The Wea are a relatively unknown tribe who were living in the Ohio Valley with the Miami and the Piankashaw when first encountered by the Europeans. Their tribal name has been recorded a number of ways including Ouaouiatanoukak, Aoiatenon, Wah-we-ah-tung-ong, Warraghtinooks, and Wyantanons. While the Wea are often grouped as a part of the Miami and merged into this tribe during the 19th century, they were a distinct and independent tribe prior to this time.
The Wea language belongs to the Algonquian language family and is closely related to Miami, Piankashaw, Atchatchakangouen, Kilatika, Mengakonkia, and Pepikokia.
The Wea were loosely affiliated with the Illinois Confederacy. The Illinois (or Illini) were a confederacy of Algonquian-speaking groups which included the Kaskaskia, Tamaroa, Tapouaro, Coiracoentanon, Moingwena, Espeminkia, Chinkoa, Chepoussa, Kahoki, Michigami, Wea, Piankeshaw, Peoria, Mascouten, and Miami. This confederacy was one of the largest American Indian groups in the Central United States area at the time of the first European contacts. The confederacy in 1670 had a population of about 10,500.
Like other Indian nations in the Ohio Valley, the Wea raised corn, beans, tobacco, and squash. However, farming was of secondary economic importance (hunting and gathering were of greater importance) and contributed less than half of their food. The early European explorers remarked on their extensive corn fields.
Prior to European contact, the Wea were a hunting, fishing, and gathering people. Plants were used for food and beverages, for medicine, for spiritual and religious purposes, for making tools, for constructing shelter, for making dyes, and other uses.
Hunting was an important economic activity and hunting territories were allocated to specific families. While these families did not own the land in the European sense of land ownership, they did have the exclusive hunting rights for a specific area. Game taken by a hunter was generally shared freely among all in the camp or village, including strangers. The purpose of hunting was to feed the people, not just the hunter and the hunter’s immediate family.
Deer and moose were important food sources. Deer was sometimes hunted by a group of hunters using dogs to drive the deer into a V formed by chopped down trees.
Following European contact, they became so involved with the fur trade that they replaced their summer hunt with summer fishing so that they would take animals only at a time when their hides would be good for trading.
Traditionally, the Wea occupied both a summer village and a winter hunting camp. The summer village would usually be located along a stream or river. A large council house would be used for public meetings.
Children were often named by an elderly woman selected by the mother. This name would often be associated with the child’s clan. As an adult, people could change their names in order to avoid illness or misfortune.
Physical punishment of children was extremely rare. However, it was common for the children to be lectured daily on proper behavior. At puberty, both the boys and the girls would undergo a vision-quest. Children would begin preparing for the vision quest while quite young by fasting for periods of increasing lengths.
With regard to families, the Wea, like many other Algonquian-speaking tribes, had patrilineal clans. Thus, each person belonged to the clan or extended family of the father. The number of Wea clans and their names is no longer remembered.
As with many other tribes in the area, each Wea band or village had more than one chief. Peace chiefs were concerned with the administration of daily life and were not allowed to participate in war parties. Peace chiefs were expected to provide for those in need and therefore their property was available to anyone who needed it.
War chiefs were primarily concerned with the ritual aspects of war. The decision to go to war would have been traditionally made by a council of war chiefs. There is some evidence that each clan may have had a war chief.
While the peace chiefs and war chiefs were usually men, the Wea also had female chiefs who supervised major feasts and prepared the supplies for war parties. As with other tribes in the area, women could also participate in war parties.
With regard to religion, the Wea, like other Algonquian-speaking people, were animistic, seeing the world around them as spiritually alive. Visions were of great importance as visions provide individuals with the guardian spirit or tutelary spirit who will guide them for the rest of their lives.
One of the important roles of the guardian or tutelary spirit was to provide cooperation in hunting. Hunting dreams came to both men and women. This spirit can also provide the individual with the ability to make prophesies and/or the power to cure.
At the time of puberty, both boys and girls would participate in a vision quest seeking a guardian spirit. Children would begin training for the vision quest while quite young and would fast for periods of increasing length. Boys would blacken their faces with charcoal while the girls would put earth on their faces. A successful vision quest would attract the pity of a spiritual being, usually in the form of an animal.
More tribal profiles
Indians 101: A very short overview of the Miami Indians
Indians 101: A Short Overview of the Ute Indians
Indians 201: A very short overview of the Tututni Indians
Indians 101: A very short overview of the Timucua Indians
Indians 101: A Very Short Overview of the Ottawa Indians
Indians 101: A Very Short Overview of the O'odham Indians
Indians 101: A very brief overview of the Osage Indians
Indians 101: A Brief Overview of the Kansa or Kaw Indians
Note: this series has profile 35 tribes. Indians 201 is an expansion and revision of an earlier essay.