Citizen Potawatomi Nation
Encyclopedia
Citizen Potawatomi Nation are a federally recognized tribe of Potawatomi
people located in Oklahoma
. The Potawatomi are traditionally an Algonquian
-speaking Eastern Woodlands tribe
.
valley of Indiana
. With the Indian Removal Act
after the 1833 Treaty of Chicago
, the Mission Band was forced to march
to a new reserve in Kansas
. Of the 850 Potawatomi people forced to move, more than 40 died along the way. The event is known in Potawatomi history as the Potawatomi Trail of Death
.
In Kansas, the Mission Band of Potawatomi lived on a small reserve with the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. The Prairie Band had adapted to the Plains culture
but the Mission Band remained steadfast to the Woodlands culture. Both cultural groups exhibited very different ceremonial and subsistence strategies, yet were forced to share the land. Seeking a better opportunity for its people, the Mission Band leaders chose to take small farms rather than live together with the Prairie Band. Shortly thereafter, and not fully understanding the tax system, most of the new individual allotments of land passed out of Mission Band ownership and into that of white settlers and traders. In 1867, Mission Potawatomi members signed a treaty selling their Kansas lands in order to purchase lands in Indian Territory
with the proceeds. To reinforce the new land purchase and learning from their Kansas experience, tribal members took U.S. citizenship. From that time on, they became known as the Citizen Potawatomi.
By the early 1870’s, most of the Citizen Potawatomi had resettled in Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma
, forming several communities near present-day Shawnee
. In 1890, the Citizen Potawatomi participated, unwillingly, in the allotment process implemented through the Dawes Act
of 1887. With this Act, the Citizen Potawatomi people were forced to accept individual allotments again. In the Land Run
of 1891, the remainder of the Potawatomi reservation in Oklahoma was opened up to non-Indian settlement, leaving about 450 square miles (1,165.5 km²) of the reservation simply given away by the government to settlers.
Chairman
John A. Barrett
Vice Chairman
Linda Capps
Secretary/Treasurer D.
Wayne Trousdale
Legislative Branch
District #1:
Roy Slavin –
Kansas City, MO
District #2:
Eva Marie Carney –
Arlington, VA
District #3:
Robert Whistler –
Bedford, TX
District #4:
Theresa Adame –
Topeka, KS
District #5:
Gene Lambert –
Mesa, AZ
District #6:
Rande Payne –
Visalia, CA
District #7:
Mark Johnson –
Fresno, CA
District #8:
Dave Carney -
Olympia, WA
District #9:
Paul Wesselhoft –
Moore, OK
District #10:
David Barrett –
Shawnee, OK
District #11:
Lisa Kraft –
Stillwater, OK
District #12:
Paul Schmidlkofer –
Tecumseh, OK
District #13:
Bobbie Bowden –
Choctaw, OK
. Of the 26,917 enrolled members, 10,176 live within the state of Oklahoma. They have their housing authority and issue tribal vehicle tags. They operate a truck stop, two gas stations, two smoke shops, a bingo hall, and two tribal casinos, and First National Bank & Trust, with two locations in Shawnee, Oklahoma, one in Holdenville, Oklahoma, two in Lawton, Oklahoma, and three in communities surrounding Lawton. Their estimated economic impact is $394 million. In January 2006, the tribe opened its extensive Citizen Potawatomi Nation Museum and Cultural Heritage Center in Shawnee
. The 36000 square feet (3,344.5 m²) building houses the nation's research library, archives, genealogy research center, veteran's wall of honor, exhibit and meeting space, and a museum store.
The tribe's annual intertribal pow wow is no longer held. The Citizen Potawatomi Nation's Family Reunion Festival is held on the final weekend in June each year. It attracts about 5,000 CPN members and their family members for a variety of cultural and other activities over a three-day period.
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...
people located in Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. The Potawatomi are traditionally an Algonquian
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
-speaking Eastern Woodlands tribe
Eastern Woodlands tribes
The Eastern Woodlands was a cultural area of the indigenous people of North America. The Eastern Woodlands extended roughly from the Atlantic Ocean to the eastern Great Plains, and from the Great Lakes region to the Gulf of Mexico, which is now the eastern United States and Canada...
.
History
The Citizen Potawatomi Nation is the successor apparent to the Mission Band of Potawatomi Indians, located originally in the Wabash RiverWabash River
The Wabash River is a river in the Midwestern United States that flows southwest from northwest Ohio near Fort Recovery across northern Indiana to southern Illinois, where it forms the Illinois-Indiana border before draining into the Ohio River, of which it is the largest northern tributary...
valley of Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
. With the Indian Removal Act
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830.The Removal Act was strongly supported in the South, where states were eager to gain access to lands inhabited by the Five Civilized Tribes. In particular, Georgia, the largest state at that time, was involved in...
after the 1833 Treaty of Chicago
Treaty of Chicago
The Treaty of Chicago may refer to either of two treaties made and signed in Chicago, Illinois between the United States and the Ottawa, Ojibwe , and Potawatomi Native American peoples.-1821 Treaty of Chicago:...
