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

Mitchigamea The Michigamea were a Native American tribe in the Illinois Confederation. The Mitchigamea may have spoken an Algonquian or a Siouan language, and historical accounts describe them as not being fluent in the Illinois language. Little is known ...

. He visited Paris and participated in the

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

. '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 located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The chiefs met with

King Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), 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 maturity (then defi ...

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 Jean-Philippe Rameau (; ; – ) was a French composer and music theory, music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of ...

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 A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

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 a loosely organized group of 12 or 13 tribes who lived in the Mississippi River Valley. Eventually, member tribes occupied an area reaching from Lake Mich ...

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 a historical Indigenous people 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 ** Natchez slave market, Mississippi * ...

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 larger city of Tupelo. The population was 5,640 at the 2020 census. Pontotoc is a Chickasaw word that means, “Land of the Hanging Grapes. ...

, they were defeated and fled when the

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

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