Potawatomi Tribes



To get started in American Indian Research Various Spellings: Potawatomi, Potawatami, Potawatamie, Putawatimi, Pattawatima, Patawattimie, Pottwatami, Potawattimie, Pottawattimie, Pattawatima, Putawatame, Pottowotomee, Pottawatamy, Poutawatamie, Pottowautomie

Ancestral homeland: Southern Michigan and Indiana; Lower peninsula of present-day Michigan

Brief Timeline

 * 1670: Nicholas Perot- French explorer made contact with the tribe
 * 1754-63: 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 discourage non-Indian settlement
 * 1809-11: Tecumsen's Rebellion fought with other tribes to discourage non-indian settlement
 * 1832: Black Hawk War fought with other tribes to discourage non-indian settlement
 * 1833: Census (M1831)
 * after 1831: Many removed to: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Missouri, then on to Iowa, Kansas and Indian Territory (Oklahoma)
 * 1833: Treaty of Chicago begins removal process
 * 1836-37 Census - removal of Potawatomi from Chicago (M1831)
 * 1838: migration from Indiana to Oklahoma is called the "Trail of Death"
 * 1867: A group of Potawatomi move to a reservation in Oklahoma and forms the Citizen Band
 * 1953-1954: The Prairie Band wins fight against Termination

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.

E. Claspy. The Potawatomi Indians of Southwestern Michigan. Dowagiac, MI. 1966 FHL Book 970.3 P848c

Records of the Citizen Band of the Potawatomi Tribe, Shawnee, OK. FHL Film 126353

Reservations
From the mid-1800s, the official policy of the United States government toward the American Indian was to confine each tribe to a specific parcel of land called a reservation. Agencies were established on or near each reservation. A government representative, usually called an agent (or superintendent) was assigned to each agency. Their duties included maintaining the peace, making payments to the Native Americans based on the stipulations of the treaties with each tribe, and providing a means of communication between the native population and the federal government.

Sometimes, a single agency had jurisdiction over more than one reservation. And sometimes, if the tribal population and land area required it, an agency may have included sub-agencies.

The boundaries of reservations, over time, have changed. Usually, that means the reservations have been reduced in size. Sometimes, especially during the later policy of "termination," the official status of reservations was ended altogether.

The following list of reservations has been compiled from the National Atlas of the United States of America, the Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America , and other sources. There are no current federally-recognized reservations in Illinois.

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
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

Census

Lac du Flambeau 1910-1935 FHL films: 576918-576921

Laona - 1916-1927 FHL Film: 576922

Enrollment


 * 1870-1880 Potawatomie, Citizen Band in Kansas http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com
 * 1880 Potawatomie Roll - Prairie Band http://freepages.genealogy.rootsbeb.com
 * Records of the Citizen Band of Potawatomi Tribe. (arranged by identification number,includes dates of birth and death,) item 1

Military

Black Hawk War (1832):


 * Wisconsin soldiers who served in the Black Hawk War (Wisconsin Historical Society) - Transcription of Wisconsin Muster Rolls from the Black Hawk War. Lists soldiers in the 18 companies of "Iowa" militia (i.e., Iowa Co, Michigan Territory), plus the Menominee and Potawatomie warriors and one militia company raised at Green Bay.

Treaties


 * 1789January 9, at Fort Harmar
 * 1795 August 3, at Greenville
 * 1803
 * 1805 July 4, at Fort Industry
 * 1805 August 21, at Grouseland
 * 1807 November 17, at Detroit
 * 1808 November 25, at Brownstown
 * 1815 July 18, at Portage des Sioux
 * 1815 September 8, at Spring Wells
 * 1816 August 24, at St. Louis
 * 1817 September 29, at the Miami
 * 1818 October 2, at St. Mary's
 * 1818 September 17,
 * 1821 August 29, at Chicago
 * 1825 August 19, at Prairie du Chien
 * 1826 October 16, on the Wabash
 * 1828 August 25, at Green Bay
 * 1828 September 20, on the St. Joseph River
 * 1829 July 29, at Prairie du Chien
 * 1832 October 20, at Camp Tippecanoe
 * 1832 October 26, on Tippecanoe River
 * 1832 October 27, on Tippecanoe River
 * 1834 December 4,


 * 1834 December 10,
 * 1834 December 16,
 * 1834 December 17,
 * 1836 March 26,
 * 1836 March 29
 * 1836 April 11,
 * 1836 April 22,
 * 1836 August 5, on Yellow River
 * 1836 September 20, at Chippewanaung


 * 1836 September 22, at Chippewanaung
 * 1836 September 23, at Chippewanaung
 * 1837 February 11, at Washington
 * 1846 June 5 and 17, at Council Bluffs
 * 1861 November 15, at Kansas River
 * 1866 March 29,
 * 1867 February 27, at Washington

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: 58144
 * Lac du Flambeau - Potawatomi birth and death 1924-1932, FHL|Film: 576920

Important Web Sites

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