Wanyanoshonya was an influential and powerful ogema (leader) among the Elkhart River Potawatomi. He led many great battles against warring tribes in the Great Lakes Region as well as secured peace and safety for his kinsmen through numerous treaties with France, Britain and America. As a warrior, Wanyanoshonya fought alongside famed Miami Mshikenikwe (Little Turtle) at the Battle of Fallen …
For thousands of years, Native tribes settled the region of present-day Chicago. Chegago is a Potawatomi word that described the area’s smell, commonly thought to be wild onions. The land was secured in the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, with the goal of controlling the strategic portage of Lake Michigan to the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase. Built by Captain Joh Whistler …
Wech-ksenyak [north], translated as “where the cold is”, is where Mother Earth is purified by snow and home to our winter season bbon. White is the color of this direction. With hair the color of snow, North is the place of our elders. We are reminded of the stories and teachings they gift us, as we weather the cold in …
Led by prominent warriors Mackisabe, the elder Winemac and Madouche, the Potawatomi, along with allied France and other Great Lakes nations, enlisted to quell disruptive Meskwaki [Fox] attacks on the lucrative western fur trade and neighboring tribes. Angered that their Siouan enemies acquired weapons and supplies via the trade network, the Meskwaki [Fox] raided, killed and pillaged villages, merchants, and …
As the British colonies expanded and outgrew their western borders, expeditions to secure and safeguard land and resources developed into regional battles between the colonies of New France and Great Britain. The mid-18th century was a violent period for Potawatomi and other Woodland tribes. As British colonies spilled into eastern lands, western expeditions to secure territory and resources for Great …
Potawatomi made first contact with Europeans indirectly through warfare. By the 1600s, the Anglo-Dutch allied Iroquois Confederacy had depleted all the valuable pelts east of the St. Lawrence River and began raiding Algonquin tribes in Michigan. The invaders were looking to control the untapped resources of the western Great Lakes. Outmatched by superior weaponry, the Potawatomi and other tribes of …
12in [diameter] The basket, constructed from wigwas [birch bark], wishkbemishkos [sweet grass] and gawey [porcupine quills], was originally commissioned as a gift for a spiritual leader among the Three Fires communities of Bkejwanong [Walpole Island], Ontario, Canada. It was designed to honor the leader’s clan [Bear], the Clan’s role as keepers or protectors of the medicine and the various types …
Giwani was a headman and warrior of the Wabash Potawatomi. He was one of many Potawatomi who resisted William Henry Harrison’s encroachment on Native lands at the Battle of Tippecanoe and War of 1812. Present-day Lake Bruce, Indiana was the site of his village and important removal negotiations during the 1830s. Giwani’s name can be found among the treaties drafted …
The first Tribal Seal was created in the 1970s by Secretary/Treasurer Beverly Hughes. It was a black circle with “Great Seal of the Citizen Band of Potawatomi Indians of Oklahoma” inside the edge and featured a crossed Cherokee-style pipe and tomahawk over a fire with three logs. When the Tribe changed its name in 1996 to the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, …
Played throughout the year is a popular game reserved primarily for women called gwzegé’wen [bowl and dice]. Considered a great honor, only certain women are allowed to host games and possess equipment, a right conferred through a dream. Traditionally, women were responsible for hosting annual dodem [clan] feasts in honor of their bowl and dice set. Gaming equipment includes: (1) …