Chief Chicagou, also known as Agapit Chicagou, was an 18th-century Native American leader of the

Mitchigamea Mitchigamea or Michigamea or Michigamie were a tribe in the Illinois Confederation. Not much is known about them and their origin is uncertain. Originally they were said to be from Lake Michigan, perhaps the Chicago area. Mitchie Precinct, Monroe C ...

. He visited Paris and participated in the

Chickasaw Wars The Chickasaw Wars were fought in the 18th century between the Chickasaw allied with the British against the French and their allies the Choctaws and Illinois Confederation. The Province of Louisiana extended from Illinois to New Orleans, and the ...

. 'Agapit' may be a corruption of "Akapia," a Miami-Illinois term for the chief's ceremonial assistant.

Paris

Mention was first made of Chief Chicagou in 1725, when his visit to Paris was discussed in the December 1725 issue of the ''Mercure de France''. The Company of the Indies was responsible for bringing him and five other chiefs to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. The chiefs met with

King Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

on November 22. The ''Mercure de France'' reported that Chicagou made a speech to the young French king pledging allegiance to the crown. On the next day, the king took the chiefs on a rabbit hunt. It was while the chiefs were in Paris that Jean-Philippe Rameau attended a performance given by them at the ''Theatre Italien''. At this performance they danced three kinds of dance: the Peace, War and Victory dances. Rameau was inspired by this to write a piece for harpsichord entitled ''Les Sauvages''. This was later published in ''Nouvelles Suites de Pieces de Clavecin''.

After Paris

In 1730, a letter by Father Mathurin le Petit describes the Natchez and Yazoo War of 1729-1731. In it, Father mentions that representatives of the

Illiniwek The Illinois Confederation, also referred to as the Illiniwek or Illini, were made up of 12 to 13 tribes who lived in the Mississippi River Valley. Eventually member tribes occupied an area reaching from Lake Michicigao (Michigan) to Iowa, Ill ...

nation gave their allegiance to the French. He further mentions that Chicagou was at the head of the

and that Mamantouensa was at the head of the

Kaskaskia The Kaskaskia were one of the indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands. They were one of about a dozen cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation, also called the Illinois Confederation. Their longstanding homeland was in ...

. Next it is reported that the Illiniwek warriors participated in the Battle of Ogoula Tchetoka during the

in 1736. While attacking a village of

Natchez Natchez may refer to: Places * Natchez, Alabama, United States * Natchez, Indiana, United States * Natchez, Louisiana, United States * Natchez, Mississippi, a city in southwestern Mississippi, United States * Grand Village of the Natchez, a site o ...

refugees near present day

Pontotoc, Mississippi Pontotoc is a city in, and the county seat of, Pontotoc County, Mississippi, located to the west of the much larger city of Tupelo. The population was 5,625 at the 2010 census. Pontotoc is a Chickasaw word that means, “Land of the Hanging Gr ...

, they were defeated and fled when the

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands. Their traditional territory was in the Southeastern United States of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee as well in southwestern Kentucky. Their language is classif ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

surprised them from behind a hill. The last mention is by Jean Bernard Bossu in his journal; here he describes meeting with an Indian prince ''Chicique'' (probably not pronounced "Chi-ki-kwe" as the ending "kwe" would denote a woman's name) who was the son of the since deceased Chief Chicagou who visited Paris.

Paris

After Paris

Further reading