An important part of Family Reunion Festival, the honored families tradition recognizes the families that moved to Oklahoma following forced removal and eventually formed the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. The 2023 honored families are Johnson, Lafromboise, Lareau, LeClair, Melott, Rhodd, Tescier, Weld and Young.
This year, the Nation’s long-standing tradition of recognizing the families that moved to Oklahoma following forced removal and eventually formed the Citizen Potawatomi Nation returns to Family Reunion Festival. This year’s honored families are Johnson, Lafromboise, Lareau, LeClair, Melott, Rhodd, Tescier, Weld and Young.
To highlight some of the CPN archive holdings at the Nation’s Cultural Heritage Center, the Hownikan is featuring photographs and family history of every founding Citizen Potawatomi family. The Melott family was profoundly influential in the founding of present-day Wanette, Oklahoma.
With special care, family heirlooms may withstand regular use so the next generation can enjoy them as well. CPN Cultural Heritage Center experts share tips for caring for heirlooms.
During this episode, we’ll hear tips and tricks for keeping family heirlooms safe, take a ride on an exciting new piece of equipment for CPN’s industrial park, and visit an exhibit highlighting Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and Chicago-based artist Andrea Carlson made a splash in 2021 when her piece “You are on Potawatomi Land” was installed along the RiverWalk in downtown Chicago.
To highlight some of the CHC’s archival holdings, the Hownikan is featuring photographs and family history of every founding Citizen Potawatomi family. The LeClair family history can be traced back to Wisconsin and Illinois, through war, forced removals, and kinship ties with the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, to present-day Pottawatomie County. Read more at cpn.news/leclair.
Through their early years in Potawatomi ancestral homelands in the north, a forced migration to Kansas and many challenges creating a new legacy in southern Pottawatomie County, the Lareau family drew upon their strength and resolve to persevere.
The roots of the Lafromboise family extend to present-day Chicago, Illinois, a history preserved through family stories and documentation that are now held at the CPN Cultural Heritage Center.
Bourbonnais-Tescier descendant Czarina Thompson began as a family history specialist at the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Cultural Heritage Center in 2005. Though the role has changed over the years as new technology and information becomes available, her attention to detail, extensive knowledge and love for helping Tribal members connect with their ancestors remain constant.