Description
The Potawatomi also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie, are a Native American people of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquin family. The Potawatomi call themselves Neshnabé, a cognate of the word Anishinaabe. In the 19th century, some bands of Potawatomi were pushed to the west by European/American encroachment and eventually removed from their lands in the Great Lakes region to reservations in Oklahoma. Some bands survived in the Great Lakes region and today are federally recognized as tribes.
Language
a Central Algonquian language
Culture
Traditionally, the Potawatomi relied on hunted, fished, and gathered food resources in the summer but also maintained substantial gardens of corn, beans, and squash. Women also collected a wide variety of wild plant foods, including berries, nuts, roots, and wild greens. Men also planted and grew tobacco. Hunting was done largely by individuals or in small groups using bows and arrows, and deer, elk, and beaver were the most common hunted species. Large villages built in summer were positioned at the edge of the forest, which was near the prairies, prime fishing streams, and Lake Michigan. Chosen village locations were usually on small streams off the lake.