At Iliniwek Village State Historic Site in Wayland, visitors can view well-preserved remnants left behind by a dozen Native American tribes known as the Illinois Confederation and enjoy the natural beauty of Missouri’s northeastern corner.
Photo courtesy of Danita Allen Wood
High above the Des Moines River’s floodplain, on a hot, humid mid-September day, we visited the serene Iliniwek Village State Historic Site.
Nestled in the northeastern corner of our state, just north of Highway 136 and east of Kahoka, this site is the largest and best-preserved remnant of any Illinois Indian village. This quiet nature and cultural preserve honors both the history of a dozen Native American tribes collectively known as the Iliniwek or the Illinois Confederation and a rare sand prairie once common in Missouri.
The Iliniwek, likely meaning “the people,” became known by the French as the “Illinois,” which is the French transcription of “Iliniwek.” The Iliniwek occupied much of the middle Mississippi Valley, from Iowa to Arkansas, including eastern Missouri and up the Ohio River to Indiana.
Photo courtesy of Greg Wood
From 1640 to 1683, this village in Missouri thrived on a high sand terrace above the Des Moines River. It was here, in 1673, that the explorers Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette first encountered the Illinois Indians. On June 25 of that year, while traveling down the Mississippi River, they spotted a path along the riverbank obviously made by humans. Leaving their two canoes and crew of five voyageurs behind, they followed the path inland. About six miles from the Mississippi, alongside the Des Moines River channel, they spotted a village of about three hundred dwellings, home to several thousand Iliniwek. They stood watching and waiting as four elderly men walked out to greet them with a calumet, or peace pipe, in a gesture of welcome.
Photo courtesy of Danita Allen Wood
This village, noted by the explorers as “Peourea,” now known as Peoria, was one of the larger tribes in the Iliniwek Confederation. Father Marquette and Jolliet spent four days in the village and participated in numerous ceremonies. Father Marquette described these ceremonies, along with the Ilinwek’s food, social customs, clothing, and use of slaves whom they had captured in raids.
The Iliniwek were both farmers and hunters, migrating throughout the year. In spring, they planted corn, beans, and squash at their main village, leaving in summer to hunt bison, deer, and bear. They returned in August to harvest and store crops in deep pits within or near their houses. In late fall, they split into smaller groups and moved throughout the countryside to more successfully hunt small game, but they stayed near enough to retrieve their stored crops as they overwintered.
Photo courtesy of Susan Flader
The village’s 300 lodges housed about 8,000 people. Their homes varied in size. Longhouses were about sixty feet long and twenty feet wide and held several families, from 15 to 25 people. Longhouses were built of side posts bent to join overhead in the middle and covered with woven rush matting. Large roundhouses held about the same number of people, and small oval single-family houses probably held from five to eight people. These dwellings, stretching over a mile and a half along the Des Moines River, created a vibrant and expansive community.
While Father Marquette didn’t mention it, archaeologists have since found a 16-foot wide ditch and evidence of a palisade, so the village may have been at least partially fortified.
Photo courtesy of Missouri State Parks/Bruce Schuette
When Jolliet and Father Marquette left, they estimated six hundred villagers accompanied them back to the Mississippi River. They were given a peace pipe to ensure safe passage down the river. Father Marquette promised to return the following year to establish a mission, a promise he kept at another Iliniwek village on the Illinois River.
By 1677, the Iliniwek began abandoning the villages, many moving to be near Fort St. Louis near present-day Utica, Illinois.
Today, the 127-acre site is a mix of prairie and scattered trees, with a short trail leading visitors through areas of archaeological significance and natural beauty. Archaeological excavations in the 1990s revealed numerous artifacts, including glass beads, metal objects, and Jesuit trade rings, all evidence of early European contact. Posts mark the site of one longhouse and one roundhouse.
On our visit, we spotted wild turkey at the entrance. The peacefulness of the preserve allowed us to reflect on both the natural surroundings and the lives of the Illinois Indians as we hiked. We imagined they faced similar joys but experienced a much harder existence with many difficult challenges.
The trail we hiked offers views of the Des Moines River valley and a sand prairie, which is now rare in Missouri. Once more common, most sand prairies have been plowed to grow crops. Small scattered tracts remain in the state, and the Iliniwek Village State Historic Site is one of them. A number of rare sand-adapted plants and species survive here, including several species of native bees.
As we neared the end of our hike, we passed by a slough. We watched a flock of white egrets rise gracefully from the water. Iliniwek Village State Historic Site may be small, but it holds a wealth of appeal for visitors.
Featured image courtesy of Susan Flader
Article originally published in the September 2024 issue of Missouri Life.
