Menominee Village

In the mid-19th century, Menominees lived by hunting, fishing, gardening, harvesting wild rice, and gathering wild plants. Deer still were plentiful but buffalo had left the area. Note the use of a sail, an idea borrowed from Europeans. Their houses were reed mat or bark covered structures, rectangular in summer and dome-shaped in winter. Their villages were governed by a council of the heads of families and people claimed membership in particular families (or clans) through their father's line. Once on the reservation in 1854, these family groups settled in different areas. Menominees still sought spirit helpers, the most powerful of whom were in the Sky World. The Medicine Lodge conducted curing and mortuary rituals. Artist unknown, 1842, courtesy of Wisconsin Historical Society.

Dakota Village, ca. 1853

This was a summer village of gable-roofed bark covered houses. In the winter, smaller conical shaped houses were used. The Dakota hunted deer and buffalo until the latter began to disappear in Minnesota in the early 19th century. In the fall and spring, they hunted waterfowl, and fished in the summer with spear and net. The women collected wild rice in the fall. The women tended gardens and the men hunted small animals for their fur. The Dakota had an extensive network of kinspeople on both the mother's and father's side. After they were assigned reservation land in 1853, ties to the local community and payments (from land cessions) became increasingly important. Dakotas made decisions in councils where heads of families deliberated until they all agreed. Dakota individuals sought spirit helpers and often joined religious societies, such as the Medicine Lodge. Painting by Seth Eastman in Mary H. Eastman, The American Aboriginal Portfolio (Newberry Library, Ayer 250.45 .E2 1853).

The Ottawa and Ojibwa at Sault Ste. Marie

Small groups of relatives led by senior family members camped seasonally to take advantage of food resources, including game animals, wild rice, and native plants. Here they are at a fishing camp. They also planted gardens. Individuals belonged to the clans of their fathers. Medicine lodges were held at larger gatherings. Painting by Paul Kane, 1840s, courtesy of Royal Ontario Museum.

Winnebago Medicine Lodge

This painting is a representation of a ceremony of the Grand Medicine Society, which promoted health. Persons who wished to belong to the society sought access to spirit power and apprenticed themselves to members of the society. There were several levels of accomplishment that members had to work to achieve. They sought to learn how to maintain a relationship with spirit helpers and how to heal with plants. Medicine people or Mide also served as spiritual leaders in their communities. This religion was widespread among Great Lakes peoples and continued into the 20th century. Painting by Seth Eastman in Mary H. Eastman, The American Aboriginal Portfolio (Newberry Library, Ayer 250.45 .E2 1853).

Deaf Man's Village, near Peru, Indiana, 1839

Watercolor by George Winter. The leader of this Miami village, Deaf Man, died in 1833. His widow Frances lived here with her daughters and their families. In addition to bark-covered wigwams, they had log cabins, typical of the Miami, who were living in a forested area reserved to them. Deaf Man's family and others also had stables. In the village were 50 or 60 horses, 100 hogs, 17 head of cattle, as well as geese and chickens. There were many small Miami villages in this area, where Miami people received payments from the United States for their land cessions. Miami villages had Indian, Métis, Anglo-American, and African-American residents. Unlike the Ottawa, Dakota, Menominee, and Winnebago, the Miami, who resided on rich farmland, already were surrounded by a large population of settlers. The settlers relied on the Indian trade and sometimes stole stock or other property from the Miami. In 1830, there were 1,154 settlers, and in 1840, 5,480. Courtesy of Tippecanoe County Historical Association.

Camp Scene, Potawatomi, in Indiana, 1837

Watercolor by George Winter. These Potawatomis have left their log cabins to temporarily camp for an event such as a distribution of payments or a ceremony. The woman is grinding up corn to use in the preparation of a meal. The man may have been hunting or working as a messenger. Their garments are made of trade cloth and they wear moccasins. George Winter (1809-76) was born in England and followed his parents to America in 1830. He studied art in New York, then went west to Indiana in 1837, where he worked as a professional painter who produced at least 100 pen and pencil drawings and watercolors, largely of Potawatomi and Miami Indians just prior to their removal from the region. He continued to work as an artist until 1850. Winter's work is recognized for his accuracy of likeness and clothing. Courtesy of Tippecanoe County Historical Association.

