Indigenous Peoples of Ohio

United States &gt; Ohio &gt; Indians of Ohio

Ohio is a Iroquoian word meaning "great river".

Tribes and Bands of Ohio
The Ohio Territory had been occupied by the Erie’s, which had become virtually extinct after battling with the Iroquois (1650). Many other Native American tribes relocated in Ohio Territory due to the large influx of European colonies that increasingly spread across their lands.

There were eight prominent tribes comprising the Ohio Territory.


 * The Chippewa and Ottawa came down from Ontario and the upper Great Lakes area.
 * The Delaware were from the New Jersey and Delaware region.
 * The Iroquois Tribe was made up of an alliance of six tribes; the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, Senecas, and the Tuscaroras. They drove off most of the other tribes to obtain more hunting and trapping territory.
 * The Miamis, migrated from Wisconsin lived in the valleys by the Miami River.
 * The Mingos name was given to a group of Mohawks, Cayugas, and Caughnawagas; they lived in the Southeast Ohio Territory.
 * The Shawnees settled in the South, had migrated from Pennsylvania
 * The Wyandots, lived in the North West and originally came from Ontario.

The Delaware, Chippewa and Ottawa tribes could be found scattered throughout the Ohio country.

Other Ohio Indian Tribes
Acolhuans, Adene, Honniasont, Huron, Illinois, Kickapoo, Mosopelea, Neutrals, Ofo, Palaeo, Potawatomi, Seneca, Tuscarora, Wea

Reservations
As identified in the National Atlas of the United States of America, there are no current federally-recognized reservations in Ohio.

Agencies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Most of the Indians who had lived in Ohio had removed to the West by 1843. One agency covered the interaction between the Indians and the federal government between the War of 1812 and the removal of the Indians. It was initially called the Piqua Agency and was later moved to Columbus and called the Ohio Agency.

Ohio Agency

Piqua Agency

Family History Library
Some helpful books regarding the Indians of Ohio are:


 * A Country Between: the Upper Ohio Valley and Its Peoples, 1724-1774 A comprehensive history of Native Americans in the states of Ohio, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.
 * The Indian Tribes of Ohio Historically Considered: a Preliminary Paper A reprint of a study done in 1899 by the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications.
 * The Delaware and Shawnee Admitted to Cherokee Citizenship and the Related Wyandotte and Moravian Delaware
 * The Native Tribes of Old Ohio
 * Senate Document No. 512, 23rd Congress Documents and correspondence concerning the removal of Native Americans to Oklahoma from various states, including Ohio.

Several more sources are listed in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

OHIO - NATIVE RACES

Web Sites

 * America Indians of Ohio 1654 to 1843
 * Native American Ancestry
 * Native American Genealogy and resource links
 * One State, Many Nations; Native Americans of Ohio

Additional Information

 * Ohio-History for a timeline of Ohio.
 * Ohio-Military Records for a list of forts.