History of Potawatomi in Timeline

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By Popular Timelines Editorial Team  · Updated:
Potawatomi

The Potawatomi, also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie, are an Indigenous North American tribe from the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They speak the Potawatomi language, part of the Algonquian family, and are also First Nations in Canada. They call themselves Neshnabé, related to Anishinaabe. The Potawatomi belong to the Council of Three Fires with the Ojibwe and Odawa (Ottawa), where they're known as the "youngest brother" and referred to as Bodéwadmi, meaning "keepers of the fire," referencing the council fire of the three peoples.

1941: Publication of Benjamin Petit's diary

In 1941, more than 100 years after his death, the Indiana Historical Society published the diary of Catholic priest Benjamin Petit, documenting the removal of the Indiana Potawatomi on the Potawatomi Trail of Death in 1838.

2001: Potawatomi Language Speakers

As of 2001, fewer than 1,300 people spoke Potawatomi as a first language, most of whom were elderly.