Jean Baptiste Brouillette, 1837

Watercolor by George Winter. Of French and Miami ancestry, Brouillette was both a Baptist convert and a healer, who Winter noted had cured a woman of a stab wound. Brouillette was not unusual in his reliance on both old Miami custom and new American alternatives. He was esteemed by his American friends and known as a good orator among the Miami. He wears expensive clothing, including a shawl used as a turban (typical of Miami men) and silver ear bobs. By this time Indian silversmiths made this kind of jewelry. Courtesy of Tippecanoe County Historical Association.

Massaw, 1837

Watercolor by George Winter. Massaw was a woman chief among the Potawatomi, who signed the treaty of 1836. She inherited her position because her father was an important chief. Massaw married an American, Andrew Goslin, who sometimes was employed by the federal government. Very influential among her people, she was quite wealthy and owned an inn. She lived in a large, well-made cabin. She wears a blanket and blouse of broadcloth, many strands of beads, and silver ear bobs. Her clothing is decorated with ribbons and her cape is ornamented with many silver brooches. She wears an expensive blue crepe shawl. Courtesy of Tippecanoe County Historical Association.

War Club Carved from Wood, with Iron Spike. Sauk and Mesquakie [Fox]

This club also is decorated with braided horse hair and glass beads. Metal obtained from traders largely replaced stone or bone in the manufacture of tools and weapons. Indians repurposed trade goods, for example, making spear and arrow points and knives out of trade kettle scrap. Photo courtesy of the Field Museum (neg. A110951c, 92039).

Quilled Charm Pouch. Sauk and Fox

Porcupine quills were flattened and dyed, then used to embroider designs on hide. This pouch is also decorated with trade beads and wool yarn obtained from traders. A warrior carried objects that symbolized the spirit being on whose help he relied. Photo courtesy of the Field Museum (neg. A110954c, 62514).

Cloth Shoulder Bag. Ojibwa, Wisconsin

This type of bag is called a bandolier. It is decorated with beaded yarn tassels and silk binding. In the mid-18th century through the 19th century, men wore these bandoliers on ceremonial occasions. Bandoliers indicated that a man had social standing. The style probably was in imitation of the bullet pouch carried by British soldiers during the 18th century. At first, Indians used geometrical patterns of beadwork on these bags, but by the 19th century floral patterns prevailed. Silk fabric was a luxury item. Photo courtesy of the Field Museum (neg. A111491c, 15303).

Bandolier Made of Cloth and Decorated with Yarn, Ribbons, and Glass Beads. Ojibwa or Potawatomi, Michigan

This bag has a velvet top, and the beaded floral leaf design is typical of 19th century bandoliers. Photo courtesy of the Field Museum (neg. A111486_1c, 206355).

Woven Yarn Bag. Winnebago, Nebraska

Bags were finger woven from wool from old trade blankets and from wool yarn produced in Europe and in the colonial settlements. Prior to trade with Europeans, women made these bags from buffalo hair wool, basswood fibers, and natural dyes. The designs included the thunderbird and the underwater monster. This bag has a deer design. Photo courtesy of the Field Museum (neg. A144T, 92075).

Wool Bag. Sauk and Fox, Tama, Iowa

This yarn bag also has a deer design. Photo courtesy of the Field Museum (neg. A109622c, 34783).

Woman's Cloth Robe with Ribbon Appliqué. Potawatomi, Wisconsin

Before they relied on trade goods, women made clothing from hide or plant fiber and used porcupine quill embroidery as decoration. After obtaining dress goods, they developed ribbon appliqué decoration to a fine art, and it was used instead of or in conjunction with glass beads. Photo courtesy of the Field Museum (neg. A114177c, 155768).

Moccasins with Ribbon Appliqué and Glass Beads. Potawatomi, Kansas

Moccasins were made of deer hide and were worn every day well into the 20th century. Non-Indians also purchased and wore moccasins in the colonial era. Photo courtesy of the Field Museum neg. A114178c, 155681).

Man's Cloth Shirt with Beaded Floral Design. Fox, Tama, Iowa

Colorful floral designs increasingly were common in the 19th and 20th centuries. Before Europeans arrived, floral designs were used but they were smaller and more stylized. Photo courtesy of the Field Museum (neg. A67T, 111611).

