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 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. Living in the northern third of lower Michigan, they began leaving their homeland in 1641 for northern Wisconsin, on the western shores of Lake Michigan.
The Beaver Wars
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. Though the Potawatomis did not participate in the battles, they were forced northward into Wisconsin (near the present-day city of Green Bay) in order to avoid the conflict.
In 1600 the Potawatomi lived in the northern third of lower Michigan. Threatened by the Ontario tribes trading with the French (Neutrals, Tionontati, Ottawa, and Huron) during the late 1630s, the Potawatomi began leaving their homeland in 1641 and moved to the west side of Lake Michigan in northern Wisconsin. This was completed during the 1650s after the Iroquois defeated the French allies and swept into lower Michigan. By 1665 all of the Potawatomi were living on Wisconsin's Door Peninsula just east of Green Bay. They remained there until 1687 when the French and Great Lakes Algonquin began driving the Iroquois back to New York. As the Iroquois retreated, the Potawatomi moved south along the west shore of Lake Michigan reaching the south end by 1695. At about the same time, one band settled near Jesuit mission on the St. Joseph River in southwest Michigan. Shortly after the French built Fort Ponchartrain at Detroit in 1701, groups of Potawatomi settled nearby. By 1716 most Potawatomi villages were located in a area between Milwaukee to Detroit. During the 1760s they expanded into northern Indiana and central Illinois. [1]
During the mid 1650’s, French traders visited the tribe and found them growing corn, gathering wild rice, and harvesting an abundant supply of fish and waterfowl from the western waters of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin. The Potawatomi had recently relocated from southern Michigan just after the eruption of the Beaver Wars in the 1640’s. Actual first contact between Europeans and the Potawatomi was established in 1634 by a French trader named Jean Nicolet at a place that is now called Red Bank, on the Door Peninsula, along the western shore of Lake Michigan.
At the height of the Fur Trading Era that spanned an entire century, the Potawatomi controlled a tribal estate that encompassed Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and a small portion of Ohio or over 5 million acres. This was accomplished through long standing leadership and savvy business skills. The Potawatomi were simply not satisfied with trapping furs. Instead, they entered into a rivalry with the Ottawa for a share in the role as middleman for trade into the Green Bay area. Using their entrepreneurial skills, they began to hire other local tribesman to collect and trap the furs that they once procured. In turn, they would sell or trade the furs to the French, thus expanding their tribal control and estate over a vast area.
Original wikipedia import:
The Potawatomi are first mentioned in French records which suggest that, in the early 17th century, they lived in what is now southwestern Michigan. During the Beaver Wars, they fled to the area around the Bay of Green Bay to escape attacks by the Iroquois and Neutral Nation.
Potawatomi warriors were an important part of Tecumseh's Confederacy and took part in Tecumseh's War, the War of 1812 and the Peoria War, although their allegiance switched repeatedly between the English and the Americans.
A band of Potawatomies were found near Fort Dearborn, in the current location of Chicago. In the war of 1812 a band of this tribe massacred the settlers here. A Potawatomi chief named Sauganash, or Billy Caldwell as the settlers called him, tried to prevent the massacre. For his aid to the settlers, he was allowed to remain in the Chicago area. There was also Potawatomi land in Crown Point, Indiana.
Removal
Trail of Death
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
Location
The Potawatomi first lived in lower Michigan, then moved to northern Wisconsin and eventually settled into northern Indiana and central Illinois. In the early 1800s, major portions of Potawatomi lands were annexed by the U.S. government. Following the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, most of the Potawatomi people were forcibly removed from the tribe's lands. Many perished en route to new lands in the west, following what became known as "The Trail of Death".
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.
Culture
Notes
- ↑ First Nations. Potawatomi History Retrieved September 18, 2007.
Sources and Further Reading
- 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
External links
- History. Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Retrieved May 19, 2007.
- December 18, 1998. Potawatomi History. First Nations. Retrieved May 19, 2007.
- Baerreis, Dr. David A. The Potawatomi in Historical Perspective. Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology. Retrieved May 19, 2007.
- Treaties with the Potawatomi. Kansas Heritage. Retrieved May 19, 2007.
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