Description
The Cahokia occupied a territory in what is now the Midwestern United States in North America. At the time of European contact with the Illini, the peoples were located in what would later be organized as the states of Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas. In the 17th-century, the Cahokia lived near the massive precontact earthwork complex that Americans named the Cahokia Mounds. By then, Cahokia Mounds had been abandoned for centuries. The Cahokia people were not related to the residents of Cahokia Mounds, who were most likely Dhegiha Siouan-speaking peoples. The Tamaroa separated from the Cahokia in 1701. The Cahokia continued living near the mission until they relocated south in 1734. French influences, especially liquor, had negatively impacted their population. It also brought attacks by pro-British tribes, who destroyed their village in 1752.
Language
The Cahokia were an Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe and member of the Illinois Confederation; their territory was in what is now the Midwestern United States in North America.
Culture
Between 1,000 and 2,000 years ago, corn cultivation spread northward from Mexico, where the plant was domesticated. Along with corn, Cahokians cultivated goosefoot, amaranth, canary grass and other starchy seeds. Preserved seeds of these species have been found in excavations at Cahokia. Although the people farmed without the wheel or draft animals, corn production soared and surpluses may have been stored in communal granaries on the mounds. The earthen mounds were used for burials and the largest ones, such as Monks Mound, were also stages for great religious ceremonies with temples on their platforms and houses of the chiefs. One of Cahokia’s greatest influences was religious. The city’s built landscape, including major mounds, a causeway, and woodhenge, all enacted a society based on celestial alignments, sacred materials, and burial practices.