Pawatomi Emigration, 1838

The Potawatomi in Indiana were affluent compared to most of the settlers, many of whom were envious. The United States pressured the Potawatomi to cede their land in Indiana, and cessions in 1836 involved promises that the Indians would leave Indiana. In 1838, 850 Potawatomi from Yellow River were moved into a camp, held there, then forced to travel west to Kansas. Many died on the way. Their trek became known as the Trail of Death. Winter's drawing shows the Potawatomi on foot and horseback moving toward the Wabash River, while the American citizens watch from the bluffs. Americans moved onto their farms and took over their fields and property after they left. Other Potawatomi groups negotiated for the right to stay in Michigan. Drawing by George Winter, courtesy of Tippecanoe County Historical Association.

Sauk in Oklahoma, 1885

In the photograph, the Sauk chief Pashipaho (standing) and his council are in front of the winter lodge used as a council house. Some Sauk agreed to move from Kansas to Oklahoma in 1867. Most were there by 1869 and the army forcibly removed the others in 1886. In 1890, the land on which the Sauk settled in Oklahoma was allotted and the unallotted acreage, sold. Photo by William S. Prettyman, courtesy of Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma.

Kickapoo Going to Mexico, 1903-05

The Americans forced the Kickapoo west to Missouri in the early 19th century. In 1839 some moved south to Mexico (now Texas), largely for more personal and political freedom. After Texas won independence from Mexico, many Kickapoo went north to Oklahoma. During the Civil War in 1862-65, some left Oklahoma for Mexico, joining Kickapoo already there, living in Coahuila. The Mexican government provided assistance, hoping they would be a buffer against raids by other Indians. In Oklahoma, when the federal government attempted to destroy Kickapoo traditions, a large number migrated south to Mexico (1903-05), seeking freedom and self-rule. In 1905 the Kickapoo moved farther west from Coahuila to Sonora, where they attained reservation land. Oklahoma Kickapoo often visited, particularly to participate in ceremonies. Photo by their agent Martin J. Bentley, courtesy of National Anthropological Archives (neg. 06177300).

Indian Territory reservations

Most of the groups who were forced to leave the Midwest ended up in central and northeast Indian Territory (now Oklahoma): Peoria (Illinois), Ottawa, Wyandot, Shawnee, Seneca (Shawnee allies), Sauk and Fox, Kickapoo, Potawatomi. Groups from the southeastern United States settled in southeast Indian Territory and Indians from the western plains settled in western Indian Territory. Courtesy of Matthew D. Parker, Thomas' Legion: The 69th North Carolina Regiment, thomaslegion.net

Frances Slocum and her daughters, 1839

In 1778, when she was about five years old and living on her family’s farm in Pennsylvania colony, Frances was captured by Delawares. She eventually married a Delaware warrior. Later, she married Deaf Man, a Miami warrior, and moved with him after the War of 1812 to the Mississinewa River Valley in Indiana. They had four children, of whom two daughters survived to adulthood. At the time of the removals of Indians in Indiana, she was known as Mo-con-no-qua. She lived in the same manner as other Miami and spoke no English. Apparently, to obtain consideration with respect to removal, she announced her identity as Frances Slocum. Her brother and sister came from Pennsylvania and tried to convince her to leave, but she chose to remain with her Miami family. George Winter painted her portrait at the request of her brother. Her older daughter Cut Finger was married to Jean Brouillette and her younger daughter Yellow Leaf (who turned away from Winter) was a widow. As a Miami, Frances lived a life of relative affluence compared to settlers. In her double cabin, she had beds, a table, chairs, dishes, utensils, blankets, expensive clothing and jewelry. When she revealed her identity, she received national attention. When Americans portrayed her as a pitiful figure held captive for almost seventy years, she generated sympathy and Congress granted her and her family 620 acres of public land in Indiana. She was permitted to draw her payment prescribed by treaty at the nearby Fort Wayne. She named as family members all the people in the village. In this way, a small group of Miami were permitted to remain in Indiana. Another Miami, Francis Godfroy, also received a land grant and subsequently allowed Miami who returned to Indiana from Oklahoma to settle there. Painting by George Winter, courtesy of Tippecanoe Historical Association

Sinisquaw, Potawatomi Woman, with her two children, 1837

Winter painted her at the village of Kee-Wau-Nay, where she lived a relatively affluent life. She was married to an Anglo-American man, Tom Robb, who worked for the federal officials as a messenger. She received $300 a year plus food at the time the treaty payments were made. Sinisquaw converted to Catholicism. She went west with the other Potawatomi emigrants in 1838. Her son (the small child in the portrait) died and her husband died. Subsequently, she returned from the west and settled in a small Potawatomi community in Silver Creek, Michigan. Other small groups of Christian Potawatomi managed to subsist in Michigan and northern Wisconsin. Painting by George Winter, courtesy of Tippecanoe Historical Association.

