Tacumwah

Who was Tacumwah?

Tacumwah, alternate spelling "Taucumwah", aka Marie-Louise Pacanne Richerville, was a businesswoman and prominent chieftess of the Miami tribe. She was the sister of Pacanne, a leading Miami chief, and the mother of Chief Jean Baptiste Richardville. The name Tacumwah means "Parakeet" in the Miami language.

Tacumwah married Antoine Joseph Drouet de la Richerville, the son of a French nobleman who was serving as a lieutenant in the French garrison at Fort St. Phillipe, later Fort Miamis. Richerville—who later Anglicized his name as Richardville, the form in which he passed the name to his son—later left the area and became a fur trader in Canada. Tacumwah had three other children. They were all baptised in 1773 by Father Pierre Gibault, but Tacumwah divorced Richerville a year later when he sided with Alexander and Francis Maisonville for control of the Long Portage, an 8-mile strip of land between the Maumee and Wabash Rivers that was controlled by her brother Pacanne. Richerville physically beat Tacumwah in the ensuing argument, and she took refuge with his business rival Charles Beaubien. Pacanne and Beaubien physically threatened Richerville and the Maisonville brothers, and the matter was taken to court at Fort Detroit on 18 September 1774. It was decided that Pacanne would keep control of the portage, and Tacumwah would keep all her property.