Ida Louise Duchane Pitcher

Ida Louise Duchane (married Pitcher)

This is specific to our family. As a starting point, here is a link to a tribal newpaper story on our LeClair family: https://www.potawatomi.org/blog/2023/03/16/leclair-family-history/ 

Ida Louise is the one listed on our CPN tribal identification cards, our ancestor on the rolls of 1887.  Her middle name is listed as "Louisa" in some documents, including on our cards. There is a designation after her name showing "CP-261" which refers to the land allotments in Oklahoma following the Citizen Band's move from Kansas. More on allotments in a future post.

I've added information to geni.com to reflect the genealogy according to the materials I have. 

When we introduce ourselves in a traditional way, we recognize the seven generations preceding us. 

I am Julie, daughter of Bette
Daughter of Richard
Son of Bert
Son of Ida Louise 
Daughter of Zoa 
Daughter of Peter Le Clair *
Son of Pierre La Clair
(and for an eighth generation, son of Antoine and Meokwa/Meoqua) 

Ida was born November 30, 1876, the first of Zoie's three children. By 1890 the US Census shows Ida and her siblings as orphans. 

Ida's was 14 and one-half when her first child, Vina, was born in 1891. I have so many questions. Who was taking care of Ida and the others after Zoa and Benjamin passed (and how did they die)? Was Ida really married off at age 13 to a man who was 25? Okay, that is pretty rhetorical, and I should be glad that she had my great-grandfather Bert a few years later. But that must have been so difficult. Bert was born in Kansas, and the next two were born after they moved to Oklahoma onto her allotment (that thing we'll talk about sometime later). Ida lived to age 84.

That move to Oklahoma is one of my big questions. Was Bert sent to a residential school? Is this the point where our family lost connection to our tribal traditions, stories, history? How did he end up in Pendleton Oregon where my grandfather Richard was born? 

 [publishing thinking this is draft and I'll add more later!]

*If you ever do more research, know that "Duchane" can also show up as De Chene, De Chine, Duchain or more. Likewise LeClair and show up as La... or ...claire, clare.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sacred - a definition - and the Eagle (Kno)

Image
I  want to clarify what I see with the word ‘sacred,’ as used in our stories.  Some people mistakenly think that we worship all things labeled sacred, and that there are multiple gods - not true.  My little granddaughter even asked me, “What about the rain god?”  I don’t know where she got that idea, but I told her we only have Creator, with lots of different words for that concept, like Mnedo (spirit), Shemendo (great spirit), Mamogosnan (father of us all), God.  Sacred, whether Eagle, the four medicines, or others are due the highest respect. We give thanks to them, but we don’t ‘worship’ them, if that distinction makes sense. For example, the drum is sacred; it is blessed with tobacco before being played to welcome the voice and heartbeat of our ancestors. With that in mind, a story about the importance of Eagle (directly from potawatomi.org) Long ago Creator, Mamogosnan (our great father), became angry with mankind because they  did not live i...
Read more

Botany from a Native perspective

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...
Read more

Trail of Tears, September 22, 1838

Image
Potawatomi Trail of Death - Diary of William Polke, 22 Sept. 1838 “Traveled 16 miles from Sidney to Sidoris’ Grove. At 8 o’clock, we left our encampment and entered the prairie at Sidney. The day was exceedingly cold. The night previous had brought us quite a heavy rain, and the morning came in cold and blustery. Our journey was immediately across the prairie, which at this point is entirely divested of timber.  “The emigrants suffered a good deal, but still appeared to be cheerful. The health of the camp continues to improve - not a death has occurred today, and the cool bracing weather will go far towards recruiting the health of the invalids. “A wagoner was discharged for drunkenness. Dissipation is almost entirely unknown in the camp. Tonight, however, 2 Indians were found to have possessed themselves of liquor and become intoxicated. They were arrested and put under guard. Some 6 or 8 persons were left at Davis’s Point this morning for want of the means of transportation. They...
Read more