What did the Potawatomi tribe use for shelter?

What did the Potawatomi tribe use for shelter?

There were two types of dwellings used by the Potawatomis: dome-shaped houses called wigwams, and rectangular lodges with bark covering. Here are some photos of birchbark homes. Potawatomi villages usually included a sweat lodge, meat-drying huts, and a ballfield.

How did the Potawatomi live?

In early times the Potawatomi were hunter-gatherers, living according to the seasons. They settled near rivers, streams, or lakes and hunted the creatures that flourished there. After European contact they traded the pelts of the small animals they captured to the French and later to the British.

What is a wigwam house made of?

Wigwams are made of wooden frames which are covered with woven mats and sheets of birch bark. The frame can be shaped like a dome, like a cone, or like a rectangle with an arched roof. Once the birch bark is in place, ropes or strips of wood are wrapped around the wigwam to hold the bark in place.

What is the Potawatomi tribe known for?

The Potawatomi continued to ally themselves with the French, as did other tribes from Wisconsin and the Great Lakes region. They fought in many famous battles of the war, such as Braddock’s Defeat in Pennsylvania in 1755 and the infamous Massacre of Fort William Henry in New York in 1757.

What religion did the Potawatomi?

Many know about the Citizen Potawatomi’s long ties to the Catholic Church, with French missionaries first introducing the Christian religion to the tribes of the Great Lakes region as far back as the 17th century.

What did Potawatomi eat?

They grew corn and squash and gathered berries, seeds, and wild rice. They fished and hunted deer, bison (buffalo), elk, and small animals. French explorers entered Potawatomi lands in 1634.

What kind of houses did the Potawatomi Indians live in?

There were two types of dwellings used by the Potawatomis: dome-shaped houses called wigwams, and rectangular lodges with bark covering. Here are some photos of wigwams, birchbark houses, and other Native American homes . Potawatomi villages usually included a sweat lodge, meat-drying huts,…

What kind of government does the Potawatomi tribe have?

Each Potawatomi tribe is politically independent and has its own government, laws, police, and services, just like a small country. In the past, each Potawatomi village had its own chief.

What kind of crops did the Potawatomi grow?

Potawatomi women maintained areas of cultivated crops, which have usually been referred to as gardens, but according to historian and professor Jeffrey Ostler, these plots should be recognized as farms. Some of them were as large as 100 acres or more, surrounded by fences and producing bounties of corn, beans, pumpkins, and wheat.

What did the Potawatomi do in the winter?

It is possible to make them quite warm and cozy for winter use. Forest Potawatomi still weave rush mats, cat-tail mats, and splint baskets to furnish their wigwams, and to sell to the tourist trade. Wigwams are single dwelling structures built for one individual family with a central firepit for heat and cooking.