Native American

The end of Eden by Screenwriter, Scott Hite. 
 
Link to story

Unusual News

A new web site being developed by someone, still under construction called, "Potawatomi.net"  

Potawatomi.net link

Potawatomi Leader Takes On Mascot's

Potawatomi Chairman Keith, Meshigaud and great grandson of Chief Abraham Mishicott is addressing the issues of the Mishcot Indian mascot to ensure cultural respect.



IndianZ Link

News Link

New Laws Coming Link

New Logo's Link

Emerald Ash Borer

This terrible little insect made it's home in North America in around in 2002 in Canton, Michigan..  It is killing all the Ash trees in the forests that the Potawatomi use for making the traditional black ash basket that is such a part of the Potawatomi culture, when ever i hear of the Emerald Ash Borer the first thing that pops in my mind is Pigeon movie on the black ash basket.

Due to a lack of funding the Emerald Ash Borer can only be quarantined instead of eradicated.  So the next time you see a forest full of dead trees, more than likely it is from this littler bug, i recently was walking in the woods and was in shock at all the dead Ash trees, i cursed the bug in my own language, bad behavior (Ke'batse')

On The Potawatomi's Most Wanted List Link
Terrible In The Great Lakes Region
The bad "Most Wanted" list.

Indian Boarding School

I recently came across a site that tells the story of Indian Boarding School,  it only has 514 members, and one day will become a really good book, for something that happened and brought such pain and sorrows to the Native American community, something that the wounds still have not healed.

I remember sitting on my grandmas lap, Lydia Quigno and hearing the story of Indian Boarding School. i was very little at the time and could not comprehend the significance of such a story but i believe her story should be told.  she has since passed, taking with her the gifts of a nearly lost culture,  she came from a time when all Potawatomi spoke and wrote Potawatomi.  We Potawatomi understand this story all to well, it still surprises me as to how many others have never even heard of Indian Boarding School.

On January 3, 1893, the United States opened the Mt. Pleasant Indian Boarding School,  and closed it's doors in 1933 in an agreement that the government would allow Native American children to attend public schools,

My family was much like yours, broken and separated, family members were adopted out, relationships lost, i still have never met my mothers living sister, can you imagine?  I have always accounted this to Indian Boarding School.  You probably can relate if you are Native American.  I am drawn to my culture like a bee to honey, my thirst for knowledge always drives me to search for more information, i see so many Potawatomi from Indian country on this site and realize that they have this same thirst.

My grandma told me that she was lucky to have been at a good Indian Boarding School in Mount Pleasant, but then proceeded to tell me how she was taken and disciplined, how her family was separated, how she was raised in foster care.  She would eventually stop speaking and writing Potawatomi.  She told me along with my living elderly mother, about growing up in a time when Native American's would be treated in such harsh ways.  Not getting waited on in restaurants or being called ugly names.

Justin Neely, the Potawatomi language instructor at the Citizen Band of Potawatomi believes only 10 Potawatomi can speak and write the potawatomi language, a language i have promised myself to learn in honor of my grandma. 

We are drawn together and have a sense of kinship because of our past, we pass this on to our children.

Indian boarding School haunts those who have passed and still live, as i cover the news i am so saddened by reading how about half of the Potawatomi come from families that have been separated and adopted out.  It is so common that i do not mention it.

My cousin Levi Rickert recently marched in Mount Pleasant and wanted an apology for Indian Boarding School, i get 3 emails a day from people who say, stop talking about something that happened 200 years ago and get over it.   I always respond, "I am sorry if i offended you in any way and apologize."  I guess i find it more rewarding to apologize to them for offending them, than to ask for an apology from them.

I am so glad that we now live in a time that the common man feels different now towards us Native Americans, most of the enormous following that has taken place with this site happens out of a sign of respect for a culture, and what it has gone through.  I have been on this site for only two months and have 500 followers from five different blog sites, most not Native Americans and i really believe when they follow, that it is not me they are following, it is you, the common regular Native American.

Indian Boarding School Facebook Link
Student Roster For Mount Pleasant Indian Boarding School Link
The Story of Indian Boarding School Link 

 

 

 

Native American Veterans

by

Prairie Band of Potawatomi Veteran
Aberartracks

Native American veteran's have a strong feeling of being represented as Native American's, it shows how a Native American with strong traditional beliefs can seek not just the recognition of duty and service to his or her country, but his or her service to the Native American community.

American Indians have participated willingly with great distinction in the United States military for more than 200 years.

It is estimated that more than 19,000 American Indians have served in the United States military since World war I, coming from many different tribes Code Talkers Link

A old Native American tradition, especially in the Plains Tribes, was that any time a that a warrior went to war, he would only wear new handmade moccasins.  This happened because the thought was that the new moccasins would help him return home safely.  If he was killed in battle, the new moccasins would make his journey into the afterlife easier and guide him in the right direction. place.  Please take the time to hear my plea.

Proud member of the Prairie Band of Potawatomi and proud veteran. 



