CPN Julie - People of the Place of the Fire

The medicine wheel represents many concepts but overall represents circles of life and connections. Starting at the top and going clockwise * The four directions: North, East, South, West.   [I’ll just plant a seed here that in some discussions about directions, there are seven, which add above, below, and center] * Stages of life: elders, children, youth, adult  (Yup, I’m elder - older than 55) * Medicines: sweetgrass, tobacco, cedar, sage (used in ceremonies, gifts, cleansing, healing, protection) (Wishkpemishkos, Sema, Kishki, Wabshkebyek). More on smudging another day. * Seasons: winter, spring, summer, fall * Elements: wind, fire, earth, water  East is the direction of new beginnings.  Grand Entry at Pow Wow is through the eastern door and circles clockwise.  The pipe with tobacco (before sweatlodge and other ceremonies) is raised to the east first, then south-west-north, then passed clockwise.  Keywords: wheel...

In Citizen Potawatomi, we are connected to certain families, those that received land allotments with the move from Kansas to Oklahoma.  We are of the La Clair family (also spelled LaClair or LaClaire).  We are EAGLE clan. A story on the importance of Eagle (and the other clans) another day. ”You are here”   ^ Your mother or maybe your grandmother or great-gma (Bette, Judy, Sharon, Susan, Lynda)  ^ Grandpa Dick (Richard Leroy Pitcher, 1914 - 1982) born in Pendleton, Oregon  ^ Bert Royal Pitcher (1893 - 1949) born in Kansas  ^ Ida Louise (DuChene) Pitcher (1876 - 1961) born in Kansas and John Milton Pitcher Ida is the one who shows on your CPN enrollment card  ^ Zoie (La Clair) DeChene (circa 1858 - ??) and Benjamin DeChene or DuChene  ^ Peter Oliver La Claire (circa 1837) and Mary Adelaide (Darveau) La Claire (circa 1841)  ^  Note some of the dates in here may be out of whack! Pierre LaClair (circa...

There are many versions of Sky Woman; this one is relayed by Dr. Kimmerer based on a Chippewa story told to her. She fell like a maple seed, pirouetting on an autumn breeze. A column of light streamed from a hole in the Skyworld, marking her path where only darkness had been before. It took her a long time to fall. In fear, or maybe h ope, she clutched a bundle tightly in her hand .  Hurtling downward, she saw only dark water below. But in that emptiness there were many eyes gazing up at the sudden shaft of light. They saw there a small object, a mere dust mote in the beam. As it grew closer, they could see that it was a woman, arms outstretched, long black hair billowing behind as she spiraled toward them.  The geese nodded at one another and rose together from the water in a wave of goose music. She felt the beat of their wings as they flew beneath to break her fall. Far from the only home she'd ever known, she caught her breath at the warm embrace of so...

During the time the United States was born, our historical families were located in the Great Lakes area, Michigan-Indiana-Illinois from about today’s Detroit south around Lake Michigan.  (If you are interested in much older history, the Potawatomi, Chippewa and Ottawa people were at one point one Indian nation,  originally East Coast, into what is now Canada, and bands spread from there. You might also hear the group referred to as Algonquin-speaking, or Ojibwe, but I’m not going into that detail.) Like so many Native Tribes, our people had a Trail of Tears (or Trail of Death), a forced walk in 1838  across Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and finally Kansas, forced by soldiers with rifles riding horseback. We lost 41 people, mostly the very young and the elderly. Beginning in about 1861 with yet another treaty, when Kansas became a state, our band was both pressured to move again (railroads wanted the land) and looked to take control of their destiny after so many govern...

Bozho ndenwemagek (hello all my relations). Last summer I was half-listening to a program on NPR, featuring a guest talking about botany from a Native perspective. But I was fully listening once I heard the guest say, “In my native language, Potawatomi, our names for plants carry animation and also carry the respect our ancestors showed...” Holey moley, out of all the tribes across this continent our was mentioned! And not just Potawatomi, but Citizen Band. So I checked out the electronic book from my library, Braiding Sweetgrass by Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer. And I have since bought myself a paper copy. If you’re not hooked at the beginning with the story of Sky Woman then perhaps it’s not your path to the knowledge which will sing to you, but I’m sure something else will. I plan to share the Sky Woman story in tomorrow’s post.  And I expect to draw more blog entry ideas from her. Once you find your self curious and open to knowing more, someone will cross your path to help g...

Sometimes you’ll hear a conflict between “more-Indian” folks and “fair-skinned” folks.  Here is the word from our tribal chairman John “Rocky” Barrett ( Keweoge , He Leads Them Home), as reported in the May 2019 issue of our newsletter the Hownikan : “Please remember that tribal membership is determined by descendancy, not the fiction perpetrated by the federal government as ‘blood degree.’ You are a Citizen Potawatomi Indian by federal law and Tribal law.  If you are a descendant of the 45 or so families that formed a new tribe in 1861 in Kansas, you are a Citizen Potawatomi. It is not about your looks. It is about your legal dual citizenship and your heritage under a Tribal government recognized by Congress in over 40 different treaties. The United States only makes treaties with other ‘sovereign nations,’ hence our constitutional status and ability to govern our own people and lands. Your heritage belongs to you. Your Tribe was created to help each other as blood kin. We ...

Bozho (Hello) family! A cousin asked if I might occasionally share what I’ve learned about our Native heritage. My hope is for this daily blog to have digestible (short) bits of information.  I’ll do my best to tag with keywords so you can search posts for categories you’re most interested in.  For example, maybe you will be most drawn to stories about our specific family members since we grew up with NO stories.  Or the history of Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Or language. Or broader Native issues beyond our tribe. If you have questions, let me know and I will answer as best I know, or research it for you. Migwetch (thank you) for following along. Julie Keywords: introduction