To paraphrase Mark Twain, rumors of our extinction are greatly exaggerated. Tribal members are active in promoting economic development, cultural and historical preservation, education, and health care programs for tribal members and other Indian people. (Steve Kinder, Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, 1999)

Although the Illinois Indian population became dangerously small in the early 1800s, the Kaskaskia and Peoria tribes did survive and, in 1832, settled on a joint reservation in what is today eastern Kansas. They merged with the Wea and Piankashaw tribes in 1854 and became known as the Confederated Peoria Tribe. In 1867, under the leadership of Chief Baptiste Peoria, they left Kansas and moved to a new reservation in Indian Territory (presently northeast Oklahoma). Several years later they were joined on the reservation by members of the Miami Tribe. The Confederated Peorias officially merged with the Miamis in 1873, forming the United Peoria and Miami Tribe, although this union dissolved in the 1920s.

		Today, the living descendants of the Illinois Indians are represented by the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, which was incorporated as an independent tribe in 1940. The Peoria Tribe maintains its headquarters in Miami, Oklahoma, and currently has 2,639 members living throughout the United States. The tribe is governed by an elected chief and Business Committee. It hosts a Stomp Dance each Spring at the time of its Annual General Council Meeting and an intertribal Pow Wow in June.
Chief John P. Froman, Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma.

The tribe sponsors a variety of programs that support the health, welfare, and education of tribal members. It also engages in economic-development projects. One of these is the Peoria Ridge Golf Course, located three kilometers east of Miami, which opened in 1999. For more information on the Peoria Tribe, contact the tribe's web site [www.peoriatribe.com].