On Nov. 15, 1861, nearly 80 Potawatomi headmen and Tribal members gathered with federal officials to sign the Treaty of 1861. The agreement created two separate Potawatomi tribes on the Kansas River Reservation, establishing the Citizen Potawatomi and Prairie Band.
In early 2021, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, Tara Sweeney, appointed Citizen Potawatomi Nation tribal member Jason O’Neal as the deputy bureau director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Office of Justice Services.
The Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s Cultural Heritage Center’s Tribal Heritage Project seeks to capture each CPN veteran and elder’s story through video interviews to safeguard the Nation and Tribal members’ history for generations to come.
The Potawatomi Crumbo family is full of stonemasons, Navy members, artists, filmmakers and more.
Citizen Potawatomi tribal member Isaac “Ike” Kahdot made his first appearance with Cleveland’s MLB team on Sept. 5, 1922, against the St. Louis Browns, and in 1993, was the oldest living Cleveland player at the age of 91 until his passing in 1999.
On Sept. 30, 1809, Potawatomi, Delaware, Miami and Eel River tribal leaders signed the Treaty of Fort Wayne, which included ceding approximately 3 million acres of land in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan for 2 cents per acre.
According to family records, “Joshua E. Clardy, also known as ‘Judge’ Clardy, was with his family one of the first settlers of Potawatomi County, Oklahoma.”
The Potawatomi Trail of Death began today in 1838. More than 850 Tribal members walked 660 miles from Indiana to Kansas. Written and visual records provide insight into this turbulent time and help present-day Potawatomi remember and honor their ancestors’ trials.
Aug. 29 marks the 1821 Treaty of Chicago’s 200th anniversary. The agreement between the United States, Ottawa, Chippewa and Potawatomi included the cessation of almost 4 million acres of Native land and forever impacted the tribes’ hold in the Great Lakes region.
The Bourbonnais and Potawatomi link begins with Catherine — Catish — Chevalier, a French-Potawatomi woman, and French-Canadian Francis Bourbonnais Sr.