Leopold Pokagon

After 1830, Potawatomi villages began to cede land and remove west. Most struggled to stay in their homeland. At the 1833 Treaty at Chicago, Potawatomi from northern Wisconsin refused to leave their homes and, in fact, remained. Most of those from southern Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois agreed to move west. In Michigan, a group of Potawatomi, led by Pokagon, negotiated successfully to remain. They were Catholic converts. To solidify their position, they purchased land and paid taxes on it, in effect becoming citizens of Michigan. Pokagon held the title to the land on behalf of the others until he died. They pursued their treaty rights throughout the 19th century, obtaining lawyers and sending delegations to Washington. Painting by Van Sanden, 1820s-30s, courtesy of the Center for History, owned and operated by the Northern Indiana Historical Society.

Yellow Thunder in front of a mat-covered wigwam (house), about 1880

He holds a gun stock war club. The Winnebago (Ho-Chunks) were forced to agree to removal by 1838 but not all the Winnebago acquiesced. Yellow Thunder and his followers refused to leave Wisconsin and led a fugitive existence into the 1860s. The federal government made efforts to remove them west of the Mississippi but they persisted in returning to Wisconsin. They attempted to obtain the legal right to stay, issuing appeals to government officials. Yellow Thunder eventually got help to obtain land under the Homestead Act of 1862. In 1881 special legislation provided for 40-acre inalienable homesteads and financial aid to establish farms. They built wigwams and established gardens but continued to practice a subsistence economy dependent on moving from place to place. They clustered around Black River Falls in western Wisconsin and Wittenberg to the east. They lived on homesteads until about 1906. In the early 20th century a number of Winnebago accepted the peyote faith (Native American Church), which coexisted with Christianity and Native religion. Photo by H. H. Bennett, courtesy of National Anthropological Archives (neg. 09830800).

Winnebago Women on a Street in Black River Falls, Wisconsin, 1900-1907

Winnebagos (Ho-Chunks) who refused to emigrate west to Nebraska remained near Black River Falls, as well as near Wittenberg farther east. They subsisted by hunting, gathering, gardening, and fishing and some wage work and they shopped in towns like Black River Falls. Photo courtesy of National Anthropological Archives (neg. BAE GN4348).

Political Cartoon, 1890

The performance of the United States as trustee for Indian land and property was a national scandal in the late 19th and the 20th centuries. This cartoon makes the point that the money and resources owed to Indians largely were siphoned off by federal employees and their partners in the corporate world. White Earth reservation will serve as an example. The Ojibwa who settled there had been guaranteed by treaty that they would get help to reorganize their economy. Federal agents pushed commercial agriculture at the expense of lumbering so that the non-Indian lumber interests could remove timber cheaply from the reservation. In 1889 Congress mandated the allotment of the reservation, which meant that Ojibwas born after 1889 would only have land if they inherited it from allottees and they would inherit only a portion of an allotment if there was more than one heir. Land not allotted (and this included the best timber land) was made available for sale at below market prices. Congress recognized the fraud involved but allowed the sales anyway. In 1902 Congress provided for the sale of land of deceased allottees, despite promises in 1889 that the allotments would be inalienable for 25 years. As trustee for the income from Indian land, Congress decided that federal agents would control Indian spending and allowed individuals only ten dollars a month. This was not adequate for their support, so families mortgaged their land to get more money and eventually lost the land. In 1906 the secretary of the interior began to declare some allottees competent to manage their affairs, transferring the trust title to their land into fee status, which meant that the land owner was liable for local property tax. Then competency began to be defined in terms of "degree of Indian blood." The Ojibwa were classed as Full Blood or Mixed Blood, and Mixed Bloods received fee patents on their land. In 1914 the Supreme Court supported this use of "race" as an indicator of competence by ruling that any amount of White ancestry made a person a "Mixed Blood." Ninety percent of the reservation land passed into non-Indian hands and the Ojibwa entered a period of desperate poverty. What money remained in the tribe's account was mismanaged by the federal government. Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Detroit Publishing Company Collection (LC-D4-10865).

