Mamenthoüensa

Chief of the Illini Confederation

This is a captured drawing of a Kaskaskia
warrior. If anyone knows its origin, please let
me know so I can give proper credit to the artist.

Mamenthoüensa, my 9-g-grandfather, was
Chief of the Kaskaskia ("Kaskaskahamwa") Tribe
and rose to the position of
Chief of the Illini Confederation.
He contributed much to the history of
this nation and certainly deserves his
own page in our family history.

I have found the name of my 9-g-grandfather
spelled in a number of ways. Today, he is most
often referred to simply as Rouensa. However, I
have found him as Francois-Xavier Rouensa,
Mamantouensa, Mamentouensa, and Mamenthoüensa.
Since the last spelling is from a letter written
by other Illiniwek chiefs, I am going to use it,
recognizing that any of the other spellings
may be correct.

NEW NEWS: From information gathered for the
Kaskaskia Tribal Descendants page, I have discovered
that there was a Kaskaskia village called Rouinsac.
I now suspect this was probably the home of
Mamenthoüensa and explains his having been called
Rouensa. I will investigate further and post my
findings here.

My Descendency from Mamenthoüensa

Mamenthoüensa and "Unknown"

Michel Etienne dit Philippe and Marie Rouensa
His page leads to the King's Daughters
Her page to other Kaskaskia links.

Rene Roy and Agnes Ettiene dit Philippe

Joseph Enet (Hennet) dit Sanschagrin and Elizabeth Roy

Guillaume Gauthier and Elizabeth Enet (Hennet)

Claude "Belony" Chatelain and Suzanne Gauthier

Joseph Tassin and Julie Chatelain

St. James Bordelon and Celine Tassin

Marcel Laborde and Marie Lechinska Bordelon

Leandre "Leon" Laborde and Eunice Laborde
(both dec. from Pierre II)

Emeric Laborde and Ruby Inez Moore

Thomas Lee "Buddy" Dykes, Jr. and Gladys Lorette Laborde

Carol Ann Dykes Scott

Special thanks for my having found this
information at all must be given to Jim Miller
(Walkslowly), a Kaskaskia descendant, for having
led me to the wonderful Helen Cox Tregillis, a
professional genealogist who has written and
published much history of the Native Americans
in Illinois. Without Helen’s assistance, I would
never have known that our Chief Rouensa was
Mamenthoüensa, Chief of the Illini Confederation.
Helen may be reached at htrgftrn@ctnet.net

Please explore the following links to the
history of the Kaskaskia and the Illini
Confederation. The links to the Glen Black
Laboratory of Archaeology even have excerpts from
a letter Mamenthoüensa wrote to the French Court
in 1725. The most extensive general history is in
Bob Fester’s : The Illini Confederation: Lords of
the Mississippi Valley. Hopefully, it will
someday grow into a book.

The Illini Confederation: Lords of the Mississippi Valley
by Bob Fester

Illinois History
by Lee Sultzman

Speech of the Illinois Indians, [January], 1725
Collections of the State Historical Society of
Wisconsin, vol. 16 pp. 456-463. Copyright 1997,
Glen Black Laboratory of Archaeology
and The Trustees of Indiana University.

The Mission to the Ouabache (1725)
Dunn, Jacob Piatt in: Indiana Historical Society
Publications, vol. III, vol. 4, 1902, pp. 255-330.
Also from the Glen Black Laboratory of Archaeology
The letter to the French Court is in this collection.

Please visit the home page of
The Kaskaskia Tribal Descendants
for much more information on our tribe
and our history.