Born June 22, 1780, Daniel II was the son of Daniel Bourassa and Marguerite Bertrand. Descending from a family of fur traders, Daniel took after his father and became an agent for John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company. On March 15, 1808, Daniel married a Nishnabe woman named Theotis Pisange. Theotis’ father was Ojibwe and her mother was Odawa, believed …
In the years after the defeat of the British and their Indian allies in the War of 1812, the nature of the U.S. government’s Indian policy and the goal of treaty-making became increasingly hostile toward Native Americans, opening the door for the removals of the 1830s. The federal government was no longer interested in negotiating treaties that just arranged for …
Culture, warfare and assimilation all play significant parts in the history of Native Americans and infectious disease, spanning from the 1600s to present day. Scarce medical records among Native Americans prior to Europeans’ arrival make it difficult to know the severity of communicable illnesses before contact. Indigenous peoples’ settlement patterns that included dispersed communities and significant travel time between locations …
Massaw was an influential and distinguished woman among the Wabash Potawatomi. Her presence and words carried weight in councils, a right customarily reserved for men. She descended from a line of leadership, as her father Wassato was also a respected ogema (leader). Massaw resided in the village of headman Giwani, her cabin reserved for the mediation of both tribal and …
Born from Irish roots Thomas Slavin was born in Ulster, Ireland, in about 1820. After his first wife died, he later married Nah-nis, or Mary. She was the daughter of Nah-nim-nuk-skuk and O-Ke-wich. She was born in Kansas in 1848. Thomas and Mary had two children: Mary in 1869 and Joseph T. on April 12, 1870. Thomas died on Dec. …
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 …
George Winter was an English-born artist known for his chronicles of 18th century American life and geography. Much like his contemporaries, Winter was driven by adventure and eager to capture the vanishing culture of the Native American. While in Ohio, he learned of the approaching Potawatomi removal from Indiana. Coincidentally, Potawatomi emigration and annuity negotiations were held in Winter’s Washington …