Niben was the time of plenty. Villages converged to dance, celebrate and play games, strengthening the bonds among Potawatomi people and culture. With an abundance of natural resources, our ancestors tended to their fields, gathered fruit, nuts and wild plants, and harvested a variety of animals for food, tools and clothing. What was not used, shared or traded was stored …
The pattern of annual migration across an area’s ecological zones to secure the variety of food and household goods that fulfill social-economic and cultural needs. The Seasonal Rounds of the Potawatomi refers to the pattern of annual migration across the local landscape’s ecological zones to harvest plants and animals that feed, heal, and are useful to the Potawatomi people (Steen-Adams, …
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 …