It is noted that the following work from the Miami Archives should be read and considered within the historical context in which it was composed and printed. The opinions expressed and the language used do not reflect the opinions or standards of the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, but are, rather, indicative of thought in that historical moment during which the document was published.
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THE BAND AFFILIATION OF POTAWATOMI TREATY SIGNATORIES
Geographically contiguous villages and settlements of the Potawatomi Indians acted as quasi-political units, commonly designated as bands. This practice had its inception in the Potawatomi's own regard for the autonomy of the local group and their desire to be treated as separate groups. As an illustration, in the council held prior to the conclusion of the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, The Sun, identified in the treaty minutes as a Potawatomi chief, on August 8th stated:
We, the Pattawatamies present, are in three classes. One from the river Huron, one from St. Joseph's, and that to which I belong from the Wabash; and, as you intend to give the goods designed for us in bulk to that nation, I am afraid the division amongst ourselves will be attended to with difficulty and discontent. I pray you, father to make the division among us, and thus preserve proportion and harmony.1
Similar sentiments regarding the division of the treaty presents and group autonomy were expressed by Okia, another Potawatomi chief on the same day:
I come from the river Huron, near Detroit. My fathers have long possessed that country. The other Pottawatamies present live on the St. Joseph's, and in that direction. All my old chiefs are dead; you therefore see young chiefs only from my towns, who are unaccustomed to speak in council. You told us you would deliver the presents in bulk to the Pattawatamy nation. In this case, I am afraid people will not get a due proportion, and I am too proud to complain to you, should they be unfairly distributed; therefore, as I live detached from the others, and intend to return home with the Chippewas, by the way of fort Defiance, I beg my father would let me have my proportion separately, for we have many young women and children at home, to whom I shall be very happy to deliver the presents of their father. I wish much to carry with me a copy of the treaty, to show my people. Living so far from the rest of my name, I can derive no advantage from the one you have given to our nation generally, and I should be ashamed and mortified to return without one. I would request a trader for my village, and wish for Mr. La Chambre, with whom we are long acquainted.2 ____________________
2. Ibid, page 581. Underlining mine.
The Potawatomi bands involved in land cessions in northern Indiana and southwestern Michigan (the St. Joseph's River area) were primarily those known as; (1) the Potawatomi of the St. Joseph; (2) the Potawatomi of the Wabash, and (3) the Potawatomi of the Prairie and Kankakee. While there is no evidence to suggest that precise territorial limits can be set for these units, the following may be suggested for the period toward the close of the first quarter of the nineteenth century.
(1) The Potawatomi of the St. Joseph take their name from their major occupancy on the St. Joseph River which empties into Lake Michigan in the southwestern corner of the state of Michigan but including also the villages on the southern tributaries of the river in northern Indiana- the Elkhart and Little Elkhart Rivers.
(2) The Potawatomi of the Wabash include those of the Wabash proper but most substantially occupy the northern tributaries of that river, including the Eel and Tippecanoe Rivers. Because of its contiguity to the headwaters of the Wabash, the occupants of the St. Joseph branch of the Maumee River are also placed with the Potawatomi of the Wabash.
(3) The Potawatomi of the Prairie and Kankakee include the occupants of
the Kankakee (and its tributary the Yellow River) and the Iroquois River to
the south which joins the Kankakee in the state of Illinois. While the Kankakee
group had close ties with the St. Joseph band, particularly because of the extensively
exploited portage from the Kankakee to the St. Joseph, they appear to also have
a strong western orientation. Alexander Wolcott, Jr., Indian Agent at Chicago,
regarded the drainage of the Kankakee as belonging to his agency, and traders
licensed by him were also situated on the Iroquois River.3
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The assignment to an agency was of some importance since this would determine where a village would receive annuity payments and thus serve to promote unified actions by the group. It is true, however, that some of the Potawatomi in marginal locations took advantage of the situation and collected annuities from both agents. 4
In the analysis of the band affiliation of Potawatomi signatories to the treaties, the individuals have been grouped according to the three major units suggested above, together with a final category for other localities and unidentified individuals.
