Grand Village of the Illinois
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The Grand Village of the Illinois is a historic site owned by the U.S. state of Illinois. A large agricultural village of Native Americans of the Illini confederacy was located on the north bank of the Illinois River near the present town of Utica, Illinois. A prominent local landmark, Starved Rock State Park, stands on the south bank of the river directly opposite the Grand Village site.
[edit] History
Archeological evidence indicates that the Illini Indians of the Grand Village were well adapted to their environment. They grew corn, beans, and squash in the rich alluvial soil. In 1673, Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet visited the village, which at that time contained approximately 1,000 people, while returning from their expedition to chart the Mississippi River. Although terminally ill, Marquette returned to the Grand Village in early 1675 to celebrate Mass.
The Native Americans of the Eastern Woodland culture were all severely affected by the gunpowder, trade goods, and epidemic diseases brought to North America from Europe. The Illini Confederacy appears to have responded to increasing pressures by banding together. Reports from La Salle and others in the 1680s indicate that the Grand Village of the Illini temporarily increased in size during that decade to 400 cabins housing as many as 6,000 people. This village proved to be unsustainable in size and its inhabitants soon dispersed, with their descendants moving to the regions around Peoria, Illinois, Cahokia, Illinois, and Kaskaskia, Illinois. These are three Illinois towns and cities that are to this day named after constituent tribes of the Illinois Confederacy.
[edit] Folklore
The white pioneers did not have a clear idea what had happened to the people of the Grand Village. During the period after the villagers dispersed, a tale was repeated in local folklore to the effect that the members of the Illini Confederacy had been pinned by tribal enemies to a last stand atop Starved Rock. Hopelessly surrounded, the brave villagers refused to surrender and supposedly perished of hunger and thirst. It was said that this was how "Starved Rock" got its name.
The rock has been extensively studied and there is no evidence for this story.
[edit] Today
The Grand Village of the Illinois was acquired by the state of Illinois in 1991 as a non-operating site of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. As of 2006, it is not open to the public.