Native American Veterans Association Link

After watching the videos please visit me link

Honoring Chief Abraham Burnett

 

by

Walburn University and Wisconsin Historical Society

Chief Abraham Burnett, Nan-wesa-mah, he who pray's with plants. 

 

This photograph shows Chief Abram Burnett in Kansas in the early 1860's.  The photograph shows how Chief Burnett dressed everyday.  Chief Burnett wore a blanket wrapped around his body to show his traditional beliefs as a Potawatomi.

Chief Burnett passed on June 14, 1870.  He weighted 496 pounds at the time of his death and enjoyed farming even with his difficulty in getting around.  His superior education and way with words made him a very famous Potowatomi Chief.

Chief Burnett was born in 1812 and  lived through some of the most challenging times of Potawatomi, by the forced removal of the Potawatomi and being forced to take on a different culture than what he knew.

To read the entire history link
Chief Burnett link 

Prairie Band of Potawatomi Pow Wow

Wakarusa Indiana

Wakarusa is a small town in Harrison and Olive townships in Elkhart County, Indiana.  The population is just over 2,000 people.  The name of Wakarusa was given in 1859.  The name Wakarusa meeans "Knee deep in mud" in Potawatomi.

Dyer Indiana Celebration

Chicago Tribune

Dyer, Indiana is turning 100 years old and it wants to celebrate, with a year long celebration that will have a new event each month.

They advertise that the area known as Dyer as home to the Potawatomi Indians until white settlers arrived in 1830.  Most of the early settlers were farmers and tradesman coming from German ancestry.

Chicago Tribune Link

Dyer Indiana Link

 

 

Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi

The Kingman Museum will be having an incredible exhibit called, "Native American Vessels:  Traditions in Transformation.  It will be a temporary exhibit starting February 6, to October 9, 2010.

The opening of the exhibit was on February 6, 2010 and the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi did a honor song of the event.

Link to Kingman Museum

Directions Link

Wow what a find!

Many times my over 100 specific word search alerts turns up something that really interests me, i came across a blog called "Weather Vane" she was digging in her backyard garden and found some arrowheads and beaded jewelry, she is located on the direct path of the "Trail of death."

The date of her blog is February 7, 2010, and titled "The Kickapoo and Potawatomi."

Her link to see some of the items

Please note that i do not have anything to do with either of the two services listed below i just list them below as a point of reference. 

Authentic Arrow Heads Link
Authentication Services 

 

Potawatomi Trail of Death Highway Signs

Back in fall of 2006, the Manitou Chapter and several Indiana DAR officers took part in the deication of 5 highway signs to mark the path taken by the Potawatomi Indians from Indiana to Kansas back on September 15, 1838.  The Potawatomi were marched at gunpoint, many died along the way and that is why it is called the Trail of Death.  Of the 859 Potawatomi who began the Trail of Death, 42 died.

These 5 signs mark the first historic highway signs in the nation for the Potawatomi Trail of Death and are to show that the event was not forgotten and to remind travelers of this event. 

Chief Meta

Answering an email request for more information on Chief Meta.

The leader whose village was near the North bank of the Cedar Creek bank, Chief Meta's village was called  Muskwawsepeotan, which mean's "town on the old red wood creek."

The village was settled sometime after 1795, when the Potawatomi tribe first moved into northeastern Indiana from the St. Joseph's River of Lake Michigan near what is today, modern South Bend.  The site was then abandoned after it was ceded to the United States along with all the other Potawatomi lands in the area by what is know as the treaty of 1828.

Chief Meta was a very prominent spokeperson for his Potawatomi tribe.  Although he was not known as a powerful clan elder, his skill as both  an orator and a warrior gained him much respect and brought him great influence and respect within his tribe.  Chief Meta was the active leader during the historical Potawaomi war of 1812.  His bravery during war left him with a scar on his right side of his face and also made use of his right arm, useless.  Chief Meta was shot by a solider while he was out scouting General Harrison's army near Fort Wayne in 1812.  Despite the useless- ness of his arm Chief Meta risked his life to save his people and said, "I would rather die than return from battle without my rifle."

After his injuries, Chief Meta could not return to battle but continued to serve his tribe at many negotiations.  His often serious and uncompromising nature earned him the name, "the sullen one," an very ironic thing because his literal meaning of his name is "kiss me."

Chief Meta was  tall, about six feet, and scarred, his looks are described as "unpleasant" but "striking."  Chief Meta was in his forties when he gained his reputation as the tribal spokesperson......
(To reach Friends of Meta click on the title of this story)


Potawatomi who can help add any information please drop me a email at tweetybird@hushmail.com  i have contacted the cultural educators who can better answer any questions that may be media related.

bohzo (Scott)
John Low answers these types of questions johnlow@illinois.edu  
Please copy and paste email link if you have any media orientated questions. 

I would also love you to write on your topics when ever you feel the desire, we would love to learn what you could share with us.

Megwetch
(Thank You)