Description
The Mitchigamea or Michigamea or Michigamie were a tribe in the Illinois Confederation. Not much is known about them and their origin is uncertain. Originally they were said to be from Lake Michigan, perhaps the Chicago area. Mitchie Precinct, Monroe County in Southwestern Illinois takes its name from their transient presence nearby, north of the French Fort de Chartres in the American Bottom along the Mississippi. One of their villages in the American Bottom, inhabited from 1730 until 1752, is one of the region's premier archaeological sites; it is known as the "Kolmer Site". It is suggested that the people later moved to Arkansas under pressure from the Iroquois.
Language
The Michigamea were an Algonquian-speaking people
Culture
Little is known of their social organization, but it was probably similar to that of the Miami, with a civil chief elected from among a village council and a war chief chosen according to his ability to lead raids. The Michigamea once dwelled along the upper Sangamon River in Illinois, and they subsisted by farming, hunting, fishing, and gathering. Despite their proficiency in warfare, they were driven south by the Fox and other enemies. In 1673 Father Jacques Marquette visited their principal village, which was then situated along the Mississippi River in northeast Arkansas.