The Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan 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 United ...

Potawatomi 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 ...

people in Michigan named for a 19th-century Ojibwe chief. They were formerly known as the Gun Lake Band of Grand River Ottawa Indians, the United Nation of Chippewa, Ottawa and Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan, Inc.,Petition for Federal Acknowledgment of Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan
William L. Church, May 16, 1994. and the Gun Lake Tribe or Gun Lake Band."Tribal Council"
''Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi.'' (retrieved 18 Dec 2009) They are headquartered in

Bradley, Michigan Wayland Township is a civil township of Allegan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,088 at the 2010 census. Communities Bradley is an unincorporated community situated just east of exit 61 off U.S. Highway 131 at . The Br ...

History

Ancestors of this mixed band belonged to the Ojibwe (Chippewa),

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, and Pottawatomi peoples, who lived around the Great Lakes in what became Canada and the United States. The tribes tended to be highly decentralized, with most people living in bands. Under pressure and encroachment by Europeans, there were substantial population losses among the tribes, and some of their people moved west into Minnesota. Others remained in rural areas of Michigan and Wisconsin. They all spoke Algonquian languages, part of a large language family extending from the Atlantic Coast and around the Great Lakes, and had some cultural similarities. Original members of the Gun Lake Band were survivors of these three tribes who gathered together in community near

Gun Lake, Michigan Gun Lake is a lake in the U.S. state of Michigan, located mostly in Barry County with the southwestern tip extending into Allegan County. Along most of the lake are numerous summer homes, cottages, and permanent residences. The Yankee Springs ...

Government

The tribe was recognized by the US federal government on August 23, 1999. It has a written constitution and elected democratic government, consisting of six tribal council members and a chairperson. The current (4/12/2019) tribal council is as follows: *Bob Peters, Chairperson *Ed Pigeon, Vice-Chair *Jeff Martin, Secretary *Open, Treasurer *Jodie Palmer, At-Large Councilperson *Phyllis Davis, At-Large Councilperson *Nicole Overbeck, Salem District Councilperson

Membership

The tribal council voted on rules for enrollment or membership in the tribe. As of 2009, the tribe's enrollment is open only to babies born to current tribal members."Member Services."
''Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi.'' (retrieved 18 Dec 2009) The tribe says they are "a body of mixed-blood Chippewa,

, and Pottawatomi" who trace their descent from the principal chief

Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish (also spelled with various transliterations as Mashipinashiwish, Me-chee-pee-nai-she-insh, Mash-i-pi-wish , Mitch-e-pe-nain-she-wish, or Mat-che-pee-na-che-wish) was a hereditary chief of a Potawatomi Indian group in what ...

. Under the Treaty of Chicago in 1821, the US government provided him and his followers with a reserve near Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Reservation

The Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Reservation () is located in

Wayland Township Wayland Township is a civil township of Allegan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,088 at the 2010 census. Communities Bradley is an unincorporated community situated just east of exit 61 off U.S. Highway 131 at . The ...

, south of the city of Wayland, Michigan. Since being recognized, the tribe was assigned land in trust by the federal government in 2005."Overview P.L. 113-179"
Congress; accessed 27 November 2016 In 2009 under ''

Carcieri v. Salazar ''Carcieri v. Salazar'', 555 U.S. 379 (2009), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the federal government could not take land into trust that was acquired by the Narragansett Tribe in the late 20th century, as it wa ...

,'' the US Supreme Court ruled that the government could not take land into trust for tribes that were recognized after the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. Congress in 2014 passed Public Law No: 113-179 (09/26/2014), a law to clarify that the Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band's land trust assigned to them in 2005 could not be challenged in court under the United States Supreme Court decision of ''

.''

Tribal enterprises

The primary tribal enterprise is the Gun Lake Casino. The first phase was built in 2009 on part of the 147 acres in Allegan County, Michigan that the tribe was given in January 2009 as a land base by the federal government."Ground broken on casino that Station will manage"
''Las Vegas Sun'', Amanda Finnegan, Sept. 18, 2009 It generated 750 jobs during construction. The tribe estimated that it would attract 60,000 guests annually to area hotels. The tribe did not plan to build and operate a hotel. Further, they estimated the enterprise would bring 600 casino jobs. The tribe publishes a newspaper, called ''The Tribal Tribune.'' They provide cultural workshops on traditional practices, such as cradle fire from flint, tapping and processing maple sugar, creating

basswood ''Tilia americana'' is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae, native to eastern North America, from southeast Manitoba east to New Brunswick, southwest to northeast Oklahoma, southeast to South Carolina, and west along the Niobrara River to ...

and hemp dogbane cordage, snowsnakes or ''zhoshke'nayabo'', and

black ash Black ash is a common name for several plants and may refer to: * '' Acer negundo'', native to North America * ''Fraxinus nigra'', native to North America * ''Eucalyptus sieberi ''Eucalyptus sieberi'', commonly known as the silvertop ash or bl ...

basketry, a traditional art form among Michigan tribes."Language/Culture."
''Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi.'' (retrieved 18 Dec 2009)

Education

The reservation is served by Wayland Union Schools.

Notable members

* Kelly Church, basket maker, birchbark bite, and Woodlands school painter *

Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish (also spelled with various transliterations as Mashipinashiwish, Me-chee-pee-nai-she-insh, Mash-i-pi-wish , Mitch-e-pe-nain-she-wish, or Mat-che-pee-na-che-wish) was a hereditary chief of a Potawatomi Indian group in what ...

, 18th- and 19th-century Ojibwe chief *

Cherish Parrish Cherish or variants may refer to: Film * ''Cherish'' (film), a 2002 film by Finn Taylor * ''Cherished'' (film), a 2005 film by Robin Shepperd Music * Cherish (group), an American R&B, soul, and hip hop quartet * ''Cherish'' (David Cassidy ...

, basket maker, birchbark biter

References

External links

Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi
official website
Potawatomi language materials provided by the tribeGun Lake Casino websiteNative Americans in Michigan Databases
Mainly Michigan website, includes "Durant Roll of 1908" and "Mt. Pleasant Indian School Register (1893 to 1932)" {{authority control Allegan County, Michigan American Indian reservations in Michigan Anishinaabe communities in the United States Anishinaabe reservations and tribal-areas in the United States Federally recognized tribes in the United States Great Lakes tribes Indigenous peoples in the United States Native American tribes in Michigan Potawatomi