Historically, the Peoria people inhabited portions of what is now Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio.

Today, however, the only recognized tribe of Peoria people is the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, headquartered in Miami, Oklahoma. Descendants of the Piankashaw, Kaskaskia, and Wea, who were co-members of the Illinois Confederacy, are also enrolled in the tribe.

The name for the Peoria people is derived from their own name for themselves, in their own language: Peewaareewa. Although there are no native speakers of the Peoria language, attempts to revitalize the language are sponsored by the tribe.

The Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma issue their own tribal vehicle tags. The tribe operates its own housing authority and operates a casino and resort, a hotel, a gift shop, and a golf course.

It is believed that the Peoria people are closely related to the Cahokia people, who were also members of the Illinois Confederacy.

When the French explorers and missionaries, Father Jacques (Père) Marquette and Louis Jolliet, were in the Mississippi Valley in 1673, they encountered the Peoria and other Illinois tribes. In time, French Jesuit missionaries converted several tribal members to Catholicism.

When France ceded control over the Illinois country to the British in 1763, at the conclusion of the Seven Years War, the Peoria, along with many of the French colonists, migrated southwest into the Territory of Missouri.

In 1818, the newly formed United States government took possession of the former British territory east of the Mississippi, forcing the Peoria to cede its lands in Illinois under the terms of the Treaty of Edwardsville. The 1830s Indian Removal Acts cleared the way for the removal of American Indians from areas desired by European-American settlers, and the 1832 Treaty of Lewisville ceded the Peoria's Missouri lands in exchange for land near the Osage River in Kansas.

Increasing contacts with Europeans and European-Americans brought new infectious diseases, as well as intertribal wars as American Indians competed for resources in a shrinking environment. In response, surviving members of the Peoria, Kaskaskia, Piankashaw, and Wea formed the Confederated Peoria, which included members and descendants of the Cahokia, Moingwena, Michigamea, and Tamaroa tribes, who had been absorbed by the Peoria over the years.

Most of the Confederated Peoria tribes signed the 1867 Omnibus Treaty, which relocated member tribes to a 72,000-acre reservation in Indian Territory, part of what is now Ottawa County, Oklahoma. Later, the U.S. Congress assigned the Miami people to lands within the Confederated Peoria reservation.

Under the Dawes Act of 1893, tribal lands in Indian Territory were broken up, with allotments made to enrolled heads of households over a period of years, in order to eliminate reservation lands in the region that was to become the new state of Oklahoma. After admission to statehood, any unclaimed land, as determined by federal agents, in the former Confederated Peoria territory, was transferred to Ottawa County, which put it up for sale.

For decades, the Bureau of Indian Affairs appointed tribal chiefs, who were previously selected by hereditary roles, and the Peoria lost much of its land and identity during this period.

Under the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, this approach changed, and federally recognized tribes, largely those who had previously been on reservations, were encouraged to reorganize tribal governments, and the Confederated Peoria were reorganized in 1939.

However, the 1950s brought a new push to terminate tribal governments, and the Peoria again lost federal recognition in 1959. In the face of federal lawsuits and political maneuvering, a process for regaining federal recognition was renewed, and the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma achieved federal recognition in 1978.

This section of our web guide to the American Indians focuses on the Peoria people. Online resources representing the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma or any other tribal organization or entity are appropriate for this category, as are tribal businesses, industries, health programs and facilities, schools, events, and other entities, including businesses or organizations owned and operated by individual members of the Peoria people.

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