Potawatomi

Potawatomi
Total population
Regions with significant populations
United States (Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana)
Languages
English, Potawatomi
Religions
Christianity, Native American Religions
Related ethnic groups
Ojibwe, Ottawa, and other Algonquian peoples

The Potawatomi (also spelled Pottawatomie or Pottawatomi) are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name which means "keepers of the fire" and which was applied to them by their Anishinaabe cousins; however, they originally called themselves Neshnabé, a cognate of the word Anishinaabe.

The Potawatomi were part of a long term alliance with the Ojibwe and Ottawa, called the Council of Three Fires. In the Council of Three Fires, Potawatomi were considered the "youngest brother".

Etymology

Potawatomi, meaning "People of the fire" or "People of the place of the fire" is believed to be an old Chippewa (or Ojibwe) term — "potawatomink" — applied to the group for their role in the tribal council. The Potawatomi and Chippewa, along with the Ottawa were an Algonquin group who once constituted a single tribe. The role the Potawatomi played was to retain the original council fire, hence the name.

Some scholars debate this origin, but it is generally accepted as fact by tribal members today.

History

Potawatomi oral history holds that the ancient Potawatomi were once part of a larger group that traveled down the Atlantic shores of North America, eventually making their way west to Georgian Bay on Lake Huron (Canada). While at Georgian Bay, the group, a single tribe, split into what became known as the individual Chippewa, Ottawa and Potawatomi tribes.

Early historic records confirm that the Potawatomi were living in present-day Michigan and had established an autonomous tribe as early as the 1500s. The first recorded contact between Europeans and the Potawatomi was in 1634 by a French trader named Jean Nicolet at what is now called Red Bank, on the Door Peninsula, along the western shore of Lake Michigan. Living primarily in the northern third of lower Michigan, they began leaving their homeland in the mid-1600s in response to the Beaver Wars and headed north to Wisconsin.

Seventeenth century

In the mid-seventeenth century the Iroquois sought to expand their territory and monopolize the fur trade and the trade between European markets and the tribes of the western Great Lakes region. A series of brutal conflicts erupted between the Iroquois Confederation, (largely Mohawk), and the largely Algonquian-speaking tribes of the Great Lakes region.

Known as the French and Iroquois Wars, or "Beaver Wars", they were of extreme brutality and are considered one of the bloodiest series of conflicts in the history of North America. The resultant enlargement of Iroquois territory realigned the tribal geography of North America, destroying several large tribal confederacies—including the Hurons, Neutrals, Eries, and Susquehannocks—and pushing other eastern tribes west of the Mississippi River.

Both Algonquian and Iroquoian societies were greatly disturbed by these wars. Attempting to avoid the battles, the Potawatomi moved northward into Wisconsin. The tribe adapted well, growing corn, gathering wild rice, and harvesting fish and waterfowl from the western waters of Lake Michigan.

Dependent upon the fur trade, the French welcomed delivery of pelts to their base in Montreal. When the Wyandot and Ottawa used Chippewa warriors to assist them in their journey, the Iroquois responded by going to the source, Wisconsin and upper Michigan, where they attacked any tribe supplying fur to the Algonquin middlemen. This forced more than 20,000 refugees into a space much too small to support them. They suffered epidemics and starvation and began fighting amongst themselves for hunting grounds.

The Potawatomi, however, were more fortunate, because their villages were located on the Door Peninsula jutting out into Lake Michigan, which had some of the best soil in the area. Protected thus from the fate befalling their neighboring tribes, they found it easier to maintain their tribal unity while larger tribes separated into mixed villages. This allowed them to become the dominant tribe in an area which also contained Wyandot, Ottawa, Illinois, Miami, Nipissing, Noquet, Menominee, Winnebago, Mascouten, Sac and Fox, Kickapoo and several bands of Ojibwe.

In 1687 the French and Algonquin began driving the Iroquois back to New York. As they retreated, the Potawatomi began moving south along Lake Michigan, reaching its southern tip by 1695. One band settled near the Jesuit mission on the St. Joseph River in southwest Michigan. Soon the French built Fort Ponchartrain at Detroit (1701) and groups of Potawatomi settled nearby. By 1716 most Potawatomi villages were scattered throughout the area from Milwaukee to Detroit. During the 1760s they expanded into northern Indiana and central Illinois.

