| Total population |
|---|
| 3,634 |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Southwestern Michigan & Northern Indiana |
| Languages |
| Religion |
|
Christianity Roman Catholic, traditional tribal religion |
Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians are Algonquian-speaking Potawatomi-people located in southwestern Michigan and northeastern Indiana. Tribal government functions are located in Dowagiac, Michigan. The tribal membership has grown to approximately 4,563 members as of 2009. Pokagons originated as a people along the Atlantic coastline at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. Along with the Ojibwe and Odawa Indian peoples, they migrated west to the Great Lakes region some 500–800 years ago in a "Great Migration."
Anthropologists generally theorize that Pokagons originated somewhere in western Asia and migrated to the Great Lakes, traveling by land across the Bering Strait to what is now Alaska or by water along the coast of what is now California.
Pokagons are the descendants of the allied Potawatomi villages located along the St. Joseph, Paw Paw and Kalamazoo Rivers in what is now southwest Michigan and northern Indiana. Many of the cities and streets in the Michigan area have Potawatomi names attached to them.
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The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians were party to 11 treaties with the federal government with the major land cession being the 1833 Treaty of Chicago. During the Indian removals, many Potawatomi bands were moved west. However, Chief Leopold Pokagon was able to negotiate to keep his Potawatomi band of 280 people in Southwestern Michigan, leaving them to be the only Potawatomi band not to experience the Indian Removal Act.
Under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the Pokagon Band asked for reaffirmation of recognition by the Department of the Interior but the request was denied. After years of petitioning, the Pokagon Band regained recognition in 1994.[1][2] Regaining recognition helped The Pokagon Band open the Four Winds Casino Resort near New Buffalo, Michigan on August 2, 2007.[3] It is said that, were it on the Las Vegas Strip, it would be the second largest there.[4] Architecturally the casino's rotunda is built in the tradition of the Potawatomi people and enables the patrons to feel as if they are entering a tribal lodge. The satellite casino Four Winds Hartford opened on August 30, 2011.[5]
The Tribal Judiciary is a separate, independent branch of the Pokagon Band government. The Tribal Court Judiciary consists of the Chief Judge, one Associate Judge, and three Appellate Court Justices. All members of the Judiciary are appointed by the Tribal Council to serve staggered four (4) year terms.[6]
The Pokagon Tribal Police Department was established in 2003 to provide direct law enforcement services to the tribal members and visitors in the ten county tribal geographic boundaries in Michigan and Indiana.[7] The Pokagon Tribal Police Department is a full service police department servicing all areas within the Tribe's jurisdiction. The Tribal Police are charged with enforcing federal, state, and local laws, including the Pokagon Band Code of Offenses[8]
The Pokagon Band Gaming Commission was formed in 2007 as an independent subdivision of the Tribe. The Gaming Commission is responsible for regulating all gaming conducted within Pokagon Band jurisdiction under the Gaming Regulatory Act, the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, and the tribal-state Gaming Compact between the Band and the State of Michigan.[9]