Chief Richardville and the Miami Removal
By: Jessie Johnson
Pinšiwa (Jean Baptiste de Richardville) was the last Myaamia (Miami) akima (civil chief) before half of the tribe was removed from their homelands. The Myammia traditionally reside in the western Great Lakes region and are closely related to other Algonquian speaking peoples such as the Kaksakia and Illinois nations. Pinšiwa was born in 1761 to Tacumwah, a Myammia chieftess, and Antoine-Joseph Drouet de Richerville, a French fur trader. His status as a métis, or mixed race, provided him with knowledge of both the Myaamia and European customs and made him a powerful leader in the years leading up to the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Pinšiwa’s father oversaw most of his formal education in Detroit, which was carried out by Catholic priests. As a young man, Pinšiwa worked at his mother’s portage between the Maumee and Wabash Rivers as a fur trader. This work connected Pinšiwa to other fur traders in the Great Lakes region, furthering his understanding of both Myaamia and European customs.
Myaamia power is transferred matrilineally. Pinšiwa inherited the akima title from his uncle, Pakaana, who was his mother’s brother; however, young Pinšiwa still had to prove that he was worthy of the position. In 1785, he publicly saved a Euro-American prisoner, showcasing his bravery and courage. Pinšiwa’s early years as a student in Detroit and as a fur trader at Tacumwah’s portage provided him with valuable skills to negotiate between the native tribes of the Northwest Territory and the growing European and American presence in the region.
Beginning in 1818, Pinšiwa was formally recognized by the Myammia and the United States as an akima, which he held until his death in 1841. During his tenure as akima, Pinšiwa formally negotiated five treaties with the United States for land acquisition. The 1826 treaty resulted in Pinšiwa and five other chiefs receiving $600 from the Federal Government to build log structures consisting of two rooms. Pinšiwa contributed $1,600 of his own money to have a larger building made of brick. This structure is one of the only treaty houses still standing in the Great Lakes region. Like the treaties before it, the Treaty of 1834 ceded Myaamia land in Indiana; however, it did not promise Myaamia removal and was not ratified until 1837. This delay allowed Pinšiwa to increase private landownership of the Myaamia, which would allow a portion of the tribe to stay in Indiana after removal in 1840. The Treaty of 1838 also allowed many Myaamia to reside permanently in Indiana through fee-simple title grants to Pinšiwa’s descendants. Pinšiwa’s final treaty, the Treaty of 1840, excluded nine other families from removal which resulted in about half of the Myaamia qualifying to stay in their homelands. Pinšiwa died in 1841, six years before half of the Myaamia were removed from their homelands to Kansas.
Cover Image: Grave of Pinšiwa, Courtesy of Jessie Johnson
