Citizen Potawatomi Nation is a

federally recognized tribe This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the Unite ...

Potawatomi people The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

located in

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. The Potawatomi are traditionally an Algonquian-speaking Eastern Woodlands tribe. They have 29,155 enrolled tribal members, of whom 10,312 live in the state of Oklahoma.

Government

The Citizen Potawatomi Nation is headquartered in

Shawnee, Oklahoma Shawnee ( sac, Shânîheki) is a city in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 29,857 in 2010, a 4.9 percent increase from the figure of 28,692 in 2000. The city is part of the Oklahoma City-Shawnee Combined Statistical ...

. Their tribal jurisdictional area is in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

and Pottawatomie Counties, Oklahoma. Of the 37,264 enrolled members, 10,312 live within the state of Oklahoma. They have their housing authority and issue tribal vehicle tags. Enrollment in the tribe is based on lineal descent; that is to say, the tribe has no minimum

blood quantum Blood quantum laws or Indian blood laws are laws in the United States that define Native American status by fractions of Native American ancestry. These laws were enacted by the federal government and state governments as a way to estab ...

Current administration

Executive Branch: *Chairman: John A. Barrett *Vice Chairman: Linda Capps *Secretary/Treasurer: D. Wayne Trousdale Legislative Branch: *District #1: Alan Melot, Joplin, MO *District #2: Eva Marie Carney,

Arlington, VA Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

*District #3: Robert Whistler, Bedford, TX *District #4: Jon Boursaw,

Topeka, KS Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central ...

*District #5: Gene Lambert,

Mesa, AZ Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the most populous city in the East Valley section of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is bordered by Tempe on the west, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community ...

*District #6: Rande Payne,

Visalia, CA Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 42nd most populous in California, and 192nd i ...

*District #7: Mark Johnson, Fresno, CA *District #8: Dave Carney, Olympia, WA *District #9: Paul Wesselhoft, Moore, OK *District #10: David Barrett, Shawnee, OK *District #11: Andy Walters, Shawnee, OK *District #12: Paul Schmidlkofer, Tecumseh, OK *District #13: Bobbie Bowden,

Choctaw, OK Choctaw is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States. It is the oldest chartered town in Oklahoma Territory. The city is located approximately 10 miles (16.1 km) east of Oklahoma City and is part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan ar ...

Economic development

They operate a truck stop, two gas stations, two smoke shops, a bingo hall, two tribal casinos, FireLake Discount Foods in Shawnee, FireLake Golf Course, and First National Bank and Trust, with two locations in Shawnee, one in Holdenville, two in Lawton, and three in communities surrounding Lawton. Their estimated economic impact is $422.4 million.

Culture

In January 2006, the tribe opened its extensive Citizen Potawatomi Nation Museum and Cultural Heritage Center in

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

. The building houses the nation's research library, archives, genealogy research center, veteran's Wall of Honor, exhibit and meeting space, and a museum store. The tribe's annual intertribal

powwow A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native American and First Nations communities. Powwows today allow Indigenous people to socialize, dance, sing, and honor their cultures. Powwows may be private or p ...

is no longer held. The Citizen Potawatomi Nation's Family Reunion Festival is held on the final Saturday of June each year. It attracts about 5,000 CPN members and their family members for a variety of cultural and other activities over a three-day period.

History

The Citizen Potawatomi Nation is the successor apparent to the Mission Band of Potawatomi Indians, located originally in the

Wabash River The Wabash River (French: Ouabache) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana in the United States. It flows from ...

valley of

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

. With the

Indian Removal Act The Indian Removal Act was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States President Andrew Jackson. The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for ...

after the

1833 Treaty of Chicago The 1833 Treaty of Chicago struck an agreement between the United States government that required the Chippewa Odawa, and Potawatomi tribes cede to the United States government their of land (including reservations) in Illinois, the Wiscon ...

