A warrior of great distinction among the Wabash Potawatomi of Indiana, Nibosh was a veteran of the Battle of Tippecanoe (1811) and the greater War of 1812. His name, translated as Humble Death or Twisted Head, indicated both his prowess in battle and physical appearance, due to the numerous injuries he sustained. After being captured and scalped during an inter-tribal …
Post revolution America was riddled with conflict as settlers began encroaching on Native lands, unlawfully ceded to the United States by Great Britain. Rejecting American control and settlement in the Northwest Territory, a confederation of Great Lakes tribes, including Detroit and St. Joseph Potawatomi, engaged in a campaign of violent raids that culminated into a series of battles, ultimately warranting …
The Northwest Territory was the first organized territory created by the Northwest Ordinance in 1787. The territory was defined as east of the Mississippi River, northwest of the Ohio River, south of the Great Lakes, and west of Pennsylvania. The Northwest Territory included what is now Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and the northeast part of Minnesota. History of the …
Intent on protecting the bustling creole commerce of the Louisiana Territory from Osage incursions, Spanish officials exploited the traditional Osage/Potawatomi blood feud and enlisted feared Muskodan warriors Main Poc, Nuscotomek and Segnak, among others, to purge all militant Osage from New Spain.
Peashwah was a warrior among the Wabash Potawatomi and husband to Mary Ann Benache, daughter of headman Benache or Segnak.
The forerunner of lacrosse, stickball is considered one the oldest American Indian sports, played in various forms by woodland tribes for centuries. The sport has three distinct regional styles [Northeast; Southeast; Great Lakes], with equipment, gameplay and fundamentals varying for each. Known to the Potawatomi as pegnegewen [stickball], games are played for recreation, communal prestige, spiritual reverence and healing. Exclusively …
Similar to pegnegewen [stick ball], péski’a or double-ball is a Potawatomi sport played traditionally by women. Played for recreation, communal prestige, spiritual reverence and healing, bagjegejek [players] are equipped with their own bagwzhanatek [ball stick] and divided amongst two even teams based on their moiety, shkesh [first-born] and kishko [second-born]. Péski’a [double-ball] is played on a large open field, with …
Pokagon was a headman among the St. Joseph Potawatomi and veteran of the Northwest Indian War. He ascended to leadership after marrying Elizabeth Topinabee, daughter of prominent tribal leader Topinabee and granddaughter of Nanaquiba. After the death of Topinabee, Pokagon took control of the St. Joseph villages. The St. Joseph Potawatomi had a long association with French Catholic missionaries. Pokagon …
Understanding that the French and Indian War was more than provincial disputes between European nations, but a cultural battle between Native people and eventual Anglo assimilation, a Great Lakes Native confederacy led by Odawa leader and warrior Pontiac assembled and continued to fight to preserve their way of life. After the Treaty of Paris, the war continued between Great Lakes …
The pattern of annual migration across an area’s ecological zones to secure the variety of food and household goods that fulfill social-economic and cultural needs. The Seasonal Rounds of the Potawatomi refers to the pattern of annual migration across the local landscape’s ecological zones to harvest plants and animals that feed, heal, and are useful to the Potawatomi people (Steen-Adams, …