WAYMOND'S POTAWATOMI HOME
Pow Wow held in June a huge success.
Dinner was served to all who attended the Pow Wow.
Pictured below is Ms. Rena Belcher, who resides in Oklahoma. Rena is 72 years young and was most delightful to visit with. She participated in the dancing and shared interesting tid bits of her heritage with us.
The Potawatomi name is a translation of the Ojibwe "potawatomink" meaning "people of the place of fire." Similar names are: Fire Nation, Keepers of the Sacred Fire, and People of the Fireplace...all of which refer to the role of the Potawatomi as the keeper of the council fire in an earlier alliance with the Ojibwe and Ottawa. In their own language, the Potawatomi refer to themselves as the Nichnabek or "people."
Federally recognized, the Citizen Potawatomi are the largest Potawatomi group. Most are descended from the Potawatomi of the Woods (southern Michigan and northern Indiana) including the Mission Band friom St. Joseph in southwest Michigan. Acculturated and mostly Christian, it was easier for them to accept allotment and citizenship in 1861 than the more traditional Prairie Potawatomi. This led to a separation (not on the best of terms) in 1870 when the Citizens moved to Oklahoma. Allotment took most of their land in 1889, and they have kept only 4,371 acres, less than two acres of which is tribally owned! Most Citizen Potawatomi have remained in Oklahoma - the Indian Bureau listing of 1,768 of them in 1908 - but during the dust bowl of the 1930's, many left for California. Headquartered in Shawnee, they are organized under the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act with a current enrollment of more than 18,000.
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