Census of Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa, 1849

Drawn by a Chippewa (or Ojibwa) leader, each family is symbolized by the name of the head of the family. The members of this village nearly all belonged to the same clan. There were 108 individuals in 34 families. Some of the names of family heads are: 2, Valley; 4, Shooter; 5, Catfish; 34, Axe. The federal government eventually imposed a Western model of family. Policy mandated that all family members take the name of the male head of household as a surname. Still, individuals continued to identity with their clan. Drawing by Nago-nabe in Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Historical and Statistical Information, Respecting the History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States (Newberry Library, Ayer 250 .S3h 1851, v. 2, pl. 54).

Winnebago Girls, Emily Rosh and Cecilia Londrosh, at Carlisle, 1879

Carlisle Indian School was founded in 1879 in an old army barracks in Pennsylvania. It was the first non-reservation school for Indians and became the model for schools elsewhere, both on reservations and off. Indians also attended local schools operated by churches. In the beginning, students had to remain at Carlisle for three-year terms; later, the term was extended to five years. In the summer, the students were sent out to non-Indian homes in the community to work. When students arrived at Carlisle, they were dressed in American-style clothes to change their appearance. They were discouraged from speaking their language. And, they spent half of the day in the classroom learning reading, writing, and arithmetic, and the other half-day working to defray the cost of the school. The boys labored at farming and learning trades, such as shoemaker, and the girls worked cleaning, sewing, and cooking. The goal at Carlisle was to separate the children from their families and communities so as to mold them into "Americans." Officials justified child labor as the best way to teach Indians to "work." Conditions at these schools were such that the death rate among the children was high, and many left in poor health. Most returned to their communities and became reintegrated, some serving as advocates for Indian rights and making use of their ability to speak and write English to help their leaders. In the early 20th century, the federal government began to encourage Indian children to attend local public schools, transferring tribal funds to the states. But Indian children were the victims of discrimination, so reservation schools were the preferred option for Indian parents. Photo courtesy of National Anthropological Archives, (INV. 06829900).

Menominee Medicine Lodge, Shawano, Wisconsin, 1925

Membership in the Medicine Lodge became one form of religious expression and it offered psychological support to its impoverished members well into the mid-20th century. The belief system that underlay Medicine Lodge ritual permeated new religions, such as the Dream or Drum Dance. The Medicine Lodge continued to initiate new members by invitation or through inheritance of a medicine bag (containing herbal medicines). The members of this society played an important role in mortuary ritual, making contact with spirits of the dead to make sure they did not disturb the living. They also cured illness with medicinal plants and by convincing patients of their ability to attract the aid from spirit beings. By affecting the patient’s state of mind, they improved symptoms and the herbal cures often were effective. This postcard is a reproduction of a photo by Truman Ward Ingersoll, 1891, Keshena, Wisconsin. Courtesy of National Anthropological Archives, (INV. BAE GN 609B1).

Potawatomi Prayer board, Wisconsin

Pictographic writing was used to record medicinal formulas and prayers in the Medicine Lodge religion. Native religious rituals coexisted with Christian ones and, in the case of the Winnebago, with peyote ritual, which was introduced through their contacts in Nebraska. Peyote ritual spread to other communities, for example, the Menominee. Photo courtesy of the Field Museum (neg. A111494c, 155764).

Sauk and Fox Ladel

This was probably used in the Medicine Lodge. Note the effigy on the handle. Photo courtesy of the Field Museum (neg. A110952c, 92029).

Winnebago "Powwow," 1907

In the early 20th century, Winnebagos (Ho-Chunks) living in the Black River Falls area began holding Homecoming Dances. Apparently inspired by their contacts with the Winnebago who lived on a reservation in Nebraska, the "war dance" (actually, the Grass Dance, which was a men's society associated with war and war power symbolism) became a feature of these gatherings. There were dances, pony races, ball games, and foot races. They held the dances in a large arbor made of poles with a pine-bough roof. Singers sat around a large drum. The Homecoming was largely attended by Winnebagos from various parts of Wisconsin, as well as Nebraska. At first, non-Indians were not particularly welcome, but in 1908 tradesmen were permitted to sell refreshments, and the next year non-Indians could buy admission. But the Winnebago did not view the event as a "show" for non-Indians. Leaders encouraged the non-Indians to view their contribution as equivalent to the gifts that Winnebagos gave each other at the dance-symbolic of interacting with one's neighbors in a moral way. These dances helped reinforce ethnic group ties and alliances between Indian groups generally. Local dances were held on other reservations in the early 20th century, as well. Photo courtesy of National Anthropological Archives, (INV. BAE GN4412).