Soon the Potawatomi controlled over 5 million acres encompassing the present-day states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and a small portion of Ohio. Not content to simply trap furs for the Europeans, they became middlemen, hiring other tribespeople to collect and trap the furs which they then sold to the French.

Eighteenth century

By the 1700’s, the Potawatomi were well known to the French on the St. Lawrence River. They had adapted well to life near the water; traveling Lake Michigan and its tributaries via canoe, rather than over land by horse or foot. They crafted canoes from birch-bark and hollowed out logs. Fish and waterfowl were plentiful. Deer, bears, buffalo, and smaller game kept hunters busy. The women cultivated such crops as beans, squash, pumpkin, onions, and tobacco. Excess corn was traded to the French and the northern tribes.

Gradually, as their interaction with the French increased, so did their clothing. Deerskin and buffalo clothing, porcupine quills and brightly colored beads were replaced with cotton shirts and leggings, bright colored dresses and shawls. Shoes replaced moccasins, while fur turbans replaced feather headdresses.

During the French and Indian War, the Potawatomi were French allies against the common English enemy. They referred to themselves then as "Onontio's faithful", citing their name for the governor of New France. They gave military support to the Siege of Fort George in New York, as well as the rout of General Edward Braddock in 1755 near modern–day Pittsburgh.

French-Potawatomi intermarriage became common during the eighteenth century, and French surnames began appearing; Eteeyan, Jessepe, LaClair, Levier, Peltier and Vieux, among others.

Nineteenth century

By 1800, tribal villages were displaced by white settlements and pushed farther and farther to the outskirts of the Potawatomi tribal estate. At the beginning of the century, Tecumseh, a Shawnee leader, and his brother — most commonly known as "The Prophet" — garnered the support of the Potawatomi, Kickapoo, Sauk, Fox, and Winnebago. Tecumseh was a brilliant chief, warrior, orator and leader not only of his own Shawnee Tribe but others who felt the need to stand up to the newly formed American nation.

By this time, the Potawatomi had joined forces with the British, their former enemy. Tecumseh and a group of warriors, including Potawatomi, played a key role in the War of 1812. Tecumseh joined British Major-General Sir Isaac Brock to force the surrender of Detroit in August 1812, a major victory for the British. Tecumseh, who directed most of the fighting at the Battle of the Thames near Chatham in October 1813, was killed in the skirmish. As in the Revolution and the Northwest Indian War, after the War of 1812 the British abandoned their Indian allies to the Americans. This proved to be a major turning point in the Indian Wars, marking the last time that Native Americans would turn to a foreign power for assistance against the United States.

Generally considered a stalemate between Great Britain and the United States, the War of 1812 was a defeat for the Great Lakes tribes. Their leader, Tecumseh, was dead, and there was no longer foreign support. They were powerless to stop the American encroachment. Agencies and forts were built and treaties drafted. The initial treaties signed by the Potawatomi following the war made peace and forgave past grievances. However, before long, the treaties' purposes were for the ceding of land and eventual removal to reservations. In all, the Potawatomi signed 44 treaties in 78 years.

EDITED TO HERE

Forced relocation, or "removal"

In 1823 the Supreme Court handed down a decision which stated that Indians could occupy lands within the United States, but could not hold title to those lands. This was because their "right of occupancy" was subordinate to the United States' "right of discovery."

Indian Removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States that sought to relocate American Indian (or "Native American") tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river. In the decades following the American Revolution, the rapidly increasing population of the United States resulted in numerous treaties in which lands were purchased from Native Americans. Eventually, the U.S. government began encouraging Indian tribes to sell their land by offering them land in the West, outside the boundaries of the then-existing U.S. states, where the tribes could resettle. This process was accelerated with the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which provided funds for President Andrew Jackson to conduct land-exchange ("removal") treaties. An estimated 100,000 American Indians eventually relocated in the West as a result of this policy, most of them emigrating during the 1830s, settling in what was known as the, "Indian territory" or the present state of Oklahoma.

