Potawatomi#American removal period (1830–1840)

{{Main|List of Potawatomi ethnonyms}}

The English "Potawatomi" is derived from the Ojibwe {{lang|oj|Boodewaadamii(g)}} (syncoped in the Ottawa as {{lang|otw|Boodewaadmii(g)}}). The Potawatomi name for themselves (autonym) is {{lang|pot|Bodéwadmi}} (without syncope: {{lang|pot|Bodéwademi}}; plural: {{lang|pot|Bodéwadmik}}), a cognate of the Ojibwe form. Their name means "those who tend the hearth-fire", which refers to the hearth of the Council of Three Fires. The word comes from "to tend the hearth-fire", which is {{lang|pot|bodewadm}} (without syncope: {{lang|pot|bodewadem}}) in the Potawatomi language; the Ojibwe and Ottawa forms are {{lang|oj|boodawaadam}} and {{lang|oj|boodwaadam}}, respectively.

Alternatively, the Potawatomi call themselves {{lang|pot|Neshnabé}} (without syncope: {{lang|pot|Eneshenabé}}; plural: {{lang|pot|Neshnabék}}), a cognate of Ojibwe {{lang|oj|Anishinaabe(g)}}, meaning "original people".

The Potawatomi teach their children about the "Seven Grandfather Teachings" of wisdom, respect, love, honesty, humility, bravery, and truth toward each other and all creation.{{Cite journal|last1=Humphries|first1=Maria|last2=Verbos|first2=Amy Klemm|date=2014-08-01|title=A Native American Relational Ethic: An Indigenous Perspective on Teaching Human Responsibility|journal=Journal of Business Ethics|volume=123|issue=1|pages=1–9|doi=10.1007/s10551-013-1790-3|s2cid=143379265}} Each principle teaches the equality and importance of their fellow tribesmen and respect for all of nature's creations.

The story that underlies these teaches the importance of patience and listening. It follows the Water Spider's journey to retrieve fire so that the other animals can survive the cold. As the other animals step forth one after another to proclaim that they shall be the ones to retrieve the fire, the Water Spider sits and waits while listening to her fellows. As they finish and wrestle with their fears, she steps forward and announces that she will be the one to bring fire back. As they laugh and doubt her, she weaves a bowl out of her web, using it to sail across the water to retrieve the fire. She brings back a hot coal out of which the animals make fire, and they celebrate her honor and bravery.

File:Pottawatomi Fashion at the Field Museum in Chicago.jpg

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 Green Bay to escape attacks by both the Iroquois and the Neutral Confederacy, who were seeking expanded hunting grounds. It is estimated that the Potawatomi numbered around 3,000 in 1658.

As an important part of Tecumseh's Confederacy, Potawatomi warriors took part in Tecumseh's War and the War of 1812. Their alliances switched repeatedly between United Kingdom and the United States as power relations shifted between the nations, and they calculated effects on their trade and land interests.

At the time of the War of 1812, a band of Potawatomi inhabited the area near Fort Dearborn, where Chicago developed. Led by the chiefs Blackbird and Nuscotomeg (Mad Sturgeon), a force of about 500 warriors attacked the United States evacuation column leaving Fort Dearborn. They killed most of the civilians and 54 of Captain Nathan Heald's force, and wounded many others. George Ronan, the first graduate of West Point to be killed in combat, died in this ambush. The incident is referred to as the Battle of Fort Dearborn. A Potawatomi chief named Mucktypoke ({{lang|pot|Makdébki}}, Black Partridge), counseled his fellow warriors against the attack. Later he saved some of the civilian captives who were being ransomed by the Potawatomi.Edmunds, R. David (1988). The Potawatomis: Keepers of the Fire. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press (Civilization of the American Indian Series); {{ISBN|0-8061-2069-X}}

The French period of contact began with early explorers who reached the Potawatomi in western Michigan. They also found the tribe located along the Door Peninsula of Wisconsin. By the end of the French period, the Potawatomi had begun a move to the Detroit area, leaving the large communities in Wisconsin.

