The Potawatomi, also spelled Pottawatomi or Pottawatomie, are a Native American tribe from the Great Plains, the upper Mississippi River, and the western Great Lakes region. They speak the Potawatomi language, which is part of the Algonquian language family. They are also known as First Nations in Canada.
The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (Ojibwe: Gichi-wiikwedong Odaawaag miina ojibweg) is a federally recognized Native American tribe located in northwest Michigan on the Leelanau Peninsula. Sandra Witherspoon is the current tribal chairperson, elected in May 2024 for a four-year term after taking over from David Arroyo, who served one term from 2020 to 2024
The history of human activity in Michigan, a U.S. state in the Great Lakes region, began with the arrival of Paleo-Indians in the western Great Lakes area around 11,000 B.C.E. These early people used native copper to make tools and other items with hammers.
The Lake Superior Chippewa (Anishinaabemowin: Gichigamiwininiwag, meaning “Lake Superior Men”) are many groups of Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) people who live around Lake Superior. This area is part of northern Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota in the United States. These groups moved into the region by the 1700s, settling in lands that the Eastern Dakota people had lived in before.
The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians (pronounced “Soo Saint Marie,” Ojibwe: Baawiting Anishinaabeg), often called the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians or the Soo Tribe, is an officially recognized Native American tribe in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The tribe’s headquarters is in Sault Ste.
The Bay Mills Indian Community (BMIC; Ojibwe: Gnoozhekaaning, code: oj, meaning “Place of the Pike”) is a reservation that serves as the land area for one of the federally recognized Sault Ste. Marie bands of Ojibwe. The largest part of the reservation is in Chippewa County, Michigan, about 15 miles (25 km) west-southwest of Sault Ste.
The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi (NHBP) is a tribe of Potawatomi people in the United States that is recognized by the federal government. The tribe received federal recognition on December 19, 1995, and has about 1,500 members today. The Pine Creek Indian Reservation is located at 42°06′18″N 85°15′40″W / 42.10500°N 85.26111°W / 42.10500; -85.26111 in Athens Township, southwestern Calhoun County, southwestern Michigan.
The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians (Potawatomi: Pokégnek Bodéwadmik) is a federally recognized tribe that speaks the Potawatomi language. It is based in southwestern Michigan and northeastern Indiana. The tribal government is located in Dowagiac, Michigan.
The Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, also known as the Gete-gitigaaning in the Anishinaabe language, is an officially recognized group of the Lake Superior Chippewa. Many members live on the Lac Vieux Desert Indian Reservation, which is near Watersmeet, Michigan. The reservation is located about 45 miles southeast of Ironwood, Michigan, in Gogebic County.
The L’Anse Indian Reservation is the land owned by the federally recognized Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (Ojibwe: Gakiiwe’onaning), which is part of the historic Lake Superior Band of Chippewa Indians. The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community was officially defined in 1934 by the Indian Reorganization Act as the legal continuation of the L’Anse and Ontonagon bands. The reservation is mainly located in two separate areas on either side of Keweenaw Bay in Baraga County, Upper Peninsula of Michigan.