Imprints: The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and the City of Chicago

by John N. Low

Overview

The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians has been a part of Chicago since its founding. In very public expressions of indigeneity, they have refused to hide in plain sight or assimilate. Instead, throughout the city’s history, the Pokagon Potawatomi Indians have openly and aggressively expressed their refusal to be marginalized or forgotten—and in doing so, they have contributed to the fabric and history of the city.
Imprints: The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and the City of Chicago examines the ways some Pokagon Potawatomi tribal members have maintained a distinct Native identity, their rejection of assimilation into the mainstream, and their desire for inclusion in the larger contemporary society without forfeiting their “Indianness.” Mindful that contact is never a one-way street, Low also examines the ways in which experiences in Chicago have influenced the Pokagon Potawatomi. Imprints continues the recent scholarship on the urban Indian experience before as well as after World War II.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611861884
Publisher:	Michigan State University Press
Publication date:	02/01/2016
Edition description:	1
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

John N. Low received his PhD in American Culture at the University of Michigan and is an enrolled citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians. He is an assistant professor in comparative studies at Ohio State University-Newark where he also teaches in history and American Indian studies.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xix

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 The Potawatomi as Chicago's Early Urban Indians 11

Chapter 2 Simon Pokagon's Claims of Equality and Appeals for Inclusion 37

Chapter 3 Claims Making to the Chicago Lakefront 67

Chapter 4 The Legacies of Turner, Cody, Streeter, and the Pokagon Potawatomi 95

Chapter 5 Leroy Wesaw and the Chicago Canoe Club 139

Chapter 6 Monuments, Memorials, and the Continued Presence of the Potawatomi in Chicago 163

Appendix 1 Transcription of Pottawattamie Book of Genesis: Legend of the Creation of Man 197

Appendix 2 Selected Essays, Articles, and Monographs Regarding Simon Pokagon 201

Appendix 3 List of Works by Simon Pokagon 205

Appendix 4 Timeline of the 1812 Battle of Fort Dearborn 207

Notes 211

Bibliography 273

Index 297

Editorial Reviews

This is not only a sophisticated narrative of the inextricable relations of Native peoples to historical and contemporary urban spaces, but also the story of a stubborn tribe who insisted on making and maintaining places for themselves all around their southern Lake Michigan homeland.”
—Brian Klopotek, author of Recognition Odysseys: Indigeneity, Race, and Federal Tribal Recognition Policy in Three Louisiana Indian Communities
 

From the Publisher