Games of Skill Neta Chikaswen [Games of Skill] are those in which the outcomes are determined by a player’s mental and physical abilities, rather than by chance. Traditional sports of this nature were and still are used by Potawatomi and other Native nations to build communal ties through leisure, celebrate and honor sacred and ceremonial events, cure the sick and …
In early September 1838, General John Tipton called for a council of Potawatomi leaders at Menominee’s village near Twin Lakes in Indiana to discuss the issue of removal. In reality, the General had no intention of talking about removal. He had been assigned the task of removing Indiana’s remaining Potawatomi population by Governor David Wallace who believed the Potawatomi couldn’t …
On Nov. 15, 1861, eight designated “chiefs” and more than seventy other members of the Potawatomi Nation met with federal agents to sign a treaty that would forever alter their community’s relationship with other Potawatomi and the U.S. government. The 1861 treaty initiated the process for acquiring fee-simple land allotments and U.S. citizenship for almost two-thirds of its members. This …
On February 27, 1861, the Citizen Potawatomi entered into a treaty with the United States that established a new reservation for the Tribe in Indian Territory. Drafted to alleviate pressures the Citizen Potawatomi were facing following the Treaty of 1861 and subsequent allotment of reservation lands in Kansas, the new 1867 treaty stipulated that those who would move south were …
An amendment was made in reference to the third article of the Treaty with the Potawatomi [1861]. The amendment stated that beneficial provisions of the treaty should extend to all adult persons of the tribe, without distinction of sex or status. This was a progressive step forward for the equal rights of female tribal members, as women were now considered …