Contrary to some modern misconceptions (and misrepresentations), the Removal Act did not order the forced removal of any Native Americans, nor did President Jackson ever publicly advocate forced removal of any who wished to remain. In theory, emigration was supposed to be voluntary, and many American Indians chose to remain in the East. In practice, however, the Jackson administration put great pressure on tribal leaders to sign removal treaties. This pressure created bitter divisions within American Indian nations, as different tribal leaders advocated different responses to the question of removal. Sometimes, U.S. government officials ignored tribal leaders who resisted signing removal treaties and dealt with those who favored removal. The Treaty of New Echota, for example, was signed by a faction of prominent Cherokee leaders, but not by the elected tribal leadership. The terms of the treaty were enforced by President Martin Van Buren, which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 4,000 Cherokees (mostly from disease) on the Trail of Tears. The Choctaw tribe also suffered greatly from disease during removal.

The suffering which resulted from Indian Removal was aggravated by poor administration, inadequate measures taken to provide for the emigrants (because contracts for transport and provisions were often awarded to the lowest bidder, costs and services were cut), and failure to protect Indian legal rights before and after emigration. Most American Indians reluctantly but peacefully complied with the terms of the removal treaties, often with bitter resignation. Some groups, however, went to war to resist the implementation of removal treaties. This resulted in two short wars (the Black Hawk War of 1832 and the Second Creek War of 1836), as well as the long and costly Second Seminole War (1835–1842).

Indian tribes north in the Old Northwest were far smaller and more fragmented than the Five Civilized Tribes, and so the treaty and emigration process was more piecemeal. Bands of Shawnees, Ottawas, Potawatomis, Sauks, and Foxes signed treaties and relocated to the Indian Territory. In 1832, a Sauk chief named Black Hawk led a band of Sauk and Fox back to their lands in Illinois. In the Black Hawk War, the U.S. Army and Illinois militia defeated Black Hawk and his army.

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CITIZEN NATION SITE:

It was during the Removal Period of the 1830’s that the Mission Band (today known as the Citizen Band) of Potawatomi were forced to leave their homelands in the Wabash River Valley of Indiana. From Indiana, the Mission Band was forced to march across four states (over 660 miles) to a new reserve in Kansas. Of the 850 Potawatomi people forced to move, more than 40 died along the way. The event is known in Potawatomi history as the “Potawatomi Trail of Death (September-November 1838.)”

Between 1838 and 1861, the Mission Potawatomi lived on a small reserve with the Prairie Potawatomi in Kansas. The Prairie Potawatomi had ventured west onto the Great Plains at a much earlier period than the Mission Band, interacted with the Sioux, and adapted different lifeways. Both cultural groups exhibited very different ceremonial and subsistence strategies, yet were forced to share the land. Seeking a better opportunity for its people, the Mission Potawatomi leaders chose to take small farms rather than live together with the Prairie Potawatomi. Shortly thereafter, and not fully understanding the tax system, most of the new individual allotments of land passed out of Mission Band ownership and into that of white settlers and traders. In 1867, Mission Potawatomi members signed a treaty selling their Kansas lands in order to purchase lands in Indian Territory with the proceeds. To reinforce the new land purchase and learning from their Kansas experience, tribal members took U.S. citizenship. From that time on, they became know as the “Citizen Potawatomi.”

By the early 1870’s, most of the Citizen Potawatomi had resettled in Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma, forming several communities near present-day Shawnee. In 1890, the Citizen Potawatomi participated, unwillingly, in the allotment process implemented through the Dawes Act of 1887. With this Act, the Citizen Potawatomi people were forced to accept individual allotments again. In the Land Run of 1891, the remainder of the Potawatomi reservation in Oklahoma was opened up to “white” settlement. It is estimated that 275,000 acres or half of the 900 square mile reservation was simply given away by the government to settlers.

