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Simon Pokagon
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Simon Pokagon
Simon Pokagon (c. 1830 – January 28, 1899) was a citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, an author, and a Native American rights advocate. He was born near Bertrand in southwest Michigan Territory and died on January 28, 1899, in Hartford, Michigan. Dubbed the "Red Man's Longfellow" by literary fans, Pokagon was often called the "Hereditary and Last Chief" of the tribe by the press.[citation needed] He was a son of his tribe's patriarch, Leopold Pokagon.
Simon Pokagon was born to Potawatomi Chief Leopold Pokagon and his wife.
He claimed attendance at the University of Notre Dame and Oberlin College, but that has been challenged, as they have no record of his matriculation. He likely received education from the Sisters of St. Mary's Academy near Notre Dame and at the Twinsburg (Ohio) Institute. Some scholars have challenged his claims of fluency in four of the "classic" European languages.
Pokagon wrote several books and multiple shorter works. He is one of the recognized Native American authors of the 19th century.
Some have argued that his writings may have been substantially edited by the wife of his personal attorney, although that remains speculation and a matter of controversy among scholars. A manuscript letter in Pokagon's hand, donated to the Chicago History Museum in July 2024, documents that he was at work on the posthumously published O-gi-maw-kwe Mit-i-gwa-ki, Queen of the Woods and reflects a writing style like those in his published work, according to the historian and museum trustee who donated it.
Pokagon was a featured speaker at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. While his popularity with some fellow tribal members waned, he was always welcomed among the Gold Coast "High Society" of Chicago and the Chautauqua literary groups of the East Coast.
He was an early activist trying to force the United States to pay monies owed pursuant to treaties and to provide fair treatment of Indian peoples. Pokagon met with President Abraham Lincoln twice to petition for payment from the government for land taken in the 1833 Treaty of Chicago. He also met with President Ulysses S. Grant to accept an expression of gratitude for the efforts of Potawatomi volunteers in the Civil War. In the 1890s, Pokagon began pressing land claims to the Chicago lakefront. A complicated individual with what often seemed to be contradictory motivations, he sold "interests" in that Chicago land claim to real estate speculators, angering some in the Pokagon community.
In much of his writings, Pokagon wrote about the past and traditional ways of life; he lamented the passing of a "vanishing" race of Indians. But the Pokagon Potawatomi were not vanishing. They had organized a Business Committee, a traditional, democratically elected tribal council that governed by consensus and advocated for the rights of tribal members. Meanwhile, most tribal members worked as laborers at local factories and farms and retained close ties to the Catholic Church. According to the historian Susan Sleeper-Smith, unlike the neighboring Miami in Indiana, who "hid in plain sight", the Pokagon Potawatomi tightly held onto their traditions and sense of community.
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Simon Pokagon
Simon Pokagon (c. 1830 – January 28, 1899) was a citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, an author, and a Native American rights advocate. He was born near Bertrand in southwest Michigan Territory and died on January 28, 1899, in Hartford, Michigan. Dubbed the "Red Man's Longfellow" by literary fans, Pokagon was often called the "Hereditary and Last Chief" of the tribe by the press.[citation needed] He was a son of his tribe's patriarch, Leopold Pokagon.
Simon Pokagon was born to Potawatomi Chief Leopold Pokagon and his wife.
He claimed attendance at the University of Notre Dame and Oberlin College, but that has been challenged, as they have no record of his matriculation. He likely received education from the Sisters of St. Mary's Academy near Notre Dame and at the Twinsburg (Ohio) Institute. Some scholars have challenged his claims of fluency in four of the "classic" European languages.
Pokagon wrote several books and multiple shorter works. He is one of the recognized Native American authors of the 19th century.
Some have argued that his writings may have been substantially edited by the wife of his personal attorney, although that remains speculation and a matter of controversy among scholars. A manuscript letter in Pokagon's hand, donated to the Chicago History Museum in July 2024, documents that he was at work on the posthumously published O-gi-maw-kwe Mit-i-gwa-ki, Queen of the Woods and reflects a writing style like those in his published work, according to the historian and museum trustee who donated it.
Pokagon was a featured speaker at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. While his popularity with some fellow tribal members waned, he was always welcomed among the Gold Coast "High Society" of Chicago and the Chautauqua literary groups of the East Coast.
He was an early activist trying to force the United States to pay monies owed pursuant to treaties and to provide fair treatment of Indian peoples. Pokagon met with President Abraham Lincoln twice to petition for payment from the government for land taken in the 1833 Treaty of Chicago. He also met with President Ulysses S. Grant to accept an expression of gratitude for the efforts of Potawatomi volunteers in the Civil War. In the 1890s, Pokagon began pressing land claims to the Chicago lakefront. A complicated individual with what often seemed to be contradictory motivations, he sold "interests" in that Chicago land claim to real estate speculators, angering some in the Pokagon community.
In much of his writings, Pokagon wrote about the past and traditional ways of life; he lamented the passing of a "vanishing" race of Indians. But the Pokagon Potawatomi were not vanishing. They had organized a Business Committee, a traditional, democratically elected tribal council that governed by consensus and advocated for the rights of tribal members. Meanwhile, most tribal members worked as laborers at local factories and farms and retained close ties to the Catholic Church. According to the historian Susan Sleeper-Smith, unlike the neighboring Miami in Indiana, who "hid in plain sight", the Pokagon Potawatomi tightly held onto their traditions and sense of community.
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