• Madouche during the Fox Wars
• Millouisillyny
• Onanghisse (Wnaneg-gizs "Shimmering Light") at Green Bay
• Otchik at Detroit

The British period of contact began when France ceded its lands after its defeat by Britain in the French and Indian War (the North American front of the Seven Years' War). Pontiac's Rebellion was an attempt by Native Americans to push the British and other European settlers out of their territory. The Potawatomi captured every British frontier garrison but the one at Detroit.

The Potawatomi nation continued to grow and expanded westward from Detroit, most notably in the development of the St. Joseph villages adjacent to the Miami in southwestern Michigan. The Wisconsin communities continued and moved south along the Lake Michigan shoreline.

• Nanaquiba (Water Moccasin) at Detroit
• Ninivois at Detroit
• Peshibon at St. Joseph
• Washee (from {{lang|pot|Wabzi}}, "the Swan") at St. Joseph during Pontiac's Rebellion

The United States treaty period of Potawatomi history began with the Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolutionary War and established the United States' interest in the lower Great Lakes. It lasted until the treaties for Indian removal were signed. The US recognized the Potawatomi as a single tribe. They often had a few tribal leaders whom all villages accepted. The Potawatomi had a decentralized society, with several main divisions based on geographic locations: Milwaukee or Wisconsin area, Detroit or Huron River, the St. Joseph River, the Kankakee River, Tippecanoe and Wabash Rivers, the Illinois River and Lake Peoria, and the Des Plaines and Fox Rivers.

The chiefs listed below are grouped by geographic area.

{{see also|Treaty with the Potawatomi}}

• Manamol
• Siggenauk ({{lang|pot|Siginak}}: "Le Tourneau" or "Blackbird")

• Billy Caldwell, also known as Sauganash (Zhagnash: "Englishman") (1780–1841)

• Aptakisic ({{floruit|1830s}}, {{lang|pot|Abtagizheg}} "Half Day"){{cite web |url=http://lakecountyhistory.blogspot.com/2011/03/aptakisic-half-day.html |work=Lake County, Illinois History |title=Aptakisic |date=25 March 2011 }}
• Mukatapenaise, a.k.a. Black Partridge ({{lang|pot|Mkedébnés}} "Blackbird")
• Waubonsie (Wabenizhi, 'He Causes Paleness,' related to 'waben' meaning dawn.)
• Waweachsetoh along with La Gesse, Gomo or Masemo (Resting Fish)

Image:Shabbona (chief)1.jpg]]

• Mucktypoke ({{lang|pot|Makdébki}}: "Black Partridge")
• Senachewine ({{abbr|died|d.}} 1831) (Petacho or {{lang|pot|Znajjewan}} "Difficult Current") was the brother of Gomo who was chief among the Lake Peoria Potawatomi

• Main Poc, also known as Webebeset ("Crafty One")
• MicsawbeeMcPherson, Alan (1993). Indian Names in Indiana. 19th century
• Notawkah (Rattlesnake) on the Yellow River
• Nuscotomeg ({{lang|pot|Neshkademég}}, "Mad Sturgeon") on the Iroquois and Kankakee Rivers
• Mesasa ({{lang|pot|Mezsézed}}, "Turkey Foot")

• Chebass ({{lang|pot|Zhshibés}}: "Little Duck") on the St. Joseph River
• Five Medals ({{lang|pot|Wa-nyano-zhoneya}}: "Five-coin") on the Elkhart River
• Onaska on the Elkhart River
• Topinbee (He who sits Quietly) ({{abbr|died|d.}} 1826)

• Aubenaubee (1761–1837/8) on the Tippecanoe River
• Askum (More and More) on the Eel River
• George Cicott (1800?–1833)
• Keesass on the Wabash River
• Kewanna (1790?–1840s?) (Prairie Chicken) Eel River
• Kinkash (see Askum)
• Magaago
• Monoquet (1790s–1830s) on the Tippecanoe River
• Tiosa on the Tippecanoe River
• Winamac ({{lang|pot|Winmég}}, "Catfish")—allied with the British during the War of 1812
• Winamac ({{lang|pot|Winmég}}, "Catfish")—allied with the Americans during the War of 1812

