United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Michigan Superintendency. Records

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Format: Archival Material
Language:English
Created: University of Notre Dame Archives 1845-1848
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Potawatomi Indians > History.
Sorin, Edward
Rother, Joseph
United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Michigan Superintendency.
Saint Joseph Mission (Niles, Mich.)
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institution University of Notre Dame
building University Archives
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title United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Michigan Superintendency. Records : Guide
spellingShingle United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Michigan Superintendency. Records : Guide
Potawatomi Indians -- History.
Sorin, Edward
Rother, Joseph
United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Michigan Superintendency.
Saint Joseph Mission (Niles, Mich.)
title_short United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Michigan Superintendency. Records
title_full United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Michigan Superintendency. Records
title_fullStr United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Michigan Superintendency. Records
title_full_unstemmed United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Michigan Superintendency. Records
title_sort United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Michigan Superintendency. Records
publishDate 1845-1848
publisher University of Notre Dame Archives
format Archival Material
physical .5 linear inch
language English
topic Potawatomi Indians -- History.
Sorin, Edward
Rother, Joseph
United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Michigan Superintendency.
Saint Joseph Mission (Niles, Mich.)
description
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localfindingaidurl_str_mv /findingaids/una/ead/ZCW.xml
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spelling ZCW United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Michigan Superintendency. Records Guide University of Notre Dame Archives University of Notre Dame Archives 2005 Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 Description based on paper finding aids and inhouse database. English ZCW United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Michigan Superintendency. Records 1845-1848 United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Michigan Superintendency. .5 linear inch University of Notre Dame Archives Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 English. Administrative Information Joseph Gregorich of the Bishop Baraga Association provided these copies of records to Thomas T. McAvoy, CSC, archivist of Notre Dame, because of their bearing on the nearby old St. Joseph Mission, the Potawatomis, the Congregation of Holy Cross, Brother Joseph Rother, CSC, and Father Edward Sorin, CSC, founder of Notre Dame. Preferred Citation United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Michigan Superintendency. Records (ZCW), University of Notre Dame Archives (UNDA), Notre Dame, IN 46556 Scope and Content Miniature photostats made from microfilm of the records of the Michigan Superintendency of the Office of Indian Affairs. Background Father Edward Sorin, CSC, and Brother Joseph Rother, CSC, served the Potawatomies of the Pokagon Band in Western Michigan from the newly established University of Notre Dame in Indiana a few miles south of the Michigan border. Sorin, Edward Rother, Joseph United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Michigan Superintendency. Saint Joseph Mission (Niles, Mich.) Potawatomi Indians -- History. Related Material Indians of North America printed material Benjamin Marie Petit Collection CZCW United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Michigan Superintendency: Manuscripts CZCW T.S. Smith, St. Joseph, MI, to Robert Stuart, Detroit, MI 1844/1003 An Indian Peshashegun brought a suit against Caleb A. Williams for stealing a pony. Smith found Williams guilty and fined him fifteen dollars and costs. Robert B. Duncan, a mercant of St. Joseph, stood surety for costs. The defendant has not property to satisfy the judgment. James Rogers was attorney for the defendant and Thomas Conger was attorney for the Indian. Smith was asked by the Indian's counsel to inform Stuart of the facts. The defendant can be committed to the county prison if it should be thought advisable. He would like Stuart's advice in this matter. CZCW Brother Joseph Rother, Pokagon, MI, to Robert Stuart, Detroit, MI 1845/0114 Brother Joseph did not write sooner because he wished to give Stuart an account of the Indians' situation. It is gratifying to see their desire to do well and fulfill all that he tells them. However, Brother Joseph's satisfaction is clouded by the wretched situation of the Indians. Last spring when Brother Joseph was away, the Indians planted very little. Since they do not now go hunting, they will consume all they have before the month of May. Stuart will probably ask what became of the two-hundred dollars he sent earlier. One hundred dollars went to pay the teacher, and that is very little for a man to live on. The other hundred dollars went for a yoke of cattle and farming utensils. They can do the buildings all themselves, but they have to buy planks and nails. If Stuart could let Brother Joseph have $100 or $150, it would procure the necessary materials for buildings and keep the Indians from starving. There is something else. Some fellows in South Bend, Indiana, wish to transport the Indians west in order to get their land. Brother Joseph is pretty sure of this and wants to prevent it. What right do inhabitants of Indiana have to meddle in Michigan? There is a party of Ottawa Indians about Gulf Prairie whose teacher is not honest and is trying to unite the Potawatomies with his Indians. the chiefs at Pokagon will never