Frances Slocum was kidnapped in 1778 by Delaware Indians from her Quaker Pennsylvania parents and was welcomed into the Miami community, where her strength earned her the name Mahkoonsihkwa, or Little Bear Woman. She married a Miami chief, Šiipaakana, and lived much of her life nearby in a village along the Mississinewa River, choosing to remain there even after her brother Isaac Slocum identified her in 1837 by a childhood scar on her hand. In the Miami language, the Mississinewa River is called nimacihsinwi, meaning river on a slope.