File:Me-Te-A, A Pottawatomie Chief. (15247213874).jpg lithograph (1842)]]

• Metea (1760?–1827) ({{lang|pot|Mdewé}}, "Sulks")
• Wabnaneme on the Pigeon River

The removal period of Potawatomi history began with the treaties of the late 1820s, when the United States created reservations. Billy Caldwell and Alexander Robinson negotiated for the United Nations of Chippewa, Ottawa and Potowatomi in the Second Treaty of Prairie du Chien (1829), by which they ceded most of their lands in Wisconsin and Michigan. Some Potawatomi became religious followers of the "Kickapoo Prophet", Kennekuk. Over the years, the US reduced the size of the reservations under pressure for land by incoming European Americans. {{citation needed|date=September 2014}}

The final step followed the Treaty of Chicago, negotiated in 1833 for the tribes by Caldwell and Robinson. In return for land cessions, the US promised new lands, annuities and supplies to enable the peoples to develop new homes. The Illinois Potawatomi were removed to Nebraska and the Indiana Potawatomi to Kansas, both west of the Mississippi River. Often annuities and supplies were reduced, or late in arrival, and the Potawatomi suffered after their relocations. Those in Kansas were later removed to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). The removal of the Indiana Potawatomi was documented by a Catholic priest, Benjamin Petit, who accompanied the Indians on the Potawatomi Trail of Death in 1838. Petit died while returning to Indiana in 1839. His diary was published in 1941, over 100 years after his death, by the Indiana Historical Society.{{cite book |last1=Petit |first1=Benjamin |title=The trail of death; letters of Benjamin Marie Petit |date=1941 |publisher=Indiana Historical Society |location=Indianapolis, IN |url=https://archive.org/details/trailofdeathlett141peti |access-date=22 June 2018 |ref=petit |language=en, fr}}

Many Potawatomi found ways to remain, primarily those in Michigan. Others fled to their Odawa neighbors or to Canada to avoid removal to the west.

• Iowa, Wabash River
• Maumksuck ({{lang|pot|Mangzed}}, "Big Foot") at Lake Geneva
• Mecosta ({{lang|pot|Mkozdé}}, "Having a Bear's Foot")

Image:Leopold Pokagon.jpg]]

• Chief Menominee (1791?–1841) Twin Lakes of Marshall County
• Pamtipee of Nottawasippi
• Mackahtamoah ({{lang|pot|Mkedémwi}}, "Black Wolf") of Nottawasippi
• Pashpoho of Yellow River near Rochester, Indiana
• Pepinawah
• Leopold Pokagon ({{circa|1775}}–1841)
• Simon Pokagon ({{circa|1830}}–1899)
• Sauganash (Billy Caldwell) removed his band ultimately to what would become Council Bluffs, Iowa in 1838, where they lived at what was known as Caldwell's Camp. Father Pierre-Jean De Smet established a mission there that was active in 1837–1839.
• Shupshewahno (19th century – 1841) or {{lang|pot|Shipshewana}} (Vision of a Lion) at Shipshewana Lake.{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6v1OAAAAMAAJ&q=potawatomi+Vision+of+a+Lion&pg=PA100 |title=True Indian stories: with glossary of Indiana Indian names |first=Jacob Piatt |last=Dunn |date=28 March 2018 |publisher=Sentinel |via=Google Books |access-date=19 November 2020 |archive-date=23 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023223223/https://books.google.com/books?id=6v1OAAAAMAAJ&q=potawatomi+Vision+of+a+Lion&pg=PA100 |url-status=live }}
• Topinbee (The Younger) on the St. Joseph River
• Wabanim ({{lang|pot|Wabnem}}, "White Dog") on the Iroquois River
• {{lang|pot|Michicaba}} (Snapping Turtle) on the Iroquois River
• Wanatah
• Weesionas (see Ashkum)
• Wewesh

File:Ed pigeon gun lake pot.jpg

Image:Potawatomi rain dance.gif, Kansas, {{circa|1920}}]]

There are several active bands of Potawatomi.

