Each [person] has his own god, which they call their Manitou. This is a serpent, a bird, or other similar thing, of which they have dreamed while sleeping, and in which they place all their confidence for the success of their war, their fishing, and their hunting. (Jacques Marquette, 1674)

Illinois men and women interacted with the supreme deity, Kitchesmanetoa, by way of personal spirits called manitous. Beginning at the age of adolescence, young people sought to engage manitous by going on vision quests in the wilderness. During such a quest, the person went without food and water for up to seven days as they strove to envision a manitou in a dream. A manitou could take the form of a bison, bear, wolf, mountain lion, bobcat, deer, bird, or some other animal. Warrior manitous were species of birds, including falcons, crows, ducks, swallows, and parakeets. People displayed the skin or feathers of their manitou in their lodge, and they appealed to these representations for power and guidance in hunting, fishing, and warfare.