Chalahgawtha

Chalahgawtha (or, more commonly in English, Chillicothe /ˌtʃɪlɪˈkɒθi/ CHIL-ih-KOTH-ee) is the name of one of the five divisions (or bands) of the Shawnee, a Native American people. It is also the name of the principal village of the division. The other four divisions are the Mekoche, Kispoko, Pekowi, and Hathawekela. (All five division names have been spelled in a great variety of ways.) Together these divisions form the loose confederacy that constitutes the Shawnee tribe.

By tradition, each Shawnee division has certain roles it performs on behalf of the entire tribe. These customs were already fading by the time they were recorded in writing by European Americans in the 18th century. The Chalahgawtha division traditionally provides political leadership for the tribe. A well-known Chalahgawtha leader was Chief Blackfish.

The village where the chief of the Chalahgawtha division lived was also known as "Chillicothe". When this principal village was relocated, often as a result of war or the expansion of European-American settlement, the new village would again be known as "Chillicothe". Not all the Shawnee living in the town belonged to the Chalahgawtha division. They also tolerated residents from tribes other than the Shawnee. As a result of naming their communities in this way, there are numerous Shawnee Chillicothe villages in the historical record. This has occasionally caused some confusion to researchers.