290 



POTAWATOMI 



[b. a. e. 



been less than three centuries since the 

 Chippewa became disconnected as a dis- 

 tinct tribe from the Ottawa and Potawat- 

 omi. In the Jesuit Relation for 1640 the 

 Potawatomi are spoken of as living in the 

 vicinity of the Winnebago. Verwyst (Mis- 

 sionary Labors, 211, 1886) saysthatin 1641 

 they were at Sault Ste Marie, fleeing be- 

 fore the Sioux. The Jesuit Relation of 

 1642, speaking of the meeting of Raym- 

 bault and Jogues with the tribes at 

 Sault Ste Marie, says that "a certain 

 nation farther away, which they called 

 Pouteatami, had abandoned its country 

 and taken refuge with the inhabitants of 

 the Sault in order to escajie from some 

 other hostile nation which was continu- 

 ally harassing them." At the "feast of 

 the dead" attended by Raymbault and 

 Jogues in 1641, somewhere e. or n. e. of 

 L. Huron, the Chippewa and Potawatomi 

 appear to have been present. In 1667, 

 Allouez met 300 of their warriors at 

 Chaquamegon bay. A portion of them 

 were dwelling in 1670 on the islands in 

 the mouth of Green bay, chiefly about 

 the Jesuit mission of St Frangois Xavier. 

 They were then moving southward, 

 and by the close of the 17th century 

 had estal)lished themselves on Milwau- 

 kee r., at Chicago, and on St Joseph 

 r., mostly in territory that had previ- 

 ously been held by the Miami. (For their 

 migration from Michigan, see Sauk.) 

 After the conquest of the Illinois, about 

 1765, they took possession of the part of 

 Illinois lying n. e. of the country seized by 

 the Sauk, Foxes, and Kickajioo, at the 

 same time spreading eastward over south- 

 ern Michigan and gradually approaching 

 the Wabash. At the treaty of Greenville, 

 in 1795, they notified the Miami that they 

 intended to move down upon the Wabash, 

 which they soon afterward did, in spite 

 of the protests of the Miami, who claimed 

 that whole region. By the beginning of 

 the 19th century they were in possession 

 of the country around the head of L. 

 Michigan, from Milwaukee r. in Wiscon- 

 sin to Grand r. in Michigan, extending 

 s. w. over a large part of n. Illinois, e. across 

 Michigan to L. Erie, and s. in Indiana 

 to Ihe Wabash and as far down as Pine 

 cr. Within this territory they had about 

 50 villages. The principal divisions were 

 those of St Joseph r. and Huron r., 

 Mich., Wabash r., and the Prairie band 

 of Potawatomi in Illinois and Wisconsin. 

 The Potawatomi sided actively with the 

 French down to the peace of 1763; they 

 were prominent in the rising under Pon- 

 tiac, and on the breaking out of the Revo- 

 lution in 1775 took arms against the 

 United States and continued hostilities 

 until the treaty of Greenville in 1795. 

 They again took up arms in the British 

 interest in 1812, and made final treaties 



of peace in 1815. As the settlements rap- 

 idly pressed upon them, they sold their 

 land by piecemeal, chiefly between the 

 years 1836 and 1841, and removed beyond 

 the Mississippi. A large part of those re- 

 siding in Indiana refused to leave their 

 homes until driven out by military force. 

 A part of them escaped into Canada and 

 are now settled on Walpole id. in L. St 

 Clair. Those who went w. were settled 

 partly in w. Iowa and partly in Kansas, 

 the former, with whom were many indi- 

 viduals of other tribes, being known as 

 Prairie Potawatomi, while the others were 

 known as Potawatomi of the Woods. In 

 1846 they were all united on a reservation 

 in s. Kansas. A part of them was known 

 as the Keotuc band. In 1861 a large part 

 of the tribe took lands in severalty and 

 became known as Citizen Potawatomi, 

 but in 1868 they again removed to a tract 

 in Indian Ter. (Oklahoma), where they 

 now are. The others are still in Kansas, 

 while a considerable body, part of the 

 Prairie band, is yet in Wisconsin, and 

 another band, the Potawatomi of Huron, 

 is in lower Michigan. 



The Indians of this tribe are described 

 in the early notices as " the most docile 

 and affectionate toward the French of 

 all the savages of the west." They were 

 also more kindly disposed toward Chris- 

 tianity, besides being more humane and 

 civilized than the other tribes. Tailhau 

 says : ' ' Their natural politeness and readi- 

 ness to oblige was extended to strangers, 

 which was very rare among these peo- 

 ples. Up to this time (1864) they have 

 resisted the rum and brandy with which 

 the Anglo-Saxons have poisoned the other 

 tribes." Sir William Johnson, however, 

 complained in 1772 of robberies and mur- 

 ders committed by them through the in- 

 trigues and jealousy of the French trad- 

 ers. Their women were more reserved 

 than was usual among Indians, and 

 showed some tendency toward refine- 

 ment in manners. The Potawatomi of 

 Milwaukee r., who were considerably 

 intermixed with Sauk and Winnebago, 

 were described about 1825 as being lazy 

 fellows, as a rule preferring to fish and 

 hunt all summer long rather than to culti- 

 vate corn, and noted players of the moc- 

 casin game and lacrosse, heavy gamblers 

 and given to debauchery. Polygamy was 

 common among the Potawatomi when 

 they were visited by the early mission- 

 aries. 



According to Schoolcraft, it is believed 

 by the Potawatomi that there are two 

 spirits who govern the world: one is 

 called Kitchemonedo, or the Great Spirit; 

 the other Matchemonedo, or the Evil 

 Spirit; the first is good and beneficent, 

 the other wicked. But all this is the 

 result of Christian teaching. In former 



