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POTTAWATOMIES OF SOUTHERN MICHIGAN. They are Good Indians, Which May Be One Reason Why They are Dying Off So Rapidly—The Tribe Will Soon be Extinct. Detroit Journal. The remnants of the Pottawatomie tribe of Indians in Michigan now aggregate about 240 souls, and the number is yearly growing less, so rapidly in fact that a few years will witness their entire extinction. The largest part of the tribe find homes in Van Buren and Cass counties, but a few isolated families are scattered through out the northern part of the state, and some 15 members are located just over the line in northern Indiana. In 1883 a move was made to locate them on a reservation, west of the Missis sippi, where the rest of the tribe had been located, but this did not meet with suc cess, and eventually Chief Pokagon pur chased of the government a large tract of land in Cass county, near where the vil lage of Pokagon now stands, on which the tribe was domiciled. This tract was held in common, but the deeds were given to Chief Pokagon, and after his death his heirs sold the land and the Indians were forced to leave it. Since that time there have been two settlements, one in Silver Creek township, Cass county, and the other in Van Buren county, near Hartford, but the tribal relation has been sustained. Of the later chiefs, Joseph Topash, who died in 1881 at the age of 55, was the most notable, he being at one time quite wealthy. He became impoverished by endeavoring to collect what was claimed to be due his people on a promised annui ty from the government. Alexis Ahena gar is the present chief, and is now serv ing his second term. The government of the tribe consists of a chief, a general committee or council, all being elected each four years. The chief acts jointly with the council on all matters concerning the internal affairs of the tribe, the interpreter acting as secre tary. The council alone has power to make contracts, those with claim agents being the only ones so far made. Simon Pokagon, grandson of the old chief of the same name, is the present interpreter. Frank Topash, son of Chief Joseph Topash, is a well known young man of about 30 years of age and is in reality the head of the tribe. He attended the pub lic school at Dowagiac and lacked but one year of graduation when he left to act as interpreter. The young man now has charge of the correspondence with the commissioner of Indian affairs, and has made two visits to Washington in the in terest of his tribe. While this tribe did not join their fel lows on the western reservation, they claimed the annuity which was promised in the event, and received several small sums from the government during the lifetime of Chief Pokagon. In 1866 they received $39,000, the amount being secur ed through the efforts of a half-breed named Cole, who was afterward adopted into the tribe and shared in the distribu tion. John Critcher, a Washington claim agent, has been acting as attorney for them at that place since 1880, and a fur ther sum of $190,000 is soon expected, of which Mr. Critcher will receive the neat little commission of $40,000. Several families in the Silver Creek set tlement own small farms and some are tilling rented land, but the majority work occasionally as laborers when the oppor tunity occurs. The money received by them in 1866 was soon dissipated, and while there has been no real suffering they merely eke out a precarious exist ence. While some individual members are considerably advanced in civilization, the most of them cannot speak English intel ligibly, and in no household is that the common tongue. The blanket has en tirely disappeared during the past few years, but some families may still be seen preparing their hominy by means of the wooden mortar and pestle. Some of the younger children attend school occasion ally, but the constraint soon becomes irksome. The Pottawatomies stand well in the scale of morality. All of the Indians are devout Catholics, and at each settlement stands a handsome church edifice, in the building of which they were largely in strumental. Father Cramer, stationed at Silver Creek settlement, devotes much time to their welfare, and largely to his earnest efforts is their good conduct due. They have practically no amusements, spending a large portion of the time in hunting and fishing, but this season the young bucks have organized a baseball club and the prospect of playing oppos ing teams has awakened much interest among the whole tribe. The death rate has been large the past year, the percentage being much larger than the births. Very few old men are to be seen, and one over 50 is an exception. Peter Wapleigh, the oldest Pottawatomie in Michigan, is said to be over 100, but his exact age is not known. The large death rate and the frequent intermarriages are slowly but surely extinguishing the race, and soon the Pottawatomie will be known in Michigan no more.
Newspaper Details
Hillsdale Standard
Hillsdale, Michigan, US
Tue, Jun 25, 1889
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Jake M.
USA 12 Jun 2026
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