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Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians are Algonquian-speaking Potawatomi
Potawatomi

The Potawatomi are a Native Americans in the United States people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian languages....
-people located in southwestern Michigan
Western Michigan

West Michigan, also known as Western Michigan, is a region in the U.S. state of Michigan in its Lower Peninsula....
 and northeastern Indiana
Northern Indiana

Northern Indiana is the region of Indiana including 26 counties bordering parts of Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio. The area is generally sub-classified into other regions....
. Tribal government functions are located in Dowagiac, Michigan
Dowagiac, Michigan

Dowagiac, founded in 1848, is a city in Cass County, Michigan in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,147 at the 2000 United States Census....
. The tribal membership has grown to approximately 3,150 members as of 2006. Recent census data reports an unemployment rate of 26% and of those working, 40% living below the poverty guidelines.

History
The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi were party to 11 treaties with the federal government with the major land cession being the 1833 Treaty of Chicago
Treaty of Chicago

The Treaty of Chicago may refer to either of two treaty made and signed in Chicago, Illinois between the United States and the Ottawa , Ojibwe , and Potawatomi Native Americans in the United States peoples....
.






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Encyclopedia


Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians are Algonquian-speaking Potawatomi
Potawatomi

The Potawatomi are a Native Americans in the United States people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian languages....
-people located in southwestern Michigan
Western Michigan

West Michigan, also known as Western Michigan, is a region in the U.S. state of Michigan in its Lower Peninsula....
 and northeastern Indiana
Northern Indiana

Northern Indiana is the region of Indiana including 26 counties bordering parts of Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio. The area is generally sub-classified into other regions....
. Tribal government functions are located in Dowagiac, Michigan
Dowagiac, Michigan

Dowagiac, founded in 1848, is a city in Cass County, Michigan in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,147 at the 2000 United States Census....
. The tribal membership has grown to approximately 3,150 members as of 2006. Recent census data reports an unemployment rate of 26% and of those working, 40% living below the poverty guidelines.

History


The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi were party to 11 treaties with the federal government with the major land cession being the 1833 Treaty of Chicago
Treaty of Chicago

The Treaty of Chicago may refer to either of two treaty made and signed in Chicago, Illinois between the United States and the Ottawa , Ojibwe , and Potawatomi Native Americans in the United States peoples....
. During the Indian removal
Indian Removal

Indian Removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States to Ethnic cleansing Native Americans in the United States tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river....
s, many Potawatomi bands were removed west. However, Chief Leopold Pokagon
Leopold Pokagon

Leopold Pokagon was a Potawatomi Wkema . Taking over from Topinabee , who died in 1826, Pokagon became the head of the Potawatomi of the St....
 was able to negotiate to keep his Potawatomi band of 280 people in southwestern Michigan, leaving them to be the only Potawatomi band not to experience the Indian Removal Act
Indian Removal Act

The Indian Removal Act, part of a United States government policy known as Indian removal, was signed into law by President of the United States Andrew Jackson on May 26, 1830.-19), the U.S....
.

Under the Indian Reorganization Act
Indian Reorganization Act

The Indian Reorganization Act of June 18, 1934, also known as the Wheeler-Howard Act or informally, the Indian New Deal, was a List of United States federal legislation which secured certain rights to indigenous peoples of the United States, including Alaska Natives....
 on 1934, the Pokagon Band asked for reaffirmation of recognition by the Department of the Interior but the DOI denied it. After years of petitioning, the Band regained recognition in 1994. The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians have recently opened up Four Winds Casino Resort. It is said that, were it on the Las Vegas Strip
Las Vegas Strip

The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately 4 mile stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, Nevada, United States. A small portion of The Strip lies in Las Vegas, Nevada, but most of it is in the unincorporated area areas of Paradise, Nevada and Winchester, Nevada....
, it would be the second largest there.

Tribal Government


Tribal Council


-Current and Former Tribal Council Members-

  • Chairman John Miller -


Tribal Court


The Tribal Judiciary is a separate, independent branch of the Pokagon Band government. The Tribal Court Judiciary consists of the Chief Judge, one Associate Judge, and three Appellate Court Justices. All members of the Judiciary are appointed by the Tribal Council to serve staggered four (4) year terms.

-Current and Former Tribal Court Judges/Justices-

  • Chief Judge Michael Petoskey -
  • Associate Judge David M. Peterson -
  • Chief Justice Robert T. Anderson -
  • Associate Justice Matthew L.M. Fletcher -
  • Associate Justice Jill E. Tompkins -


Tribal Police


The Pokagon Tribal Police Department was established in 2003 to provide direct law enforcement services to the tribal members and visitors in the ten county tribal geographic boundaries in Michigan
Michigan

Michigan is a Midwestern United States U.S. state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Anishinaabe language term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
 and Indiana
Indiana

The State of Indiana was the 19th U.S. state admitted into the union. It is located in the Midwestern United States of the United States of America....
.

-Current and Former Tribal Police Captains-

  • Captain Rachel A. Sedowski-Spiegel 2008 -
  • Captain Mike Jungel 2003 - 2008


Gaming Commission


The Pokagon Band Gaming Commission was formed in 2007 as an independent subdivision of the Tribe. The Gaming Commission is responsible for regulating all gaming conducted within Pokagon Band jurisdiction under the Gaming Regulatory Act, the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, and the tribal-state Gaming Compact between the Band and the State of Michigan
Michigan

Michigan is a Midwestern United States U.S. state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Anishinaabe language term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
.

-Current and Former Commissioners-

  • Chairman Steve DuCharme 2007 -
  • Commissioner Thomas R. Russell 2007 -
  • Vice Chairman Bruce V. Molnar 2008 -
  • Vice Chairman Bobby Siller 2007 - 2008


Departments


Department of Education


Department of Health Services


Department of Housing


Department of Human Resources


Department of Social Services


See also

  • Leopold Pokagon
    Leopold Pokagon

    Leopold Pokagon was a Potawatomi Wkema . Taking over from Topinabee , who died in 1826, Pokagon became the head of the Potawatomi of the St....
  • Simon Pokagon
    Simon Pokagon

    Simon Pokagon was a member of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians of Potawatomi Indians, author, and Indigenous peoples of the Americas advocate....


External links