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Trail of Death

File:Potawatomi rain dance.gif

Rain dance, Kansas, c. 1920

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Bands

There are several active bands of Potawatomi:

• Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma
• Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin
• Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi (formerly known as the Gun Lake tribe), based in Dorr, Michigan in Allegan County, Michigan
• Hannahville Indian Community, Michigan
• Moose Deer Point First Nation, Ontario, Canada
• Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, based in Calhoun County, Michigan
• Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Michigan and Indiana
• Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, Kansas
• Stoney Point and Kettle Point bands, Ontario, Canada
• Walpole Island band; an unceded island between the United States and Canada

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BELOW INFO FROM First Nations. Potawatomi History Retrieved September 18, 2007.

Sub-Nations During the 1700s there were three groups of Potawatomi based on location:

Detroit Potawatomi - southeast Michigan Prairie Potawatomi - northern Illinois St. Joseph Potawatomi - southwest Michigan By 1800 the names and locations of these three divisions had changed to:

Potawatomi of the Woods - southern Michigan and northern Indiana Forest Potawatomi - northern Wisconsin and upper Michigan Potawatomi of the Prairie - northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin

At present, there are seven separate groups of Potawatomi - six in the United States and one in Canada:

Canada - When removal to Kansas and Iowa began in the 1830s, some Potawatomi escaped by moving to Canada. Those from Indiana and lower Michigan slipped into southern Ontario, where they settled among the Ojibwe and Ottawa at Walpole Island, Stoney Point, Kettle Point, Caradoc, and Riviere aux Sables. At the same time, other groups of Potawatomi west of Lake Michigan crossed near Sault Ste. Marie to the Ojibwe and Ottawa communities on Cockburn and Manitoulin Islands. After the "heat was off," some of the northern groups returned to the United States and became the Hannaville Potawatomi. Although Canada listed 290 Potawatomi in Ontario in 1890, the Canadian Potawatomi over the years have intermarried with the Ojibwe and Ottawa blurring tribal identity. At present, more than 2,000 Native Americans in Canada can claim Potawatomi descent.

Citizen Potawatomi - Federally recognized, the Citizen Potawatomi are the largest Potawatomi group. Most are descended from the Potawatomi of the Woods (southern Michigan and northern Indiana) including the Mission Band from St. Joseph in southwest Michigan. Acculturated and mostly Christian, it was easier for them to accept allotment and citizenship in 1861 than the more traditional Prairie Potawatomi. This led to a separation (not on the best of terms) in 1870 when the Citizens moved to Oklahoma. Allotment took most of their land in 1889, and they have kept only 4,371 acres, less than two acres of which is tribally owned! Most Citizen Potawatomi have remained in Oklahoma - the Indian Bureau listing 1,768 of them in 1908 - but during the dust bowl of the 1930s, many left for California. Headquartered in Shawnee, they are organized under the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act with a current enrollment of more than 18,000.

Forest County Potawatomi - Probably the most traditional group, the Forest County Potawatomi of northern Wisconsin have retained much of their original language, religion, and culture. They are descended from three Potawatomi bands from Lake Geneva in southern Wisconsin who avoided removal by moving north to the Black River and Wisconsin Rapids. In 1867 they were joined by Potawatomi who had left Kansas. In 1913 the government accepted their residence in Wisconsin and purchased 12,000 acres for them. Since the original intention was to distribute this in individual allotments, the parcels were scattered, but resistance to individual ownership delayed this until they had re-organized under the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act. All land, except for 200 acres, is tribally owned. Federally recognized with an enrollment close to 800, they live in three separate communities with the tribal headquarters in Crandon, Wisconsin.

Hannaville Potawatomi - The Hannaville Potawatomi at Wilson in upper Michigan share a similar history with their Forest County counterparts. Originally from Illinois and Wisconsin, they refused to leave after 1834 and moved to northern Wisconsin. For a time, some lived with the Menominee while others stayed with the Ojibwe and Ottawa in Canada. Some returned to the United States in 1853 but were landless. Peter Marksnian, an Ojibwe missionary, found some land for them in 1883, and Hannaville was named after his wife. Congress in 1913 acknowledged the Hannaville Potawatomi and purchased 3,400 acres of scattered parcels - 39 acres were added in 1942. Federally recognized since 1936, membership is almost 900.