consent to this. But it would be good to unite different bands of Potawatomies. CZCW Robert Stuart, Detroit, MI, to T. Hartley Crawford, Washington, DC 1845/0121 Stuart forwards the accounts of their Saginaw sug-agency for the fourth quarter of 1844. CZCW Robert Stuart, Detroit, MI, to Brother Joseph Rother, Pokagon, MI 1845/0123 Stuart is happy that the Indians are improving in their habits, but regrets that he has no funds from which to supply the funds Brother Joseph asks. If the Indians keep sober and industrious, no one can drive them from their land: Brother Joseph is to tell them not to be alarmed at such nonsense. CZCW Bishop Peter Paul Lefevre, Detroit, MI, to Robert Stuart, Detroit, MI 1845/0219 Lefevre takes the liberty of addressing Stuart a few lines on behalf of a band of Potawatomies at Pokagon. They live in the middle of a settled white population and have gotten their living partly by the charity of the whites and partly by hunting, since they had no guide to instruct them on how to till the ground. This year, the scarcity of provisions makes their white neighbors stint their charities towards them, and game has become scarce. Their provisions consumed, their credit in the store has run out. They must inevitably sin under their distress unless some immediate relief be given them. Lefevre begs Stuart to obtain the necessities of life for the Indians to enable them to help themselves during the next and following seasons. The Indians now have a good and able instructor who will bring them up to industrious habits and they will profit by their distress. CZCW T. Hartley Crawford, Washington, DC, to Robert Stuart, Detroit, MI 1845/0329 Stuart's letter with that of Bishop Peter Paul Lefevre concerning the suffering of the Potawatomies at Pokagon was received. The only relief the Department can extend is to authorize the advance of two-hundred dollars of the Indians' annuity. This authorization is hereby given. CZCW Robert Stuart, Detroit, MI, to Bishop Peter Paul Lefevre, Detroit, MI 1845/0408 He has received authorization to advance two-hundred dollars of the next annuity to the Potawatomies at Pokagon. In order to get the account settled, the teacher at the village must purchase and distribute the necessities so that all may partake, and a receipted account must ber made out certified by the chief that the property was distributed. The chief must add an order saying that the amount is being deducted from the annuity. CZCW Pe-pe-aw, Paw-Paw, MI, to William A. Richmond, Detroit, MI 1845/1025 He writes to Richmond who is the new Indian Agent about certain grievances. Part of the tribe in Cass County have taken payments made to the tribe to sums amounting to five- or six-hundred dollars that should have gone to the Indians in Van Buren County, of whom he has to honor to act as chief. They receive no funds because they do not have any scholars in their school at Pokagon. Funds from other things have gone to the Cass County Indians also. Pe-pe-aw supposes that the Pokagon Indians persuaded his son to sign his name on the subscription for the school. Pe-pe-aw feels that the amount should be paid out of the next annuity. The number of Indians residing at Paw-Paw is 68. Pe-pe-aw knows that Peter Pokagon has acted fraudulently in counting the number of Indians at Paw-Paw. CZCW Brother Joseph Rother, Notre Dame du Lac, IN, to William A. Richmond, Detroit, MI 1845/1103 He will try to explain to Richmond the causes of the distresses of the Potawatomi Indians at Pokagon. Indians do not know what to do with money and often spend it in a foolish manner. When the Indians had money, no one gave them good avice, and now they can no longer subsist without having a good friend. The year before last they requested the Catholic Bishop of Detroit (Frederick Rézé) to send them a teacher and they also went to Robert Stuart, their agent, and requested that the teacher receive two-hundred dollars as his compensation. They have not received seven years' annuities; they have no chapel or school, and their land is unfit for cultivation. If the back annuities can be procured and placed in Brother Joseph's hands, he is prepared to give the strictest account of it and to forfit his library should he be guilty of the least injustice. If brother Joseph gets the money, he will buy land and turn it into meadow and fields. The Indians would own the land and be paid for their work on it. This plan will be beneficial to the state and especially to the county, where the Indians are a burden. The Indians also suffer another wrong. The Treaty of Tippecanoe provided that the Indians be allotted two-thousand dollars for a Catholic mission. The two-thousand dollars was given to Mr. Johnson's college in Kentucky, and some few Indian boys were sent there, but they can't even read or write. There are at present two helf-breeds at Mr. Johnson's college whose parents do not even live at Pokagon. The Indians have an undeniable right to this money, and it cannot be withheld from them. CZCW William A. Richmond, Detroit, MI, to Father Edward Sorin, CSC, South Bend, IN 1845/1218 Sorin's letter of the 13th is at hand. Raymond regrets that no one informed the person who made the Indian payment to Pokagon of the practice of reserving two hundred dollars to pay teachers. Since the annuity was all paid to the Indians, it is impossible for Raymond to supply the deficiency of $41.50 that Sorin mentions. The Indians misunderstood the agend when they thought he said that the deficiency would be made up by the superindendent. CZCW Brother Joseph Rother, Notre Dame du Lac, IN, to Robert Stuart, Detroit, MI 1845/1222 He is vary anxious to know Stuart's and the governor's opinions about the affair regarding which Brother Joseph wrote them two month ago. Stuart will receive the thanks of Brother Joseph's whole institution if he will inform the government how well calculated it is to procure permanent good among the Indians and recommend that when the government has a call for missionaries, they