Potawatomi

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Image:Potawatomi rain dance.gif The Potawatomi (also spelled Pottawatomie or Pottawatomi) are an American Indian people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language a member of the Algonquian family.

The Potawatomi were part of a long term alliance with the Ojibwe and Ottawa, called the Council of Three Fires and which fought the Iroquois Confederacy and the Sioux. In the Council of Three Fires, Potawatomi were considered the "youngest Brother" and the "Keeper of the Fire".

Potawatomi warriors were an important part of Tecumseh's Confederacy and took part in Tecumseh's War, the War of 1812 and the Peoria War, albeit their allegiance switched repeatedly between the English and the Americans.

1 Bands
2 Location
3 Language
4 External links

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Bands

There are several active bands of Potawatomi:

Citizen Potawatomi nation, Oklahoma
Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin
Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi (formerly known as the Gun Lake tribe), based in Dorr, Michigan in Allegan County, Michigan
Hannahville Indian Community, Michigan
Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, based in Calhoun County, Michigan
Pokagon Band, Michigan and Indiana
Prairie Band Potawatomi, Kansas
Stoney Point and Kettle Point bands, Ontario, Canada
Walpole Island band; an unceded island between the United States and Canada

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Location

The Potawatomi first lived in lower Michigan, then moved to northern Wisconsin and eventually settled into northern Indiana and central Illinois. In the early 1800s, major portions of Potawatomi lands were annexed by the U.S. government. Following the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, most of the Potawatomi people were forcibly removed from the tribe's lands. Many perished en route to new lands in the west, following what became known as "The Trail of Death."

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Language

Main article: Potawatomi language

Potawatomi is an Algonquian language spoken by fewer than 100 people in Ontario and the north-central United States. The current speakers are all older people and there is fear that the language may die out in the near future. Many places in the midwest have names derived from the Potawatomi language, including Allegan, Waukegan, Muskegon, Skokie and, most famously, Chicago. In the language, the suffix -gan means "land," and whatever prefix is attached would be a defining characteristic. Chicago, for example, has been written down by several people outside of the Potawatomi people, and the name itself has probably been distorted over time, but the original meaning was land of smelly onions, and was prounounced She-Ka-Gan.

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