Potawatomi

The Potawatomi ( ), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are an Indigenous North American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. They are additionally First Nations in Canada. The Potawatomi call themselves Neshnabé, a cognate of the word Anishinaabe. They are part of a long-term alliance, the Council of Three Fires, with the Ojibwe and Odawa (Ottawa). The Potawatomi are considered the "youngest brother" among the three peoples, and are referred to in this context as Bodéwadmi ('keepers of the fire'), referring to the council fire of the alliance. In the 19th century, some bands of Potawatomi migrated west parallel to European and American settlement. In the 1830s the federal government removed most from their lands east of the Mississippi River to Indian Territory—first in Kansas, then Nebraska, finally Oklahoma. Some bands survived in the Great Lakes region and today are federally recognized as tribes, in addition to the Oklahoma Potawatomi.