Potawatomi Indians

Potowatami indians today are divided into seven distinct bands in the United States and three bands in Canada. They are a Woodland Indian tribe. The Potowatami language belongs to the Algonquin language stock.

The Potawatomi name is a translation of the Ojibwe "potawatomink" meaning "people of the place of fire." It has also been translated by various sources as: 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 potowatami people call themselves Neshnabek, a Potawatomi word that refers to "original people". The Potowatomi also sometimes call themselves Anishinabe because at some time in the past, they were part of a larger tribe that split into three tribes.

They are also called the Adawadeny or Atowateany (Iroquois), Assistaeronon (Huron), Kunuhayanu (Caddo), Ouapou, Pekineni ( Fox), Pous, Poux, or Pu (French), Tcashtalalgi (Creek), Undatomatendi (Huron), Wahhonahah ( Miami), Wahiucaxa (Omaha), Wahiuyaha (Kansa), and Woraxa (Iowa, Missouri, Otoe, and Winnebago). Common misspellings of potowatami include Potowatami, Pattawatima, Putawatimes, Pouteouatims, and Poutouatami.

The oral history of this tribe says the Potawatomi originated in the Great Lakes area and more than likely in the area we now call Wisconsin. They then migrated toward the east and lived there along with the Ojibwa and the Odawa. As a result of a spiritual happening these tribes migrated back to the West and eventually returned to the Great Lakes area, where they were known as the Anishinabe.

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