Potawatomi

The Pottawatomi /ˌpɑːtəˈwɑːtəmiː/, also spelled Pottawatomie and Potawatomi (among many variations), 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 Algonquian family. The Potawatomi called themselves Neshnabé, a cognate of the word Anishinaabe. The Potawatomi were part of a long-term alliance, called the Council of Three Fires, with the Ojibwe, Odawa (Ottawa). In the Council of Three Fires, the Potawatomi were considered the "youngest brother" and were referred to in this context as Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and refers to the council fire of three peoples.

In the 19th century, they were pushed to the west by European/American encroachment in the late 18th century and removed from their lands in the Midwest to reservations in Oklahoma. Under Indian Removal, they eventually ceded many of their lands, and most of the Potawatomi relocated to Nebraska, Kansas and Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). Some bands survived in the Midwest and today are federally recognized as tribes. In Canada, some bands are recognized by the government as First Nations; they are based in Ontario.

Potawatomi language

Potawatomi (also spelled Pottawatomie; in Potawatomi Bodéwadmimwen or Bodéwadmi Zheshmowen or Neshnabémwen) is a Central Algonquian language and was spoken around the Great Lakes in Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as in Kansas in the United States, and in southern Ontario in Canada, by 9 Potawatomi people, all elderly. There is currently an effort underway to revive the language.

Language revitalization

One of the final surviving elderly speakers of Potawatomi, Cecilia Miksekwe Jackson, died in May 2011 at the age of 88.

A master-apprentice program, in which a "language student (the language apprentice) will be paired with fluent Potawatomi speakers (the language masters)" was scheduled to begin in January 2013. Classes in the Potowatomi language are available, including those at the Hannahville summer immersion camp, with webcast instruction and videoconferencing.

Classification

Potawatomi is a member of the Algonquian language family (itself a member of the larger Algic stock). It is usually classified as a Central Algonquian Language, with languages such as Ojibwe, Cree, Menominee, Miami-Illinois, Shawnee and Fox. The label "Central Algonquian" signifies a geographic grouping rather than the group of languages descended from a common ancestor language within the Algonquian family. Of these Central languages, Potawatomi is most similar to Ojibwe, however it also has borrowed a considerable amount of vocabulary from the Sauk.