We’ll hear about the history of the now CPN-owned radio station KGFF as it celebrates nearly a century in operation as well as a new program from the Tribe’s housing department to help CPN members become homeowners. The CPN Language Department also tells a traditional story about the creation of North America.
The Darling family’s Potawatomi ties began with the marriage of Elizabeth Ouilmette and Lucius (Louis) Ripley Darling in 1836. Darling descendants have gone on to serve in the military, establish businesses, become talented athletes and more.
Feb. 8, 2021, marks 134 years since President Grover Cleveland signed The Dawes General Allotment Act. This policy divided tribal land into individual holdings, and it included provisions for opening the leftover plots to non-Native settlement.
Dr. Kelli Mosteller, Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s Cultural Heritage Center director, oversees the Nation’s efforts to uphold NAGPRA by working with Native communities across the United States to ensure the accountability of museums and other institutions.
While communing with loved ones and showing appreciation for the bounties and gifts provided is one positive aspect of Thanksgiving, teaching a false narrative of its beginnings perpetuates colonialism and ignores more than 400 years of atrocities committed against Native Americans and First Nations’ people.
Exhausted by white encroachment, Native leaders like Chief Pontiac gained recognition for their efforts to return Turtle Island — North America — to its Indigenous roots. He led a resistance known today as Pontiac’s War or Pontiac’s Rebellion against the British in the 1760s.
The Burnett family has a long, rich history with the Potawatomi people, starting in Michigan and spanning several states across the United States.
The CPN and Shawnee County Parks and Recreation Department partnered to highlight the history of Burnett’s Mound at Skyline Park in Topeka, Kansas. Named after 19th century Potawatomi Chief Abram Burnett, the mound is Topeka’s highest elevated point.
Before removal west, Louis Vieux and his family were prominent fur traders around the Great Lakes. They continued trading after removal to Council Bluffs in present-day Iowa, and the family’s business ideals followed them to the Potawatomi reservation in northeastern Kansas.
Because George Winter’s sketches and paintings serve as the only artistic record of any forced removal, CPN Cultural Heritage Center staff chose to use his pieces as key features within the Forced From Land and Culture: Removal gallery.