Federally recognized Potawatomi tribes in the United States:

• Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin;
• Hannahville Indian Community, Michigan;
• Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi (also known as the Gun Lake tribe), based in Dorr in Allegan County, Michigan;
• Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, based in Calhoun County, Michigan;
• Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Michigan and Indiana; and
• Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation, Kansas (and since 2024 Illinois).
• Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma

• Caldwell First Nation, Point Pelee and Pelee Island, Ontario
• Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation, Bruce Peninsula, Ontario;
• Saugeen First Nation, Ontario (Bruce Peninsula);
• Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point, Ontario;
• Moose Deer Point First Nation, Ontario
• Walpole Island First Nation on an unceded island between the United States and Canada
• Wasauksing First Nation, Parry Island, Ontario
• Beausoleil First Nation, Christian Island, Georgian Bay, Ontario

{{Main|Anishinaabe clan system}}

La Chauvignerie (1736) and Morgan (1877) mention among the Potawatomi doodems (clans) being:

{{col-begin}}

{{col-3}}

• Bené (Turkey)
• Gagagshi (Crow)
• Gnew (Golden Eagle)
• Jejakwe' (Thunderer, i.e. Crane)
• Mag (Loon)
• Mekchi (Frog){{col-3}}
• Mek (Beaver)
• Mewi'a (Wolf)
• Mgezewa (Bald Eagle)
• Mkedésh-gékékwa (Black Hawk)
• Mko (Bear)
• Mshéwé (Elk){{col-3}}
• Mshike' (Turtle)
• Nme' (Sturgeon)
• Nmébena (Carp)
• Shage'shi (Crab)
• Wabozo (Rabbit)
• Wakeshi (Fox){{col-end}}

They regard Epigaea repens as their tribal flower and consider it to have come directly from their divinity.Smith, p. 118 Allium tricoccum is consumed in traditional Potawatomi cuisine.Smith, p. 104 They mix an infusion of the root of Uvularia grandiflora with lard and use it as salve to massage sore muscles and tendons.Smith, pp. 56, 57 64 They use Symphyotrichum novae-angliae as a fumigating reviver.Smith, p. 50. Vaccinium myrtilloides is part of their traditional cuisine, and is eaten fresh, dried, and canned.Smith, p. 99 They also use the root bark of the plant for an unspecified ailment.Smith, p. 57

Image:Trail of Death Warren County.png marker in Warren County, Indiana]]

The Potawatomi first lived in Lower Michigan, then moved to northern Wisconsin and eventually settled into northern Indiana and central Illinois. In the early 19th century, major portions of Potawatomi lands were seized by the US government. Following the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, by which the tribe ceded its lands in Illinois, most of the Potawatomi people were removed to Indian Territory, west of the Mississippi River. Many perished en route to new lands in the west on their journey through Iowa, Kansas, and Indian Territory, following what became known as the "Trail of Death".

{{Main|Potawatomi language}}

Potawatomi (also spelled Pottawatomie; in Potawatomi Bodéwadmimwen or Bodéwadmi Zheshmowen or Neshnabémwen) is a Central Algonquian language and is spoken around the Great Lakes in Michigan and Wisconsin. It is also spoken by Potawatomi in Kansas, Oklahoma, and in southern Ontario.Moseley, Christopher (2007). Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, p. 74. Routledge. {{ISBN|0-7007-1197-X}}. As of 2001, there were fewer than 1,300 people who speak Potawatomi as a first language, most of them elderly.Hinton, Leanne and Hale, Kenneth (2001). The Green Book of Language Revitalization in Practice, p. 342. Emerald Group Publishing. {{ISBN|0-12-349353-6}}. The people are working to revitalize the language, as evidenced by recent efforts such as the online Potawatomi language Dictionary created by the Citizen Potawatomi Nation{{Cite web |title=Potawatomi Language Dictionary |url=https://www.potawatomidictionary.com/ |access-date=2024-06-22 |website=www.potawatomidictionary.com}} or the various resources available through the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians.{{Cite web |title=Learning the Language – Pokagon Band of Potawatomi |url=https://www.pokagonband-nsn.gov/departments/education/higher-education/learning-the-language/ |access-date=2024-06-22 |language=en-US}}

The Potawatomi language is most similar to the Odawa language; it also has borrowed a considerable amount of vocabulary from Sauk. Like the Odawa language, or the Ottawa dialect of the Anishinaabe language, the Potawatomi language exhibits a great amount of vowel syncope.

