Potawatomi

noun

Pot·​a·​wat·​o·​mi ˌpä-tə-ˈwä-tə-mē 

variants or less commonly Potawatami or Pottawattomi or Pottawattami

1

plural Potawatomi or Potawatomis also Potawatami or Potawatamis or Pottawattomi or Pottawattomis or Pottawattami or Pottawattamis : a member of an Indigenous people originally of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and adjoining states

2

: the Algonquian language of the Potawatomi people

Examples of Potawatomi in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Newberry Library Chicagoland is the traditional homeland of the people of the Council of Three Fires—the Ojibwe, Potawatomi and Odawa—as well as the Menominee, Miami, Ho-Chunk, Sac, Fox, Kickapoo and Illinois nations. —Chadd Scott, Forbes, 21 Dec. 2024

After arriving in Milwaukee, the group split up between the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum and Potawatomi Casino Hotel. —Hannah Kirby, Journal Sentinel, 19 Dec. 2024

The Potawatomi Tribe was among several who, through government treaties, had been forced to relocate west of the Mississippi River and ceded vast amounts of their land in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio after President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830. —Lorenzino Estrada, The Arizona Republic, 19 Dec. 2024

In this thoughtful and inspiring conversation, Jenny Odell speaks with Robin Wall Kimmerer, Potawatomi scientist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass, about her new book, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World. —Cheri Lucas Rowlands, Longreads, 19 Nov. 2024

The Potawatomi claim southeast Wisconsin as their ancestral homeland, but Menominee tribal historians claim their tribe’s ancestral territory included all of what is now known as Wisconsin, as well as parts of Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota. —Frank Vaisvilas, Journal Sentinel, 20 Nov. 2024

The next morning, the Potawatomi recognized a violent storm was imminent and warned the captain not to set sail. —Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 12 Nov. 2024

Michigan is one of 10 states with the largest population of Native Americans: The Ottawa, Ojibway, Chippewa, Potawatomi and others have a significant place in Michigan’s history, both as groups and individuals, the Library of Michigan said. —Jenna Prestininzi, Detroit Free Press, 5 Nov. 2024

The Forest County Potawatomi Community this year became the first tribe in Wisconsin, and fourth in the country, to be approved for the Tribal Transportation Self-Governance Program. —Frank Vaisvilas, Journal Sentinel, 1 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Ojibwa po·te·wa·tami· (boodewaadamii), corresponding to the Potawatomi self-designation potewatmi, of uncertain origin

Note: According to the Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 15, Northeast (Smithsonian Institution, 1978), p. 741: "This word is an unanalyzable name with no known literal meaning, and the commonly cited translation 'people of the place of the fire' is merely a folk etymology (Goddard 1972:131 [Ives Goddard, "Historical and Philological Evidence regarding the Identification of the Mascouten," Ethnohistory, vol. 19, no. 2, Spring, 1972, pp. 123-34]). There is certainly no connection with ško·te 'fire', and the vowel differences rule out derivation from Ojibwa po·tawe· 'makes a fire'."

First Known Use

1698, in the meaning defined at sense 1