The Birch Bark Books of Simon Pokagon is a collection of articles and legends written for and about the Potawatomi tribe by Simon Pokagon. Originally printed on the bark of the white birch tree, a gesture made “out of loyalty to [Pokagon’s] own people, and gratitude to the Great Spirit, who [...] provided for [their] use [...] this most remarkable tree,” these works paint a picture of America’s native people. “[On] behalf of my people, the American Indians, I hereby declare to you, the pale-faced race that has usurped our lands and homes, that we have no spirit to celebrate with you the great Columbian Fair now being held in this Chicago city, the wonder of the world. No; sooner would we hold high joy-day over the graves of our departed fathers, than to celebrate our own funeral, the discovery of America.” Before Chicago was one of the largest and most prosperous cities in the nation, it was home to the Anishinaabe peoples, including the Potawatomi to whom Simon Pokagon belonged. Angered with the erasure of his people and the whitewashing of the history of violence against America’s indigenous tribes, Pokagon gave this opening speech, “The Red Man’s Rebuke,” at the World’s Columbia Exposition of 1893. A lifelong activist, Pokagon dissects the false narrative of savagery and civilization which justified the actions of European settlers while vilifying those they displaced in their movement westward. During the Exposition, Pokagon would speak to a crowd of 75,000 on his hope for the future of his people. Including lesser known works, such as, “Algonquin Legends of South Haven,” “Algonquin Legends of Paw Paw” and “The Pottawattomie Book of Genesis,” this beautifully designed edition of Simon Pokagon’s work is a classic of Native American literature reimagined for modern readers.

Simon Pokagon, the son of tribal patriarch Leopold Pokagon, was a talented writer, advocate for the Pokagon Potawatomi community, and tireless self-promoter. In 1899, shorty after his death, Pokagon''s novel Ogimawkwe Mitigwaki (Queen of the Woods)-only the second ever published by an American Indian-appeared. It was intended to be a testimonial to the traditions, stability, and continuity of the Potawatomi in a rapidly changing world. Read today, Queen of the Woods is evidence of the author''s desire to mark the cultural, political, and social landscapes with a memorial to the past.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians has been a part of Chicago since its founding. In very public expressions of indigeneity, they have refused to hide in plain sight or assimilate. Instead, throughout the city’s history, the Pokagon Potawatomi Indians have openly and aggressively expressed their refusal to be marginalized or forgotten—and in doing so, they have contributed to the fabric and history of the city. Imprints: The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and the City of Chicago examines the ways some Pokagon Potawatomi tribal members have maintained a distinct Native identity, their rejection of assimilation into the mainstream, and their desire for inclusion in the larger contemporary society without forfeiting their “Indianness.” Mindful that contact is never a one-way street, Low also examines the ways in which experiences in Chicago have influenced the Pokagon Potawatomi. Imprints continues the recent scholarship on the urban Indian experience before as well as after World War II.

Following the 1833 Treaty of Chicago, the Potawatomis, once concentrated around southern Lake Michigan, increasingly dispersed into nine bands across four states, two countries, and a thousand miles. How is it, author Christopher Wetzel asks, that these scattered people, with different characteristics and traditions cultivated over two centuries, have reclaimed their common cultural heritage in recent years as the Potawatomi Nation? And why a “nation”—not a band or a tribe—in an age when nations seem increasingly impermanent? Gathering the Potawatomi Nation explores the recent invigoration of Potawatomi nationhood, looks at how marginalized communities adapt to social change, and reveals the critical role that culture plays in connecting the two. Wetzel’s perspective on recent developments in the struggle for indigenous sovereignty goes far beyond current political, legal, and economic explanations. Focusing on the specific mechanisms through which the Potawatomi Nation has been reimagined, “national brokers,” he finds, are keys to the process, traveling between the bands, sharing information, and encouraging tribal members to work together as a nation. Language revitalization programs are critical because they promote the exchange of specific cultural knowledge, affirm the value of collective enterprise, and remind people of their place in a larger national community. At the annual Gathering of the Potawatomi Nation, participants draw on this common cultural knowledge to integrate the multiple meanings of being Potawatomi. Fittingly, the Potawatomis themselves have the last word in this book: members respond directly to Wetzel’s study, providing readers with a unique opportunity to witness the conversations that shape the ever-evolving Potawatomi Nation. Combining social and cultural history with firsthand observations, Gathering the Potawatomi Nation advances both scholarly and popular dialogues about Native nationhood. Published through the Recovering Languages and Literacies of the Americas initiative, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Two Moon Journey tells the story of a young Potawatomi Indian named Simu-quah and her family and friends who were forced from their village at Twin Lakes, near Rochester, Indiana, where they had lived for generations, to beyond the Mississippi River in Kansas. Historically the journey is known as the Potawatomi Trail of Death. Like the real Potawatomi, Simu-quah would live forever with the vision of her home and the rest of the Twin Lakes village being burnt to the ground by the soldiers as she took her first steps to a distant and frightening westward land. She experiences the heat and exhaustion of endless days of walking; helps nurse sick children and the elderly in a covered wagon that was ill-smelling, hot, and airless; sleeps beside strange streams and caves—and turns from hating the soldiers to seeing them as people. In Kansas, as she planted corn seeds she had saved from her Indiana home, she turns away from the bitterness of removal and finds forgiveness, the first step in the journey of her new life in Kansas.