Chief Menominee
Encyclopedia
Menominee was chief of the largest Potawatomi
community in Indiana
at the Twin Lakes of Marshall County
.
In 1820 at a Fort Wayne council, Menominee met with Isaac McCoy
and asked him to visit his village on the Yellow River
. Menominee had become a religious chief among the Potawatomi as he combined the teaching of Tecumseh
and the Prophet with Roman Catholicism. He hoped to create a way for his people to cope with the changes caused by the growing number of settlers and increased pressure by the government. In the 1830s the Carey Mission
declined and was slowly replaced by a Catholic Mission. Father Frederick Reze(e) baptized 13 Potawatomi
, including Pokagon
and his son in 1830, beginning a long history of church influence over the Pokagon community. In 1833, the fathers expanded their mission to the Yellow River Potawatomi of Menominee. These two communities would be the heart of the resistance to removal.
Chief Menominee refused to sign any treaty, which gave away Indian lands. Still, the Treaty of Tippecanoe
(1832) sold his lands. When the Potawatomi of Indiana were being rounded up for transportation to the west, Menominee’s village on the Yellow River became the gathering place of those who did not agree to go. Father Deseille of the mission on the Yellow River was replaced at the government's request, when it felt that he was interfering with the plans for the removal of the Potawatomi. A camp near Menominee’s Yellow River village at the Twin Lakes was established as a place to gather the Michigan and Indiana Potawatomi. But Pokagon Band in Michigan
was not cooperating either. When Menominee again refused to allow his village to be removed by August 6, 1838, the reservation was opened to squatters. When the Potawatomi destroyed the huts of squatters, the whites retaliated by burning the Indians' cabins. In an attempt to prevent bloodshed, Governor David Wallace
of Indiana authorized the enlistment of volunteers. Menominee was lured to a meeting to allow for the militia to surround his village and take the Potawatomi into custody.
On September 4, 1838, the Potawatomi of Indiana began their march to Kansas. Menominee and his band of 859 Christian Potawatomi were forcibly removed in 1838 to Kansas. On the march to Kansas, the food was so poor that the volunteers refused to eat it and demanded funds to buy their own. The Potawatomi were given no option. The route of their march was through the typhoid epidemic region. There were daily deaths. He died at St. Mary’s Mission, Kansas in 1841.
In 1909, a statue of Chief Menominee was erected near the headwaters of the Yellow River in northwest Indiana, three miles southwest of the town of Plymouth, Indiana
. It is the first monument that any state has ever erected to a Native American.
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...
community in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
at the Twin Lakes of Marshall County
Marshall County, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 45,128 people, 16,519 households, and 12,191 families residing in the county. The population density was 102 people per square mile . There were 18,099 housing units at an average density of 41 per square mile...
.
In 1820 at a Fort Wayne council, Menominee met with Isaac McCoy
Isaac McCoy
Isaac McCoy was a Baptist missionary among the Native Americans in present-day Indiana, Michigan and Missouri. He was an advocate of Indian removal from the eastern United States, proposing an Indian state in what is now Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma...
and asked him to visit his village on the Yellow River
Yellow River (Indiana)
The Yellow River is a tributary of the Kankakee River in northern Indiana in the United States. Via the Kankakee and Illinois rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of...
. Menominee had become a religious chief among the Potawatomi as he combined the teaching of Tecumseh
Tecumseh
Tecumseh was a Native American leader of the Shawnee and a large tribal confederacy which opposed the United States during Tecumseh's War and the War of 1812...
and the Prophet with Roman Catholicism. He hoped to create a way for his people to cope with the changes caused by the growing number of settlers and increased pressure by the government. In the 1830s the Carey Mission
Carey Mission
The Carey Mission was established by Baptist missionary Isaac McCoy among the Potawatomi tribe of American Indians on the St. Joseph River near Niles, Michigan, USA in December, 1822. It was named for William Carey, a noted English Baptist missionary...
declined and was slowly replaced by a Catholic Mission. Father Frederick Reze(e) baptized 13 Potawatomi
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...
, including Pokagon
Leopold Pokagon
Leopold Pokagon was a Potawatomi Wkema . Taking over from Topinbee, who died in 1826, Pokagon became the head of the Potawatomi of the Saint Joseph River Valley in Michigan, a band that later took his name....
and his son in 1830, beginning a long history of church influence over the Pokagon community. In 1833, the fathers expanded their mission to the Yellow River Potawatomi of Menominee. These two communities would be the heart of the resistance to removal.
Chief Menominee refused to sign any treaty, which gave away Indian lands. Still, the Treaty of Tippecanoe
Treaty of Tippecanoe
The Treaty of Tippecanoe was an agreement between the United States government and Native American tribes in Indiana on October 26, 1832.-Treaty:...
(1832) sold his lands. When the Potawatomi of Indiana were being rounded up for transportation to the west, Menominee’s village on the Yellow River became the gathering place of those who did not agree to go. Father Deseille of the mission on the Yellow River was replaced at the government's request, when it felt that he was interfering with the plans for the removal of the Potawatomi. A camp near Menominee’s Yellow River village at the Twin Lakes was established as a place to gather the Michigan and Indiana Potawatomi. But Pokagon Band in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
was not cooperating either. When Menominee again refused to allow his village to be removed by August 6, 1838, the reservation was opened to squatters. When the Potawatomi destroyed the huts of squatters, the whites retaliated by burning the Indians' cabins. In an attempt to prevent bloodshed, Governor David Wallace
David Wallace
David Wallace or Dave Wallace may refer to:*David A. Wallace , urban planner and architect*David Euan Wallace , British Conservative member of parliament*David Foster Wallace , American novelist...
of Indiana authorized the enlistment of volunteers. Menominee was lured to a meeting to allow for the militia to surround his village and take the Potawatomi into custody.
On September 4, 1838, the Potawatomi of Indiana began their march to Kansas. Menominee and his band of 859 Christian Potawatomi were forcibly removed in 1838 to Kansas. On the march to Kansas, the food was so poor that the volunteers refused to eat it and demanded funds to buy their own. The Potawatomi were given no option. The route of their march was through the typhoid epidemic region. There were daily deaths. He died at St. Mary’s Mission, Kansas in 1841.
In 1909, a statue of Chief Menominee was erected near the headwaters of the Yellow River in northwest Indiana, three miles southwest of the town of Plymouth, Indiana
Plymouth, Indiana
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 9,840 people, 3,838 households, and 2,406 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,414.0 people per square mile . There were 4,100 housing units at an average density of 589.2 per square mile...
. It is the first monument that any state has ever erected to a Native American.
Additional reading
- Indian Names in Indiana, by Alan McPherson, 1993
- The Potawatomis, Keepers of the Fire, by R. David Edmunds, 1978