Potawatomi Tribes

Various Spellings: Potawatomi, Potawatami, Potawatamie, Putawatimi, Pattawatima, Patawattimie, Pottwatami, Potawattimie, Pottawattimie, Pattawatima, Putawatame, Pottowotomee, Pottawatamy, Poutawatamie, Pottowautomie

Ancestral homeland: Lower peninsula of present-day Michigan

Brief Timeline
1670: Nicholas Perot- French explorer made contact with the tribe

1689-1763: fought with the French during the French and Indian Wars

1775-83: fought with the British against the Americans

1790-94: Little Turtle's War the tribe fought with other tribes to descourage non-Indian settlement

1809-11: Tecumsen's Rebellion fought with other tribes to descourage non-indian settlement

1832: Black Hawk War fought with other tribes to descourage non-indian settlement

after 1831: Many removed to: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Missouri, then on to Iowa, Kansas and Indian Territory (Oklahoma)

1838: migration from Indiana to Oklahoma is called the "Trail of Death"

Additional References to the History of the Tribe
Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Potawatomi tribe, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods. Additional details are given in John Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America.

Bands and Groups of the Potawatomi Tribe and Their Reservations/Localities
The term or designation of Potawatomi Indians is a very broad categorization of several bands and/or federally recognized tribes within the group so named. For the most part, they have historically ranged from Canadian border on the north to Oklahoma on the south and from Ohio on the east to the Mississippi River Valley and beyond on the west. Some of the tribes, bands, or groups of Potawatomi, with their colonies or reservations, include:


 * Citizen Potawatomi Nation -- (Oklahoma)
 * Forest County Potawatomi Community -- (Wisconsin)
 * Hannahville Indian Community -- (Michigan)
 * Huron Potawatomi, Inc. -- (Michigan)
 * Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Potawatomi -- (Michigan)
 * Pokagon Band -- (Michigan and Indiana)
 * Prairie Band of Potawatomi -- (Kansas)

Records
Agency Records

Allotment Records


 * 1863 Potawatomie Land rolls http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com
 * 1887 Potawatomie-Prairie Band Land Allotment http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com
 * 1887 PotawatomieCitizens Band Land Allotment Roll-Kansas http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com

Correspondence and Census Records

Enrollment


 * 1870-1880 Potawatomie, Citizens Band in Kansas http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com
 * 1880 Potawatomie Roll - Prairie Band http://freepages.genealogy.rootsbeb.com

Vital Records


 * Potawatomi Agency, M595, births and deaths 1918-1935, FHL Film: 580774
 * Sac and Fox Agency, M595, births and deaths 1930-1939, FHL Film: 581446
 * Shawnee Agency, M595, births and deaths 1910-1934, FHL Film: 581870

Important Web Sites

 * Constitution of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation
 * Potawatomi Tribe Wikipedia