Many places in the Midwest have names derived from the Potawatomi language, including Waukegan, Muskegon, Oconomowoc, Pottawattamie County, Kalamazoo, and Skokie.

• Ron Baker: played for the New York Knicks and the Washington Wizards.
• Tank Standing Buffalo, artist and animator
• Charles J. Chaput (born 1944 – son of a Potawatomi woman): Catholic Archbishop of Philadelphia from 2011 to 2020.
• Kelly Church (Potawatomi/Odawa/Ojibwe): basket maker, painter, and educator.
• Robin Wall Kimmerer: botanist and writer – author of Braiding Sweetgrass.
• Simon Pokagon: the "Hereditary and Last Chief" of the Pokagon Band.
• Leopold Pokagon: head of the Potawatomi in the Saint Joseph River Valley.
• Jeri Redcorn: the Oklahoman artist who revived traditional Caddo pottery.
• Angela R. Riley: chief justice of Citizen Potawatomi Nation (2010–present).
• Topinabee: head of the Potawatomi of the Saint Joseph River Valley.

{{Portal|Indigenous peoples of the Americas}}

• Cherokee Commission (allotment of Cherokee Outlet reservation)
• Potawatomi Trail of Death
• Treaty with the Potawatomi
• Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation
• Citizen Potawatomi Nation
• Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians
• Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan
• Forest County Potawatomi Community
• Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi
• Hannahville Indian Community
• Wasauksing First Nation
• Walpole Island First Nation
• Wiikwemkoong First Nation
• Theresa Marsh
• Nanabozho

{{reflist}}

• {{cite journal|ref=Smith|author=Smith, Huron H.|year= 1933|title=Ethnobotany of the Forest Potawatomi Indians|journal=Bulletin of the Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee|volume=7|pages=1–230}}

{{commons category}}

• {{CathEncy|wstitle=Potawatomi Indians}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20180202002051/http://www.hannahville.net/ Hannahville Indian Community; Wilson, MI]
• [http://www.potawatomi.org/ Citizen Potawatomi Nation], official website
• [http://www.tolatsga.org/pota.html First Nations Compact Histories: Potawatomi History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611144959/http://www.tolatsga.org/pota.html |date=2008-06-11 }}
• [https://www.fcpotawatomi.com/ Forest County Potawatomi]
• [https://kettlepoint.org/ Kettle & Stony Point First Nation]
• [https://gunlaketribe-nsn.gov/ Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi] (Gun Lake)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130624000448/http://moosedeerpoint.com/ Moose Deer Point First Nation]
• [http://www.nhbpi.com/ Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi]
• [https://www.pokagonband-nsn.gov/ Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians]
• [http://nativeblog.typepad.com/ Potawatomi Author Larry Mitchell]
• [https://www.pbpindiantribe.com/ Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation]
• [http://www.kansasheritage.org/PBP/books/treaties/title.html#toc Treaties with the Potawatomi]
• [http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2746/ Treaty Between the Ottawa, Chippewa, Wyandot, and Potawatomi Indians]
• [https://www.geni.com/projects/Potawatomi-Migration-from-Wisconsin-Michigan-to-Canada/31326 Potawatomi Migration from Wisconsin and Michigan to Canada]

{{Native American Tribes in Michigan}}

{{Native American Tribes in Oklahoma}}

{{Native American Tribes in Wisconsin}}

{{Black Hawk War (1832)}}

{{Anishinaabe}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Algonquian ethnonyms

Category:Algonquian peoples

Category:Anishinaabe groups

Category:First Nations in Ontario

Category:Great Lakes tribes

Category:Native American tribes in Illinois

Category:Native American tribes in Indiana

Category:Native American tribes in Kansas

Category:Native American tribes in Michigan

Category:Native American tribes in Nebraska

Category:Native American tribes in Oklahoma

Category:Native American tribes in Wisconsin