"In the beginning there were three brothers searching for new hunting grounds. They had left their former homeland along the shores of the Great Salt Water (Atlantic Ocean). Near at what is today known as Sault Ste. Marie, the three brothers built a new village. Here they enjoyed the clear water and the abundance of fish and game. In their birch bark canoes they traveled on countless rivers and lakes, and established an extensive trade network with other people who also spoke the Algonquian language. Soon, the new village prospered. Its inhabitants called themselves Neshnabek, meaning “True or Original People”.
After a while, the village had become too big. The three brothers had to find new places for their people. The oldest brother, being the Chippewa (Ojibwe), the Keeper of the Faith, moved to the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior. The middle brother, the Ottawa (Odawa), the Keeper of the Trade, went to Manitoulin Island on Lake Huron. And the youngest brother, the Potawatomi (Bodwe’wadmi), the Keeper of the Fire, found his new home along the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan. In honor of the close brotherhood of the three brothers these three tribes later formed the “Council of the Three Fires” or “Three Fires Confederacy”."
This early history of the Potawatomi is from the outstanding website of the Forest County Potawatomi Cultural Center and Museum The Forest County Potawatomi Cultural Center and Museum That website is one of the best websites I have seen on the internet!
The Wasaksing or Parry Island Potawatomi are not on your list and they hosted one of the Gatherings a few years ago. The Stoney Point Potawatomi are not on your list either and they have a large number of Potawatomi people at their community of Kettle Point and Stoney Point. There must be well over 300 people by the name of George there and their name was once Mandoka.
Posted by: Darryl Stonefish | January 27, 2007 at 01:15 AM