: Iroquoian and Algonquian
  • Way of Life (Lifestyle): Hunter-gatherers, farmers, fishers, trappers
  • Types of housing, homes or shelters: Chickees, Wigwams (aka Birchbark houses) and Longhouses

History Timeline of the Indiana Indians

  • 10,000 B.C. : Paleo-Indian Era (Stone Age culture) the earliest human inhabitants of America who lived in caves and were Nomadic hunters of large game including the Great Mammoth.
  • 1700 BC: Mound Builders culture, a feature of many Woodland tribes
  • 1000 AD: Woodland period with permanent houses and farming
  • 1300: Mississippian culture period of Mound builders
  • 1500: Indiana was first explored by the French
  • 1541: Hernando de Soto (1500-1542) explores Indiana
  • 1640 : 1640 - 1701 - The Beaver Wars, also known as the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars - see Iroquois Confederacy
  • 1671: Simon Daumont de Saint-Lusson declares the region for France
  • 1679: Rene-Robert Cavelier de La Salle explores Indiana
  • 1689: 1688 - 1763 The French and Indian Wars between France and Great Britain for lands in North America. The Iroquois Indians were allied to the French and the Algoquian speaking tribes were allied to the British. The French and Indian Wars was a generic names for a series of wars, battles and conflicts involving the French colonies in Canada and Louisiana and the 13 British colonies consisting of:
    King William's War (1688-1699)
    Queen Anne's War (1702-1713)
    King George's War (1744 - 1748)
    French and Indian War aka the Seven Years War (1754-1763)
  • 1747: The Huron chief, King Nicolas, influenced by the British, attack the French Fort Miami
  • 1752: A smallpox plague strike the Indian population
  • 1754: 1754 - 1763: The French Indian War is won by Great Britain against the French so ending the series of conflicts known as the French and Indian Wars
  • 1763: Treaty of Paris
  • 1775: 1775 - 1783 - The American Revolution.
  • 1776: July 4, 1776 - United States Declaration of Independence
  • 1777: Indians encouraged by the British to attack the frontier Americans.
  • 1785: Northwest Indian War (1785–1795) in Indiana and Ohio, also known as Little Turtle's war - refer to Little Turtle. The Americans suffered 2 humiliating defeats by the American Native Indians until they won the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794.
  • 1785: Northwest Indian War (1785–1795) in Indiana and Ohio. The Americans suffered 2 humiliating defeats by the American Native Indians until they won the Battle of Fallen Timbers
  • 1803: The United States bought the Louisiana Territory from France for 15 million dollars for the land
  • 1805: Potawatomi and other chiefs signed treaties at Fort Wayne, Fort Industry (1805), and Grouseland (1805), ceding portions of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois
  • 1811: Tecumseh's War - Battle of Tippecanoe (1811–1813) Also refer to Tecumseh
  • 1812: 1812 - 1815: The War of 1812 between U.S. and Great Britain, ended in a stalemate but confirmed America's Independence
  • 1815: Treaty between the United States of America and the Wyandot, Delaware, Seneca, Shawanoe, Miami, Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi, Tribes of Indians, residing within the limits of the State of Ohio, and the Territories of Indiana and Michigan
  • 1830: Indian Removal Act
  • 1832: Department of Indian Affairs established
  • 1861: 1861 - 1865: The American Civil War.
  • 1862: U.S. Congress passes Homestead Act opening the Great Plains to settlers
  • 1865: The surrender of Robert E. Lee on April 9 1865 signalled the end of the Confederacy
  • 1887: Dawes General Allotment Act passed by Congress leads to the break up of the large Indian Reservations and the sale of Indian lands to white settlers
  • 1969: All Indians declared citizens of U.S.
  • 1979: American Indian Religious Freedom Act was passed
Iroquois Confederacy
Tecumseh
Battle of Fallen Timbers
Little Turtle

History of Indiana Indians - Destruction and Decline
The history of the European invasion brought epidemic diseases such as tuberculosis, cholera, influenza, measles and smallpox. The Native Indians of Indiana had not developed immunities against these diseases resulting in huge losses in population. Exploitation including the leverage of taxes, enforced labor and enslavement were part of their history, taking their toll on the Indiana Indians.

History of Native Americans
Native Indian Tribes Index

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Updated 2018-01-01

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