Chief Menominee Monument - JG

The Potawatomi Trail of Death was a march that was forced by the Indiana government to remove the Potawatomi tribe from Indiana. The United States government wanted to move Native Americans west, past the Mississippi River in order to separate them from the more populated areas of Americans. There was no deal made between some Native American tribes and the United States government to trade land and money for different territories, but the Potawatomi were forced to leave anyway. The United States would now own Indiana, and Native Americans would have land out west. The Potawatomi Trail of Death was the path the Native Americans had to take to travel to their new land after being removed from Indiana. The march started with 859 Potawatomi Native Americans, and 41 of those people died on the way to their destination (Potawatomi-tda, 2010). The Potawatomi were told that when they arrived to their destination in Kansas that they would have houses built for them. It was the winter in Kansas and shelter was very important for their survival. The Potawatomi were not the only Native American tribe that was forced to walk a long distance where many of their people died. The Potawatomi Trail of Tears is important to my overall theme because it shows one of the final pushes to remove Native Americans from Indiana for good.

“Marshall County, Indiana.” Chief Menominee Statue, 5 Nov. 2010, www.potawatomi-tda.org/indiana/chiefms.htm.