To highlight some of the CPN Cultural Heritage Center’s archival holdings, the Hownikan is featuring photographs and family history of every founding Citizen Potawatomi family. Records show a long legacy of public service in the Johnson family history.
Citizen Potawatomi Nation received a $60,000 Tribal Heritage Grant to pursue research and restoration at the historic and sacred site of Uniontown Cemetery near Rossville, Kansas. The funds will be used to repair crumbling stone walls and gravestones at the cemetery and to conduct ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys of the area to confirm the location of a mass burial site where several Potawatomi ancestors are believed to have been buried following a cholera outbreak at Uniontown in 1849.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services recently awarded the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Cultural Heritage Center nearly $100,000. The funds will support the CHC’s efforts to modernize and enhance technology to improve the visitor experience.
In honor of Veteran’s Day, this episode dips into the video archives of the CPN Cultural Heritage Center for recent interviews with veteran Tribal members.
October is National Field Trip Month. Citizen Potawatomi Nation offers area schools and youth groups two options for an exciting experience outside of the classroom at the Cultural Heritage Center and Eagle Aviary.
From Sept. 4 to Nov. 4, 1838, the United States forcibly removed a band of 859 Potawatomi and marched them from northern Indiana to present-day Kansas. A caravan in remembrance of this history is held every five years to honor victims and survivors. The next observance will be in 2023, said Janet A. Pearl, member-at-large, Potawatomi Trail of Death Association.
This year’s Family Reunion Festival at the end of June brought activities back in-person for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic. One of the major attractions for the weekend was the craft classes held in the Cultural Heritage Center. Tribal members gathered around tables to learn how to make hand drums, moccasins, sew applique, fashion corn husk dolls, do loom beading, fashion beaded bandoliers and so much more.
This month’s language update highlights the Language Department’s work with summer interns, efforts towards creating several children’s books and upcoming course developments.
Harvard University Native American Program (HUNAP) Faculty Director Joseph P. Gone has announced Kelli Mosteller (Citizen Potawatomi) as the new executive director of HUNAP. Mosteller’s appointment concludes a national search led by Gone and Lori E. Gross, associate provost for arts and culture at Harvard University.
The official start of summer — niben (time of plenty) — begins Tuesday, June 21. Before the invention of grocery stores, it was a key time to harvest and procure food as well as celebrate. During niben, Potawatomi continue age-old traditions of the season that strengthen cultural and personal connections.