may be called in. Bishop Mathias Loras of Dubuque begs for teachers for the Indians, but the community lacks the means to send them. CZCW William A. Richmond, Detroit, MI to William Johnston, Mackinac, MI 1846/0112 Richmond has communicated Johnston's request to the bureau in Washington. Should Richmond visit Washington in March, he will call the Bureau's attention to the debt fund and will examine its condition with a view to laying the facts before the Indians. CZCW William A. Richmond, Detroit, MI, to William Medill, Washington, DC 1846/0114 Richmond is writing at the request of Brother Joseph Rother to forward his letter concerning certain balances which the Indians claim to have due. At the last payment, a number of Potawatomies presented themselves and claimed that they were entitled to a share of the annuity since they were under no treaty obligation to move west. It might be advisable to make a new apportionment because it does not appear that the money appropriated for education was received by the Indians. It is but justice that some remuneration be made for the amount due but not received for the years 1836-1842. CZCW William A. Richmond, Detroit, MI, to Brother Joseph Rother, Silver Creek, MI 1846/0114 Richmond has forwarded Brother Joseph's letter to Washington. The active interest of Brother Joseph and his society in the Indians is owrthy of all praise. It will afford Richmond great pleasure to visit Brother Joseph's station during the coming year and consult with him to determine what will secure the Brother's usefulness and the property of the Indians. CZCW Father Edward Sorin, CSC, to Mr. Richmond, Detroit, MI 1848/1022 After serious deliberation, the Potawatomies at Pokagon have come to the following conclusions. (1) It would be beneficial to distribute the government money only to those Indians actually residing at Pokagon. (2) It is the wish of the tribal council that two-hundred dollars first be paid out of their annuity to their priest. (3) It would gratify the tribe to receive their money in Pokagon. Letter also signed by Peter Pokagon, Singoa, A. Laurent, Kokenteck. CZCW William A. Richmond, Detroit, MI, to Father Edward Sorin and Peter Pokagon, Silver Creek, MI 1846/1112 The request of the Potawatomies that payment be made at Pokagon Village has been granted and Richmond will inform them when the time arrives. Richmond will pay the Indians and if any good reasons exist for concentrating them in one place, he will recommend it in his advice. The other points will be acted upon when Richmond visits Sorin's station in a short time. CZCW Father Edward Sorin, CSC, Pokagon, MI, to Mr. Richmond, Detroit, MI 1847/0124 Upon Sorin's arrival four years ago, the position of the Potawatomies was most deplorable: for two years they had been left without a chief. Old Pokagon had several sons, but none was deemed worthy to succeed him. To remedy this, Sorin proclaimed Pokagon's oldest son, Peter Pokagon, chief and gave him a council of advisors. After serious reflection, Sorin would like to present the wish of the village to have Pokagon removed for the following reasons: (1) he is neither popular nor esteemed; (2) he is entirely unfit to govern; (3) he does not procure the well-being of the tribe; (4) he has applied to Richmond for funds for the tribe and spent the money for his own benefit. Sorin proposes Singoa, an intimate of Old Pokagon, as chief. Letter signed by Singoa, Waugauochick, Angesdah, and Isidene. CZCW Father Edward Sorin, Pokagon, MI, to Mr. Richmond, Detroit, MI 1847/0314 Illegible. CZCW Brother Joseph Rother, Pokagon, MI, to William Richmond, Detroit, MI 1847/11 The Potawatomie Indians have asked Brother Joseph to ask Richmond to pay them at Pokagon. They would like Richmond to see their progress in civilization and agriculture. If they continue to exert themselves, in a few years they will be quite comfortable. Brother Joseph does not believe it would be an injustice for him to ask for a remuneration for his labor. The first year he was on the expenses of his Society. The second year the Indians requested Mr. Robert Stuart to give him two-hundred dollars which he used to feed them. This year the Indians wish him to have three-hundred dollars and this is to continue so long as the Society sees to their spiritual and temporal welfare and keeps the chapel and school in order. Brother Joseph can spend little more time with the Indians, but there will always be one priest and two Sisters of Charity with them. He would like Richmond to give an admonition to Peter Pokagon, the chief, as he has been drunk four or five times since Brother Joseph arrived. CZCW S.M. Taylor, Pokagon, MI, to Mr. Richmond, Detroit, MI 1847/1118 Illegible. CZCW Brother Joseph Rother, Pokagon, MI, to Robert Stuart, Detroit, MI 1847 A memorandum concerning Potawatomie Indian affairs. CZCW Father Edward Sorin, CSC, Notre Dame du Lac, IN, to Mr. Richmond, Detroit, MI 1848/1213 When Richmond's agent arrived in Pokagon to pay the annuity, the priest and several chiefs were absent. Consequently, the agent distributed the money and neglected to set any aside for the Sisters. The chief, Peter Pokagon, succeeded in collecting $158.50 for them. It appears that Richmond's agent said that if it was impossible to find $200 among the Indians, Richmond would send them the balance. Therefore Sorin would like the sum of $41.50. CZCW William A. Richmond, Detroit, MI, to William Medill, Washington, DC 1848/1227 Richmond has written Senator Alpheus Felch requesting his aid in carrying out Medell's recommendation in regard to the salary of the messenger in this office. Richmond asks for a renewal of Medill's recommendation as contained in his letter to Senator Lewis Cass. Richmond's letters of February 19 and March 13, 1846, will recall the whole subject for him. Richmond should be pleased to visit Washington in the month of February. He may by the visit render some service to the department and Indians.

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