The Citizen Potawatomi Nation is a federally recognized tribe of Algonquian-speaking people who originally occupied the Great Lakes region of the United States. The Potawatomi were part of the Three Fires Council made up of the Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Odawa, collectively known as Anishnabek peoples.
Official Tribal Name: Citizen Potawatomi Nation
Address: 1601 S. Gordon Cooper Dr., Shawnee, OK 74801
Phone: (800) 880-9880
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Official Website: http://www.potawatomi.org/
Recognition Status: Federally Recognized
Traditional Name / Traditional Meaning: Bode’wadmi- Firekeepers
Common Name: Potawatomie
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Alternate names / Alternate spellings / Mispellings:
Bode’wadmi, Pottawatomi, Pottawatomie, Potawatomie, Nishnabek, Chipewa, Chipawa, Anishinaabe, Anishinababe, Anishinabeg, Ojibway, Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, Algonquin, More names for Ojibwe
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Region: Northeast –>Ojibwa, Chippewa and Potawatomi
State(s) Today: Oklahoma
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Confederacy: Three Fires Council, Ojibwa
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Language Classification: Algic => Algonquian => Central Algonquian => Ojibwa-Potawatomi => Potawatomi
Language Dialects: Potawatomi
Potawatomi is an Algonquian language closely related to the Ojibwayan dialect complex.
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The Potawatomi language is critically endangered and nearly extinct. It has about 50 first-language speakers in several widely separated communities in the US and Canada. These include the Hannahville Indian Community (Upper Peninsula of Michigan), the Pokagon and Huron Bands (southern Michigan), the Forest County Band (northern Wisconsin), the Prairie Band (eastern Kansas), and the Citizen Potawatomi Nation of Oklahoma. A few Potawatomi speakers also live among the Eastern Ojibwe in Ontario, particularly at the Walpole Island Reserve. The largest speech communities are in the Forest County and Prairie Bands, each with about 20 speakers, several conservatively fluent.
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Bands, Gens, and Clans
Related Tribes:
Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians
Chippewa-Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation
Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Michigan
Forest County Potawatomi
Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
Hannaville Indian Community
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community
La Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Lac de Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians
Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians
Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Potawatomi
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians
Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians
Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians
Saginaw Chippewa Indians
Sokaogon Chippewa Community
St. Croix Chippewa Indians
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians
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Wedding Customs: A person is not allowed to marry someone within the same clan. Polygamy was rare.
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People of Note:
Renae Morriseau – Actress
Woody Crumbo – artist, flautist, dancer, 1912–1989
Mary Killman – Olympic synchronized swimmer, b. 1991
Robin Wall Kimmerer – environmental scientist, educator, author,[5] b. 1953
Tyler Bray – quarterback, b. 1991
Kellie Coffey – singer, songwriter, 1971-, Winner Academy of Country music Award Top New Female 2003
Jim Thorpe whose indian name was Wathohuck , meaning Bright Star (Sauk/Pottawatomi 1888–1953), athlete who won gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics