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

Tribal Headquarters
Citizen Potawatomi Nation

1601 S. Gordon Cooper Dr. Shawnee, OK 74801 Phone: 1-405-275-3121

Website: Citizen Potawatomi Nation

Forest County Potawatomi

5416 Everybody's Road Crandon,Wi 54520 Phone: 1-715-478-7231

Website: Forest County Potawatomi

Hannahville Indian Community

Wilson, Michigan Phone: 1-906-466-9933

Website: Hannahville Indian Community

Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Potawatomi

Website: Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band

Nottawaseppi Huron Potawatomi Inc. 

2221 1 1/2 Mile Road Fulton, MI 49052 Phone 1-269-729-5151

Website: Nottawaseppi Huron Band

Pokagon Band

58620 Sink Road P.O. Box 180 Dowagiac, Michigan 49047 Phone: 1-800-517-0777

Website: Pokagon Band

Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation

16281 Q Road Mayetta, KS 566509-8970 Phone: 1-785-966-4000

Website: Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation

Brief Timeline



 * 1670: Nicholas Perot- French explorer made contact with the tribe
 * 1754-63:The Potawatomifought with the French during the French and Indian War
 * 1775-83:The Potawatomi 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: Tecumseh'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:The Tribe migrated from Indiana to Oklahoma is called the "Trail of Death"
 * 1867: A group of Potawatomi move from Kansas 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)
 * Nottawaseppi Huron Potawatomi, Inc. -- (Michigan)
 * Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Potawatomi -- (Michigan)
 * Pokagon Band -- (Michigan and Indiana)
 * Prairie Band of Potawatomi -- (Kansas)

Superintendencies
Records for Superintendencies exist in the National Archives and copies of many of them are also available in other research facilities.

Michigan Superintendency

Northern Superintendency

St. Louis Superintendency

Central Superintendency

Records
The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters.They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:


 * Allotment records
 * Annuity rolls
 * Census records
 * Correspondence
 * Health records
 * Reports
 * School census and records
 * Vital records

Agencies with jurisdiction of the Potawatomi tribe: In the East: Fort Wayne Agency, Indiana Agency, Green Bay Agency, Chicago Agency, Mackinac Agency In Iowa: Council Bluffs Agency, In Kansas: Fort Leavenworth Agency, Potawatomi Agency, Great Nemah Agency, Kickapoo Agency,In Indian Territory: Sac and Fox Agency, Quapaw Agency

Allotment Records

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

Allotmenthttp://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com


 * 1887 Potawatomie Citizens Band Land Allotment Roll-Kansas http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com

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,)FHL|film: 1206353 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.

Removal
Potawatomi Trail of Death - 1838 Removal from Indiana to Kansas. By Shirley Willard and Susan Campbell. C. 2003 Fulton County Historical Society, Rochester, Indiana. FHL book: 970.3 P847w

This books contains:


 * Father Petit's account of the removal
 * Journal of an Emigrating Party
 * Muster Roll of Potawatomi Indians Removed from Indiana1818 transcribed by Ivan Nunemaker
 * Muster Roll of a Remnant of Pottawatomie Indians of Indian Collected by John Tipton at Twin Lakes and Placed under Wm. Polke, U.S. Agent, to be conducted to the Osage River, Western Territory
 * Biography of John Tipton
 * Tipton Letters
 * Officers / Employees Serving on Removal by Ivan Nuemaker
 * Muster Roll of Pottawatomies of Indians Fow'd by Wm. Polke 18 Dec. 1838 as del'd to A.S. Davis, Subagent
 * Biography of William Polke
 * A Survivor's Account by Chief Simon Pokagon

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