Tecumseh was a Chief of the Shawnee tribe who formed a Native American Confederacy to resist white settlement in the early 1800’s. Tecumseh was known for his leadership, compassion, and bravery which gained the respect of Native Americans and Colonists alike. His legacy transformed into a mythological folk hero. Early Life: Tecumseh was born in South-Central Ohio, and grew up …
As Indian nations utilized the resources made available through the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) to restructure their governments, opponents to Indian self-determination pushed back in the wake of the Second World War. With the 1946 departure of John Collier and Harold Ickes from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and as Secretary of the Interior respectively, both staunch supporters of …
Traditionally we are known as the Neshnabek [Man Sent Down From Above], a confederated nation comprised of the Ojibwe, Odawa and Bodéwadmi [Potawatomi]. Our confederacy is referred to as the Three Fires Council, recognizing that each tribe functions as brethren to serve the alliance as a whole. The Ojibwe, our eldest kinsmen, were first in igniting the flames of the …
An EF-4 tornado struck the Little Axe and Shawnee Twin Lakes area on May 19, 2013, damaging hundreds of homes and leaving many families without a place to live. Pottawatomie County residents and those from surrounding areas flooded local aid relief agencies to pitch in on recovery. The F-5 tornado that wiped out parts of south Oklahoma City and Moore …
Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) describes the complex set of knowledge, practices and beliefs about the relationship that indigenous peoples have with the living and nonliving world around them (Berkes, 2003). It exists in societies that have a direct dependence on local resources. It is the intergenerational knowledge that develops from a long-term intimacy and attentiveness when people are materially and …
Games of Skill Neta Chikaswen [Games of Skill] are those in which the outcomes are determined by a player’s mental and physical abilities, rather than by chance. Traditional sports of this nature were and still are used by Potawatomi and other Native nations to build communal ties through leisure, celebrate and honor sacred and ceremonial events, cure the sick and …
In early September 1838, General John Tipton called for a council of Potawatomi leaders at Menominee’s village near Twin Lakes in Indiana to discuss the issue of removal. In reality, the General had no intention of talking about removal. He had been assigned the task of removing Indiana’s remaining Potawatomi population by Governor David Wallace who believed the Potawatomi couldn’t …
The contested treaty of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin was contracted between the United States and the United Nations of Chippewa, Ottawa and Potawatomi Indians. With the cession of two large tracts of land in northern Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin, the tribes were to receive sixteen thousand dollars and fifty barrels of salt, annually, forever as well as twelve thousand dollars …
On July 18, 1815, the Potawatomi entered into a treaty with the United States at Portage des Sioux, Missouri. The treaty was a means to affirm previous compacts and ultimately draw peace between the Potawatomi Nation and the United States, resulting from the depredations caused and faced by both sides during the War of 1812.
On Nov. 15, 1861, eight designated “chiefs” and more than seventy other members of the Potawatomi Nation met with federal agents to sign a treaty that would forever alter their community’s relationship with other Potawatomi and the U.S. government. The 1861 treaty initiated the process for acquiring fee-simple land allotments and U.S. citizenship for almost two-thirds of its members. This …