Eel River people

Not to be confused with Eel River Athapaskan peoples.

The Eel River were a historic Native American tribe from Indiana.^[1]

Eel River Indians

Total population
no longer a distinct tribe, merged into the rest of the Miami people[1]
Regions with significant populations
United States (Indiana)
Languages
Miami–Illinois language
Religion
Indigenous religion
Related ethnic groups
Wea, Piankashaw, and other Miami people[1]

Chief Cornstalk's Village Historic Marker in Parkersburg, Indiana.

At the time of European contact in the mid-18th century, the tribe lived the northern Eel River, a tributary of the Wabash River in what is now Cass County, Indiana.^[1]

They were a sub-tribe of the Miami people and spoke an Algonquian language.^[1]

History

18th century

In 1765, the Eel River tribe lived in a village north of where the Eel entered the Wabash River.^[1] The Kentucky militia attacked and destroyed their village, so survivors founded a new village near Sugar Creek in what is now Boone County, Indiana.^[1] The village was named Kawiakiungi or "Place of Thorns."^[2] A historical marker commemorates their cemetery, near Thorntown, Indiana.^[2]

After fighting the Americans in the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers, they signed the 1795 Treaty of Greenville.^[1] Through this and subsequent treaties, they ceded their land in Boone County for land in what is now Miami County, Indiana.^[1]

19th century

In the 1814 treaty, the Eel River Indians, along with the Wea, were named part of the "Miami Nation of Indians"; however, the U.S. acknowledged them as a distinct tribe in 1847 and they were allowed to remain in Indiana when the Miami were forcibly removed to Kansas and later Indian Territory.^[1]

By 1851, of the only 19 Eel River Indians, 16 stayed in Indiana, while three moved with the Miami to Kansas and later Indian Territory in 1873. In 1889, they enrolled as part of the Miami.^[1]

Descendants

Descendants of the Eel River Indians who migrated to Kansas and Indian Territory are enrolled citizens of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma today.^[1]

Cultural heritage group

Michael Glen Floyd formed the Eel River Tribe of Indiana, an unrecognized organization. The group is not federally recognized, state recognized, or a nonprofit organization.^[3] In 2006, Floyd submitted a letter of intent to petition the federal recognition for recognition but did not submit a completed petition.^[4] In 2021, Floyd filed the lawsuit Michael Glen Floyd v. State of Indiana, et al., which also listed State of New Mexico, Miami Nation of Indiana, Eiteljorg Museum, Jack Floyd Jr., and others as defendants, in the U.S. District Court, District on Columbia; however, his case was dismissed.^[5]