, the Mission Band was forced to march to a new reserve in

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. Of the 850 Potawatomi people forced to move, more than 40 died along the way. The event is known in Potawatomi history as the

Potawatomi Trail of Death The Potawatomi Trail of Death was the forced removal by militia in 1838 of about 859 members of the Potawatomi nation from Indiana to reservation lands in what is now eastern Kansas. The march began at Twin Lakes, Indiana (Myers Lake and Cook ...

. In Kansas, the Mission Band of Potawatomi lived on a small reserve with the

Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation ( pot, Mshkodéniwek, formerly the Prairie Band of Potawatomi Indians) is a federally recognized tribe of Neshnabé (Potawatomi people), headquartered near Mayetta, Kansas. History The ''Mshkodésik'' ("People of t ...

. The Prairie Band had adapted to the Plains culture but the Mission Band remained steadfast to the

Woodlands culture In the classification of :category:Archaeological cultures of North America, archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 Common Era, BCE to European con ...

. Both cultural groups exhibited very different ceremonial and subsistence strategies, yet were forced to share the land. Seeking a better opportunity for its people, the Mission Band leaders chose to take small farms rather than live together with the Prairie Band. Shortly thereafter, and not fully understanding the tax system, most of the new individual allotments of land passed out of Mission Band ownership and into that of white settlers and traders. In 1867, Mission Potawatomi members signed a treaty selling their Kansas lands in order to purchase lands in

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...

with the proceeds. To reinforce the new land purchase and learning from their Kansas experience, tribal members took U.S. citizenship. From that time on, they became known as the Citizen Potawatomi. By the early 1870s, most of the Citizen Potawatomi had resettled in Indian Territory, present-day

, forming several communities near present-day

. In 1890, the Citizen Potawatomi participated, unwillingly, in the allotment process implemented through the

Dawes Act The Dawes Act of 1887 (also known as the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887) regulated land rights on tribal territories within the United States. Named after Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, it authorized the Pre ...

of 1887. With this Act, the Citizen Potawatomi people were forced to accept individual allotments again. In the

Land Run A land run or land rush was an event in which previously restricted land of the United States was opened to homestead on a first-arrival basis. Lands were opened and sold first-come or by bid, or won by lottery, or by means other than a run. The s ...

of 1891, the remainder of the Potawatomi reservation in Oklahoma was opened up to non-Indian settlement, with the result that about of the reservation was given away by the government to settlers.

Notable tribal members

Woody Crumbo Woodrow Wilson Crumbo (January 21, 1912—April 4, 1989) ( Potawatomi) was an artist, Native American flute player, and dancer who lived and worked mostly in the West of the United States. A transcript of his daughter's interview shows that Mr. ...

(1912–1989), artist, flautist, dancer *

Mary Killman Mary Killman (born April 9, 1991) is an Americans, American synchronized swimming, synchronized swimmer. After switching to synchronized swimming from race swimming, Killman was a member of the teams that won silver medals in the duet and team com ...

(born 1991), Olympic synchronized swimmer *

Robin Wall Kimmerer Robin Wall Kimmerer (born 1953) is an American Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental and Forest Biology; and Director, Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, at the State University of New York College of Environmental Scien ...

(born 1953), environmental scientist, educator, author *

Tyler Bray Tyler Ian Bray (born December 27, 1991) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. After playing his college football at the University of Tennessee, he declared himself eligible for the 2013 NFL Draft, in which he went undrafted. ...

(born 1991), quarterback * Ron Baker (born 1993), Retired Basketball Player *

Kellie Coffey Kellie Ann Coffey (born April 22, 1971) is an American country music artist. She made her debut in 2002 with the release of her single "When You Lie Next to Me", a Top 10 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Song ...

(born 1971), singer, songwriter, Winner Academy of Country Music Award Top New Female 2003 * Creed Humphrey, football player. * *

Notes

External links

Citizen Potawatomi Nation's official websiteCitizen Potawatomi Nation's Gaming Commission official websiteCitizen Potawatomi Nation's official election websiteCitizen Potawatomi Nation's official employment website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Citizen Potawatomi Nation Great Lakes tribes Anishinaabe groups Federally recognized tribes in the United States Native American tribes in Oklahoma