Huron Potawatomi (Nottawaseppi) - Originally a part of the Detroit Tribes in southeastern Michigan, the Huron Potawatomi did not entirely escape removal. Gathered by soldiers and sent to Kansas in 1840, the bands of Mogwago and Pamptopee escaped and returned to Michigan. The government relented in 1845 when President Polk signed a bill giving 40 acres of public lands in southeast Michigan to the Huron Potawatomi. Another 80 acres was added to this in 1848, with a Methodist mission established the following year. Most Huron Potawatomi became citizens and took their lands in severalty during 1888, and federal tribal status was officially terminated during 1902. However, the Nottawaseppi continued their tribal organization and traditions, and with an enrollment of approximately 600, they were successful in regaining their federal recognition late in 1995.

Pokagon Potawatomi - Roman Catholic and acculturated because of the St. Joseph mission, the Pokagon were protected from removal by treaty and were allowed to stay in southwest Michigan. Their name derives from Chief Simon Pokagon, a famous Native American lecturer during the 1850s. Refused tribal status under the Indian Reorganization Act (1934), their long struggle to gain federal recognition finally succeeded in 1994. With tribal offices located in Dowagiac, Michigan, the Pokagon are in the process of reacquiring a land base. Currently, most of their 2,600 members are scattered among the general populations of southern Michigan and northern Indiana.

Prairie Potawatomi - Formed from the Forest and Prairie Potawatomi bands west of Lake Michigan, they were removed to southwest Iowa in 1834. They were accompanied by Ottawa and Ojibwe from the same area who merged with them. Placed on a Kansas reservation in 1846 with the Potawatomi of the Woods and Mission Band, the Prairie Potawatomi preferred to hold their land in common and remained in Kansas when the Citizens left for Oklahoma in 1870. They were eventually forced to accept allotment which reduced their land from 77,400 acres to the current 20,325 - 560 tribally owned. Population in 1908 was only 676, but since then, it has grown to almost 4,000 with the tribal headquarters in Mayetta, Kansas. The Prairie Potawatomi are usually traditional, and many practice either the Drum Religion or belong to the Native American Church.

Language

Main article: Potawatomi language

Potawatomi is an Algonquian language spoken by fewer than 100 people in Ontario and the north-central United States. The current speakers are all older people and there is fear that the language may die out in the near future. Many places in the Midwest have names derived from the Potawatomi language, including Allegan, Waukegan, Muskegon, Skokie and, most famously, Chicago. In the language, the suffix -gan means "land", and whatever prefix is attached would be a defining characteristic. Chicago, for example, has been written down by several people outside of the Potawatomi people, and the name itself has probably been distorted over time, but the original meaning was land of smelly onions, and was prounounced She-Ka-Gan.

Sources and Further Reading

• Citizen Potawatomi Nation. History Retrieved May 19, 2007.
• First Nations. December 18, 1998. Potawatomi History. Retrieved May 19, 2007.
• Kansas Heritage. Treaties with the Potawatomi. Retrieved May 19, 2007.
• Edmunds, David. Two Case Histories; The Potawatomis. The Wilson Quarterly, New Year's 1986. pp 139-142.
• Clifton, James A., and Frank W. Porter. 1987. The Potawatomi. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. ISBN 1555467253 and ISBN 9781555467258
• Edmunds, R. David. 1978. The Potawatomis, keepers of the fire. The Civilization of the American Indian series, v. 145. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0806114789 and ISBN 9780806114781
• Landes, Ruth. 1970. The Prairie Potawatomi; tradition and ritual in the twentieth century. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0299052907 and ISBN 9780299052904
• Mayrl, Damon. 2003. The Potawatomi of Wisconsin. The library of Native Americans. New York: PowerKids Press. ISBN 0823964280 and ISBN 9780823964284
• Sanna, Ellyn. 2004. Potawatomi. North American Indians today. Philadelphia, Pa: Mason Crest Publishers. ISBN 1590846753 and ISBN 9781590846759
• Satz, Ronald N. American Indian Policy in the Jacksonian Era. Originally published Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1975. Republished Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002. ISBN 0806143321 (2002 edition).
• Thornton, Russell. 1987. American Indian Holocaust and Survival: A Population History Since 1492. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0806120746.

External links

• Baerreis, Dr. David A. The Potawatomi in Historical Perspective. Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology. Retrieved May 19, 2007.

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