A. Treaty with the Potawatomi held on the Wabash, Oct. 16, 1826.
1. Signers from the St. Joseph River Band:
Topenibe- He is identified as a "principal chief of the nation" in the Treaty at St. Mary's (Oct. 2. 1818) (7 Stat. 131-132.) with his residence consistently mentioned as being on the St. Joseph River since his name (as Tuthinipee) first appears on official documents with his signing as one of the "Putawatames of the River Saint Joseph" at the Treaty of Greenville in 1795. (7 Stat. 49, 54.) In May, 1825, the Reverend Isaac McCoy, a Baptist missionary to the Potawatomi and Miami, records that:
Topenebe, the principal chief of the Putawatomies, and almost all the people of his settlement, removed from the north side of St. Joseph's river, and settled near us on the south.5
Alexander Wolcott, Jr., Indian Agent at Chicago, in a list of chiefs of the
Potawatomi tribe of Indians to whom annuities were paid on July 15, 1826, has
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Letter of Alexander Wolcott, Jr. to John Tipton, dated March 20, 1828. Ibid, pp. 31-32.
5. Isaac McCoy, History of the Baptist Indian Missions, p. 262.
To pen ee bee as chief of a village on the St. Joseph named N 'do waw goy uk which contained 83 persons.6 The Reverend Isaac McCoy records his death in July of this same year, apparently shortly after this payment as follows:
About the same time, July 27, 1826, Topenebe, the principal chief, fell from his horse, under influence of ardent spirits, and received an injury, of which he died two days afterwards.7
The name of Topenibe which appears on subsequent treaties is that of his son who succeeded to his office and is doubtless the one mentioned as having been a pupil at the Carey Mission School on the St. Joseph's in the Treaty of Oct. 16, 1826. (7 Stat. 298-9.)
Gebaus- It would appear that considerable difficulty was encountered
in the transcription of the name of this individual. In conjunction with the
Treaty on the Wabash the Indian Agent, John Tipton, prepared a list of the Indians
who drew rations under the name of their chief. The name "Che, bass"
appears on this list drawing rations for 28 individuals.8
The name of Gebaus does not appear on that ration list, nor does the name of
Chebass appear as a signer of the treaty. "Chebos" (but not Gebaus)
was a signor of a petition drawn up on October 16, 1826, the same day as the
treaty, requesting funds to send Potawatomi boys to the Choctaw Academy in Kentucky.9
In various documents of the period from 1826-1827, bracketing the time of the
treaty date, the name Che-base or Chebass appears but never in conjunction with
Gebaus.10 A final
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6. A. Wolcott, A
List of Chiefs ... 1826.
7. McCoy,
History of Baptist Missions, p. 286.
8. Tipton, Memorandum
of Indians Drawing Rations, 1826. Ind. Hist. Coll., XXIV: 614.
9. Petition,
Oct. 16, 1826. Ind. Hist. Coll., XXIV: 596.
10. Tipton Papers,
Ind. Hist. Coll., XXIV: 634, 709, 735, 833.
variant of the name for this restricted time period is Pee-banse. Annuity payments
by Alexander Wolcott, Jr., were made to Pee-banse in 1826 and 1827 as the chief
of 40 persons (in 1826) and 60 persons (in 1827). 11
His village is listed as N'do-waw-goy-uk (the same as that occupied by Topenibe)
on the St. Joseph River. To-pen-eh-bee, Pee-banse, and 0-tuk-wun are all three
listed as being from this village with a total population of 221 in 1827 and
201 in 1826. This is in reasonably good agreement with a total population of
250 reported by Wolcott for "K'do-waw-goy-uk" on March 30, 1825.12
only Pee-banse (not Gebaus or Chebass) is reported as receiving annuity payments
from this agency, yet we know from the account of the Reverend Isaac McCoy that
Chebass was one of the principal chiefs on the St. Joseph River.13 It is therefore concluded that the names cited represent
the same individual and that he was a resident of the St. Joseph's River in
the same village as Topenibe.14
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11. Wolcott, A List of Chiefs ... 1826 and 1827.
12. Wolcott, A List of Villages ... 1825.
13. McCoy, History of Baptist Missions, PP. 110, 179, 224.
Mukkose- This name appears twice among the signatures in identical form
and is also sufficiently close to "Makose" to create difficulties
in identification. While the name appears in a large series of documents, information
on location is provided in the following instances. In the list of chiefs receiving
annuities in 1827, the name "Muck-kose" appears as chief of a village
on the St. Joseph with a population of 64.15 A
census of the Potawatomi Indians for 1827 lists a "muc cose" on the
St. Joseph with the village having a population of 23.16
"Muck-kose" received provisions for his group that were issued during
a council held August 2-6, 1828 with his residence being listed as the Tippecanoe.17
The September 6-8, 1828, payroll of the Wabash and Elkheart Potawatomi list
a "Muck-kose" located at Tippecanoe with a population of 40.18
The same payroll lists a "Muck-kose" on the St. Joseph with a population
of 4. On the 1829 payroll we find "Muck-kose" with a village of 45
persons who lives "near Aw-ba-nob-by"19
whose village location is elsewhere discussed as being on the prairie north
of Tippecanoe River. A final reference in the year 1829 is to be found in a
memorandum from Tipton to Moses H. Scott in the month of May, ordering Scott
to provide assistance in farming "to Muk koses village on Tippecanoe river."