, the Mission Band was forced to march
Potawatomi Trail of Death
The Potawatomi Trail of Death was the forced removal by United States forces from September 4 to November 4, 1838, of 859 members of the Potawatomi nation from Twin Lakes near Plymouth, Indiana, to the location of present-day Osawatomie, Kansas, a distance of . Typhoid fever and the stress of the...
to a new reserve in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. Of the 850 Potawatomi people forced to move, more than 40 died along the way. The event is known in Potawatomi history as the Potawatomi Trail of Death
Potawatomi Trail of Death
The Potawatomi Trail of Death was the forced removal by United States forces from September 4 to November 4, 1838, of 859 members of the Potawatomi nation from Twin Lakes near Plymouth, Indiana, to the location of present-day Osawatomie, Kansas, a distance of . Typhoid fever and the stress of the...
.
In Kansas, the Mission Band of Potawatomi lived on a small reserve with the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. The Prairie Band had adapted to the Plains culture
Plains Indians
The Plains Indians are the Indigenous peoples who live on the plains and rolling hills of the Great Plains of North America. Their colorful equestrian culture and resistance to White domination have made the Plains Indians an archetype in literature and art for American Indians everywhere.Plains...
but the Mission Band remained steadfast to the Woodlands culture. Both cultural groups exhibited very different ceremonial and subsistence strategies, yet were forced to share the land. Seeking a better opportunity for its people, the Mission Band leaders chose to take small farms rather than live together with the Prairie Band. Shortly thereafter, and not fully understanding the tax system, most of the new individual allotments of land passed out of Mission Band ownership and into that of white settlers and traders. In 1867, Mission Potawatomi members signed a treaty selling their Kansas lands in order to purchase lands in Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
with the proceeds. To reinforce the new land purchase and learning from their Kansas experience, tribal members took U.S. citizenship. From that time on, they became known as the Citizen Potawatomi.
By the early 1870’s, most of the Citizen Potawatomi had resettled in Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, forming several communities near present-day Shawnee
Shawnee, Oklahoma
Shawnee is a city in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 29,857 at the 2010 census. The city is part of the Oklahoma City-Shawnee Combined Statistical Area; it is also the county seat of Pottawatomie County and the principal city of the Shawnee Micropolitan Statistical...
. In 1890, the Citizen Potawatomi participated, unwillingly, in the allotment process implemented through the Dawes Act
Dawes Act
The Dawes Act, adopted by Congress in 1887, authorized the President of the United States to survey Indian tribal land and divide the land into allotments for individual Indians. The Act was named for its sponsor, Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts. The Dawes Act was amended in 1891 and again...
of 1887. With this Act, the Citizen Potawatomi people were forced to accept individual allotments again. In the Land Run
Land run
Land run usually refers to an historical event in which previously restricted land of the United States was opened for homesteading on a first arrival basis. Some newly opened lands were sold first-come, sold by bid, or won by lottery, or by means other than a run...
of 1891, the remainder of the Potawatomi reservation in Oklahoma was opened up to non-Indian settlement, leaving about 450 square miles (1,165.5 km²) of the reservation simply given away by the government to settlers.
Government
Executive BranchChairman
John A. Barrett
Vice Chairman
Linda Capps
Secretary/Treasurer D.
Wayne Trousdale
Legislative Branch
District #1:
Roy Slavin –
Kansas City, MO
District #2:
Eva Marie Carney –
Arlington, VA
District #3:
Robert Whistler –
Bedford, TX
District #4:
Theresa Adame –
Topeka, KS
District #5:
Gene Lambert –
Mesa, AZ
District #6:
Rande Payne –
Visalia, CA
District #7:
Mark Johnson –
Fresno, CA
District #8:
Dave Carney -
Olympia, WA
District #9:
Paul Wesselhoft –
Moore, OK
District #10:
David Barrett –
Shawnee, OK
District #11:
Lisa Kraft –
Stillwater, OK
District #12:
Paul Schmidlkofer –
Tecumseh, OK
District #13:
Bobbie Bowden –
Choctaw, OK
Tribe today
The Citizen Potawatomi Nation is headquartered in Shawnee, OklahomaShawnee, Oklahoma
Shawnee is a city in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 29,857 at the 2010 census. The city is part of the Oklahoma City-Shawnee Combined Statistical Area; it is also the county seat of Pottawatomie County and the principal city of the Shawnee Micropolitan Statistical...
. Of the 26,917 enrolled members, 10,176 live within the state of Oklahoma. They have their housing authority and issue tribal vehicle tags. They operate a truck stop, two gas stations, two smoke shops, a bingo hall, and two tribal casinos, and First National Bank & Trust, with two locations in Shawnee, Oklahoma, one in Holdenville, Oklahoma, two in Lawton, Oklahoma, and three in communities surrounding Lawton. Their estimated economic impact is $394 million. In January 2006, the tribe opened its extensive Citizen Potawatomi Nation Museum and Cultural Heritage Center in Shawnee
Shawnee, Oklahoma
Shawnee is a city in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 29,857 at the 2010 census. The city is part of the Oklahoma City-Shawnee Combined Statistical Area; it is also the county seat of Pottawatomie County and the principal city of the Shawnee Micropolitan Statistical...
. The 36000 square feet (3,344.5 m²) building houses the nation's research library, archives, genealogy research center, veteran's wall of honor, exhibit and meeting space, and a museum store.
The tribe's annual intertribal pow wow is no longer held. The Citizen Potawatomi Nation's Family Reunion Festival is held on the final weekend in June each year. It attracts about 5,000 CPN members and their family members for a variety of cultural and other activities over a three-day period.