If you are going to study this language for research purposes, you should first hear from its speakers what they have to say! Unless otherwise noted, this entire website is the work of Donald Perrot.
Jim Thunder, Sr. has written several manuals, which are published on the Forest County Potawatomi Museum website.
Smokey McKinney, Prairie Band Potawatomi, has published works and posted archival material at his website.
Each band of Potawatomi has a language department, you can contact them for information and resources. Seven of the Potawatomi Bands are in the United States:
- Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, Mayetta, KS
- Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, Fulton, MI
- Forest County Potawatomi, Crandon, WI
- Hannahville Indian Community, Wilson, MI
- Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, Dowagiac, MI
- Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi (Gun Lake Tribe), Dorr, Mi
- Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Shawnee, OK
- There are also Potawatomi Bands among the First Nations of Canada:
- Walpole Island (Bkejwanong) First Nation, Ontario, CA
- Wasauksing First Nation, Parry Sound, Ontario, CA
Other Potawatomi Language Sites:
- PotawatomiLanguage.org – Hannahville
- CPN Language Department – CPN
- Potawatomi Web – PBPN (Smokey McKinney)
- The Old Potawatomi Language – FCP
- http://biigtigong.com – Biigtigong Nishnaabeg (Canada)
Archive.org has many files concerning the Potawatomi Language that are downloadable. Many are public domain:
- The Linguistic Classification of Potawatomi (August 1915)
- Constructional Polysemy and Mental Spaces in Potawatomi Discourse (2003)
- Pewani ipi Potewatemi missinoikan eyowat nemadjik, catholiques endjik (1846) (Christian Hoecken)
More resources…
OLAC lists resources on the Potawatomi Language. To view them, click here. Most are in special collections in libraries nationwide.
JSTOR has many files, including Charles Hockett’s Potawatomi Grammar. They used to be institution exclusive, but they are now offering JPasses to individuals for a fee. Learn More Here.
The University of Wisconsin, Madison holds the archives for WNALP – The Wisconsin Native American Language Project. There are Potawatomi materials in this collection. To view the archive list, click here.
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