20
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15. A. Wolcott, A List of Chiefs ... 1827.
16. Tipton, Census of Potawatomi Indians, 1827. Ind. Hist. Coll., XXIV, 834.
17. Provisions Issued to the Potawatomi, August 2-6, 1828. Ind. Hist. Coll., XXV, P. 76.
18. Pay Roll of Potawatomi Indians, September 6-8, 1828. Ind. Hist. Coll., XXV, p. 104.
19. Pay Roll, Wabash and Elkhart Potawatomi, 1829. Ind. Hist. Coll., XXV, p. 234.
20. Tipton: Memorandum for Moses H. Scott, May, 1829. Ind. Hist. Coll., XXV, p. 170.
The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that there are two individuals by the name of Mukkose, one being on the St. Joseph River and the other on the Tippecanoe.
Saukena- This individual would appear to be the person listed in Wolcott's 1826 annuity list as "Saw-geh-nay" who had 107 individuals in his village named "Saw-geh-nay-o-ta-ton-uk" located at Terre Coupee.21 In Wolcott's 1827 annuity list, the name is given as "Saw-guh-nay" with a population of 90 in the village of "Saw-guh-nay-o-to-ton-uk" again at Terre Coupee.22 Tipton's 1828 payroll lists a "saw-ga-nay" located at "Parc. aux Vaches" with 27 people.23 Parc aux Vaches, sometimes translated by Tipton as "Cow Pen", on the St. Joseph River near the Carey Mission station.24 Timothy E. Howard in his History of St. Joseph County, Indiana, indicates that the term Parc aux Vaches was limited to the plain along the eastern bank of the St. Joseph River above and below the cites of South Bend and Mishawaka.25 Terre Coupee prairie, on the other hand, is in Olive township in the northwestern corner of St. Joseph County, Indiana.26 It is possible that this is part of the seasonal range of Saukena's group.
Shokto- The name in this precise form cannot be further identified, but
it would not be characteristic to have two such consonants (k and t) without
an intervening vowel. Shaw-koto, who signed the Treaty of August 29, 1821 (7
Stat. 218, 221.) represents the name closer to its actual form. That this is
the case is supported by finding among the leaders of bands drawing rations
at the Treaty of Oct. 16, 1826 here under consideration, we find "Shaw-,
ka to" but not Shokto.27
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21. Wolcott, A List of Chiefs .... 1926.
22. Wolcott, A List of Chiefs ....1827.
23. Tipton, Pay Roll of Potawatomi Indian, September 6-8, 1828. Ind. Hist. Coll., XXV, p. 104.
25. Howard, A History of St. Joseph County, Indiana, p. 44.
Wolcott's 1827 list of chiefs to whom annuities were paid contains a "Shaw-ke-ta" located at the village of Keesh-kuh-keek at Terre Coupee with a population of 72.28 In his 1826 list, this individual was designated "Shaw-koloto" with the same location and a population of 73.29 Tipton, in his 1827 census, lists "cha, cot, to" "of cat ground" with a population of 36.30 In comparing this situation with the preceding analysis of Saukena, we note that Wolcott similarly gives higher population figures for the same individual.
Louison- The Treaty of Oct. 16, 1826 in addition to the signature of
Louison also bears in its printed form a "Louisou".(7 Stat. 290.)
Inspection of a photocopy of the original treaty, however, reveals that this
is simply a faulty transcription of Louison. There are, then, two individuals
of identical name who signed the treaty. The name Louison may well be derived
from that of Louison Chevalier who informed General Haldimand on February 28,
1779 that he had spent thirty years among the Potawatomi.31
A Louison is identified as "a half Potawatamie" in the schedule of
grants of the Treaty of Oct. 16, 1826. (7 Stat. 290.) In various official documents
the name Louison is also given as Weeson or Weesaw.32
In Tipton's memorandum of Indians drawing rations at the treaty conference here
being considered, we find two Wee son's- one with a band of 40 and one with
a band of 10- rather than the name Louison.33
It should be
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28. Wolcott, A List of Chiefs.... 1827.
