Potawatomi << `pot` uh WAHT uh mee, >> are a Native American group belonging to the Algonquian language group of eastern forest peoples. They were closely allied with the Chippewa and Ottawa. These three nations formed a confederacy known as “the three fires.” In early days, the Potawatomi lived near the northern shores of Lake Michigan, from the eastern end of Lake Superior to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and in other areas around Lake Michigan. By 1700, groups of Potawatomi had moved into the Chicago and Detroit areas. Major groups lived along the St. Joseph River in Michigan and Indiana.
The Potawatomi raised corn, made maple sugar, and hunted buffaloes. They lived in dome-shaped lodges covered with bark. Early white travelers described the Potawatomi as being polite and well-mannered. Many Potawatomi became Christians.
The Potawatomi sided with the French until the end of the French and Indian wars. They took a prominent part in the uprising known as Pontiac’s War (see Indian wars (Pontiac’s War (1763)) ; Pontiac ). They fought with the British against the Americans in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. A group of Potawatomi and their Chippewa and Ottawa allies ambushed the retreating garrison of Fort Dearborn in Chicago in August 1812 (see Fort Dearborn ). After the war, these groups became friendly with American settlers. In the 1830’s, the U.S. government moved the Potawatomi, Chippewa, and Ottawa people from their lands in Illinois to regions west of the Mississippi River. They were the last indigenous (native) peoples to leave Illinois.
Today, about 20,000 Potawatomi live throughout the United States, but mainly in Oklahoma, Michigan, Kansas, Wisconsin, and Indiana. Potawatomi also live in Ontario, Canada, and in several other countries.
