Miami Occupation of the Upper Wabash Drainage: A Preliminary Study Unit, Miami Occupation of the Upper Wabash Drainage

This report is focused on the occupation and utilization of the Upper Wabash drainage by the Miami during the period beginning with the contact of the Europeans (ca. 1650) and ending with the participation of the last tribally owned lands within the state of Indiana in 1873; the primary focus of the project is on the era between 1795 and 1881. This project is a direct outgrowth of several ethnohistorical and archaeological studies conducted within the Upper Wabash drainage in recent years. Although basic research interests as reflected in the studies revolve around varied archaeological and ethnohistorical problems, the most pressing concern to emerge is the need for identification and conservation of a resource base that is rapidly being depleted. Many ethnohistoric sites within and around the limits of the Upper Wabash drainage have been engulfed in the expansion of urban centers at Fort Wayne, Huntington, Kokomo, Muncie, Anderson, and elsewhere. Other important sites, including Osage Village, are currently under cultivation and are annually suffering further damage from agriculture and erosion. Flood control projects throughout the drainage have claimed such sites as Deaf Man’s Village, the home of Frances Slocum.