The Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s Cultural Heritage Center provides resources to keep the Tribe’s history safe and accessible for generations to come. One key way the Nation does this is through the CHC’s archives and video interviews. To highlight some of the archive’s holdings, the Hownikan is featuring photographs and family history of every founding Citizen Potawatomi family. If interested in assisting preservation efforts by providing copies of Citizen Potawatomi family photographs, documents and more, and to schedule family interviews, please contact the CHC at 405-878-5830.
Family beginnings
The Negahnquet family endured the hardships of removal and established themselves as leaders both within the Potawatomi Tribe and the Roman Catholic Church.
Born in 1853 in Shawnee County, Kansas, Stephen Ne-bah-qua Negahnquet quickly rose to become a community fixture in Kansas. He was the son of Ne-gahn-quet and Tchoksak. After Stephen’s mother Tchoksak died, his father married a widow named No-dno-qua. Stephen later said he was grateful for his stepmother’s care and spoke of her with respect and love.
Stephen married Angeline Ke-ten-no Wa-was-suq, a daughter of Chief Wa-was-suq. Stephen and Angeline were the parents of Rosalie, Albert, Joseph, John, Mary Fannie (Stephanie), Mary Celeste, Katherine, Stephen W., Rosalie Wawyotch and Thomas.
Seeking stability
The U.S. government heavily pressured the Potawatomi in Kansas to accept allotments and become U.S. citizens. The government’s purpose was twofold — to force Indigenous people to assimilate into mainstream society and to claim lands previously held by tribes. These lands were later sold to railroad companies or opened to settlement.
After consultation among their leaders, some Potawatomi decided to accept allotment. Their decision was likely based on their desire to find security and permanency on land that could not be taken away. Having repeatedly been removed from land they were assured was theirs, these Potawatomi hoped for a period of stability.
After the Treaty of 1867, Stephen removed with his family to Indian Territory and was allotted several sections of land.
While the Potawatomi received citizenship and land allotments through the Treaty of 1861, the U.S. government did not honor the treaty’s terms. During removal, many Tribal members lost everything and had to make the move to Indian Territory with hardly any supplies. The Tribe began planning to relocate south to Indian Territory. From 1872 to 1877, only a few hundred people made the move.
In 1883, Stephen Negahnquet and Thomas Negahnquet joined their fellow business committee members in directly petitioning the federal government that women of the Tribe should also receive allotments as heads of households. Previously, the government would allow non-Native husbands to receive allotment, but the Citizen Potawatomi believed Potawatomi women should control their own land holdings.
On the new Oklahoma reservation, Stephen was among the new leaders elected to the Citizen Potawatomi Business Committee. He was among the first Tribal members to approve the founding of Sacred Heart Mission. All his children would eventually attend the mission school.
New generations flourish
Stephen and his family made the journey to Indian Territory in 1875. They were accompanied by their close friend, Joe Burnett, and his family.
Stephen learned that his non-Native neighbors had trouble remembering Potawatomi names. He decided to take his father’s name as a last name. He first considered his grandfather’s name, Ne-wan-nee, or his own name, Ne-bah-quah, meaning Twilight on the Forest, before finally taking his father’s name of Ne-gahn-quet, which means Leading Cloud.
After becoming established in Indian Territory, the Citizen Potawatomi voted to provide the Catholic Church one-square mile for its facilities. CHC records reveal that many Citizen Potawatomi, among them Stephen Negahnquet, helped cut down trees, split logs and constructed church buildings alongside the Catholic monks.
Father Idisore Robot oversaw the mission’s operations and established the boys’ school in the late 1870s. A girls’ school named St. Mary’s Academy was added in 1880. Stephen believed that children should be taught religion alongside their academics.
Within the CHC archives, Katherine Negahnquet fondly recalled her days at St. Mary’s Academy, especially the Irish nuns who served as her teachers. She said the hardest part about school was being separated from her parents and being confined to a limited space.
“The whole outdoors had been our playground and the rising and setting of the sun, controlled our activity,” she said.
School breaks meant the children could return to their usual activities of fishing, hunting and spending days in the woods. They waded in the creek and picked ripe fruit from the peach and plum trees. But, when the school year began, Katherine said it was hard to adjust to schoolwork after vacation.
Stephen served as an interpreter for the Citizen Potawatomi for several years. He traveled to Washington, D.C., many times. Along with Antoine Navarre and John Anderson, they successfully lobbied the federal government for per capita payments in 1890, 1893 and 1895.
Katherine recalled that her siblings Joseph, John and Mary finished school at Haskell near Lawrence, Kansas. Thomas and Albert both served in World War I. Albert was overseas and celebrated Armistice Day with the French. Thomas also served in World War II.
Joseph later married Minnie Rebecca Couch. Their children were Joseph A., Anthony, Mary, James, Thelma, Maxine and Marie.
Albert was the first full-blood Native American ordained Roman Catholic priest in the United States. He wanted to share Bible teachings with the Potawatomi people in their own language. Albert completed his education and was ordained in Rome. His Catholic clerical name was Father Dom Bede and he spoke Potawatomi, English and Italian.
After returning to Oklahoma, Albert became a fixture at Catholic missions throughout the state, serving in Muskogee, Antlers and Pawhuska. He even lived among and ministered to the Chippewa of White Earth, Minnesota. In 1925, Albert was named the assistant rector of St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Oklahoma City. Albert died on Nov. 13, 1944, and was buried at Sacred Heart Cemetery.
Through perseverance and service to their Potawatomi people, the Negahnquet family established a legacy that their descendants have continued to uphold.
If interested in assisting preservation efforts by providing copies of Citizen Potawatomi family photographs, documents and more, and to schedule family interviews, please contact the CHC at 405-878-5830. Schedule interviews online at portal.potawatomi.org. Learn more about the Family Reunion Festival at cpn.news/festival, and find research resources online at potawatomiheritage.com.