Chief Wabaunsee

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Chief Wabaunsee (also as Wah-bahn-se, Waubonsie, Waabaansii in contemporary Ojibwe language and Wabansi in the contemporary Potawatomi language, c. 1760 – c. 1845) was a Native American leader for the Potawatomi. His name means "Little Dawn."

Contents 1 Early years 2 Later years 3 Toponyms 4 External links

[edit] Early years

Nah-Ke-ses was born in what now is Terre Haute, Indiana, around 1760 though some sources claim he was born around 1747. Nah-Ke-ses was the youngest of three children born to Wabb-shkum and his wife Mah-jues. Elder brother of Nah-Ke-ses was Makade-bakii (also as Mka-da-puk-ke, meaning "Black Pheasant" or "Black Partridge"), also became a celebrated and distinguished leader.

Nah-Ke-ses distinguished himself early in his life as a netaa-giiyosed ("famous hunter").

As a young man, Nah-Ke-ses set out to avenge the death of a close friend. He used the cover of a misty morning to sneak into an Osage village where reportedly he single-handedly killed several fierce Osage warriors before they could sound an alarm. Nah-ke-ses was then named "Wabaunsee" or "Little Dawn." Once when asked why, "Waabaansii" responded, "When I kill an enemy he turns pale [waabaanzo], resembling the first light of the day [waaban]."

[edit] Later years

Chief Wabaunsee was espoused to two Osage women.

Chief Wabaunsee, a fierce warrior who later helped his brother Black Partridge rescue the John Kinsey family at the Fort Dearborn massacre in 1811.

He died in a stage-coach accident in Washington, DC, most likely in December of 1845, shortly after the treaty councils held there that ended on November 24, 1845. These treaty councils laid the basis of the treaty made in June, 1846. At that time, the news of death of Chief Wabaunsee was a shock to the whole Potawatomi nation. As a result, the Potawatomi peoples named places after Chief Wabaunsee in his honor and remembrance.

[edit] Toponyms

• Wabaunsee State Park, Iowa
• Wabaunsee County, Kansas
• Wabaunsee Township, Kansas
• Wabaunsee Creek, Kansas
• Lake Wabaunsee, Kansas
• Waubonsie Valley High School,Aurora, Illinois

[edit] External links

• Kansas State Historical Society Quarterly
• Treaty with the Potawatomi text

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