29. Wolcott, A List of Chiefs .... 1826.
30. Tipton, Census of Potawatomi Indians, 1827. Ind. Hist. Coll., XXIV, pp. 833-34.
noted that the numbers given for the band doubtless refer to the number attending the treaty council rather than the actual figures of the total band count. Wolcott's lists of chiefs receiving annuities make reference to a Louison located at Terre Coupee. The 1826 list gives "Lou-ee-zone" in a village of 28 called Kesh-kuh-keeuk at Terre Coupee.34 The 1827 list gives identical information except that the village is spelled Keesh-kuk-keenk.35 Tipton, on the other hand, refers in 182836 and 182937 to a Louison located on Eel River whose village is listed as containing between 10 and 13 persons.
The distinction between the two is clarified beyond any doubt by Nellie A. Robertson and Dorothy Riker, the editors of the Tipton Papers for the Indiana Historical Society, who make use of the Case County Deed Records among other sources:
The two Weesons or Louisons mentioned in this list are probably the same two who signed the treaty of 1826; one belonged to the Wabash Potawatomi and the other to the St. Joseph band. The former, a half-blooded Potawatomi, received two sections in 1826, which were subsequently located in Cass County in sections 19 and 20, town 27 north, range 2 east. In 1828 he received one section on Eel River to include his house and cornfield. In the treaty of October 27, 1832, as Wee-sau, he received five sections for his band, including the one granted in 1828, and as Wee-saw, received three sections for himself. The latter section 20, town 36 north, ranges 6 west. These three sections were deeded to Hyacinthe Lasselle, Sr., October 27, 1835. Four of the sections belonging to his band were ceded to the United States in 1836. "Old We-saw" of the St. Joseph Potawatomi received one-half section in 1832. Kappler (ed.), Laws and Treaties, 2:276, 277, 295, 296, 368, 369, 372, 373, 374, 375, 472, 488-89; Cass County Deed Records, 1:15-17; A:336-37. Edward V. Cicott made a sworn statement in 1835 as to the identity of the two Indians for whom the above reserves were made; Tipton certified that Cicott's statements were true. Ibid., A:307-8.38
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34. Wolcott, A List of Chiefs .... 1826.
35. Wolcott, A List of Chiefs .... 1827.
36. Abstract of Provisions Issued to the Potawatomi, August 2-6, 1828.
37. Tipton, Pay Roll of Potawatomi Indians, September 6-8, 1828.
38. The John Tipton Papers, Indian Historical Collections, Vol. XXIV, footnote, p. 616.
The Weesaw of the Wabash band is doubtless the one identified as the son of Perish.39
Menauquet- In the 1827 Potawatomi census, "Me no quet" is
listed as having 25 persons in his village.40 The
number jumps to 52 in the 1828 Potawatomi payroll with the location given as
the "Elk-heart."41 In the 1829 payroll
the number of individuals drops to 27 and the location of the village is given
as "Nah-kau-che-quay-naung".42 In the
subsequent Treaty of Oct. 27, 1832, Article 2, a reservation was made "for
the bands of Mo-ta and Men-oquet, four sections each, to include their
villages".(7 Stat. 400.) This location, mapped by Royce on the headwaters
of the Tippecanoe River,43 may imply a minor
southward movement of the group. Despite this, the placement on the Elkhart-
the major tributary of the St. Joseph River- would suggest affiliation with the
St. Joseph Band.
Motiel- The preceding discussion of Menauquet indicates a linkage of
the villages of Mota and Menoquet by the Treaty of Oct. 27, 1832.(7 Stat. 400.)
Motiel (Mo-teil) supports this linkage in that the 1829 payroll placed Mo-teil
(like Menauquet) at the village of Nah-kau-che-quay-naung with 40 persons.44 This number is similar to the census figure for
Mota in 1827, 41, though the
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39. Order, Joseph Holman to Hugh Hanna, dated June 6, 1827. Ind. Hist. Coll., XXIV, p. 728.
40. Census of Potawatomi Indians, 1827. Ind. Hist. Coll., XXIV, pp. 833-34.
41. Tipton, Pay Roll of Potawatomi Indians, September 6-8, 1828. Ind. Hist. Coll., XXV, pp. 103-105.
42. Pay Roll, Wabash and Elkhart Potawatomi, 1829. Ind. Hist. Coll., XXV, pp. 234-36.
43. Royce, Indian Land Cessions .... , plate CXXVII.
44. Pay Roll, Wabash and Elkhart Potawatomi, 1829. Ind. Hist. Coll., XXV, pp. 234-36.