Little Turtle, or Mihšihkinaahkwa , , was a war chief of the Miami people, and one of the most famous Native American military leaders of his time. Historian Wiley Sword calls him "perhaps the most capable Indian leader then in the Old Northwest." Mihšihkinaahkwa led a confederation of native warriors in several major victories against U.S. forces in the 1790s during the Northwest Indian Wars, also called Little Turtle's War. In 1791 the confederation defeated General Arthur St. Clair, who lost 900 men in the most decisive loss by the U.S. Army against Native American forces .
Little Turtle's native name in historic records was spelled in a variety of ways, including Michikinikwa, Meshekunnoghquoh, Michikinakoua, Michikiniqua, Me-She-Kin-No-Quah, Meshecunnaquan, and Mischecanocquah. Mihšihkinaahkwa is the correct phonemic spelling of the name in the Miami-Illinois language.
“I have been the last to sign this treaty; I will be the last to break it.”
upon signing the Treaty of Greenville http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/little-turtle-at-the-treaty-of-greenville.htm, August 3, 1795
Quotes from Michikinikwa
Claiming tribal lands at the Treaty of Greenville (American State Papers, Indian Affairs, vol. 1, pp. 570-571; Dft. Ex. 96).
Quotes from Michikinikwa
