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· 1 · TheArchitectureofSimonPokagon— InTextandonDisplay John N. Low Holding history in my hands, a portal to a shared past, time speaks to me through this book—its leaves, like worn and delicate sheets of birch bark. Its talking pages pass on traditions as I turn them, as I fold the covers in to keep safe the lived experiences of then and now. This small book, a treasure, a memorial to my ancestors, a monument to the resiliency of a people, a tribe—ironically, unexpectedly, and eloquently, written by a man despised by some of his own people, yet embraced by the wealthy of his day. This man insinuated himself and his work into the high culture of America and there recorded our survival. Images and stories of a past I never knew, a title in a language I am ashamed I do not speak. I feel the slight heft of the book in my hands and wonder how many people have read its narrative of love, tragedy, redemption, and survival. How far has it traveled before, like its author, it returned home? It is a small book—and he was a man of small physical stature. The cover is burgundy faux Moroccan leather with gilt gold lettering, a mixture of the imitation with the real—replicating in some ways Simon Pokagon’s life.A faded inscription inside indicates it was sold some decades · 2 · John N. Low ago by a Los Angeles rare-books dealer. The bookseller attached a note inside the front cover. This little book is rare, and has become a collector’s item, but it has the fault of many such books, it is “poorly put together.” This is the fault of neither the author nor publisher since it was published after Pokagon’s death, by his friend, Engle. There is an irony in the book being a collector’s item, since Pokagon died penniless.Where did the book go from there? Did it end up on a bookshelf, in an attic, or box? One day, on an online auction, I retrieve it. Now I hold it, ponder its existence, and listen for the memories it holds within.· · · Simon Pokagon was a member of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, an author, and an advocate for American Indians. Born in 1830 near what later became the small village of Bertrand in southwestern Michigan, he died from pneumonia on January 28, 1899, near Hartford, Michigan.1 Pokagon was a son of his tribe’s patriarch, Leopold Pokagon. Dubbed by some “the Indian Longfellow”2 and “the Red Bard,”3 Pokagon was often called the “Hereditary and Last Chief” of the tribe by the press,4 a title he did not reject. We know very little about his childhood in southwest Michigan. After receiving a formal education, he returned to his tribe in 1850, marrying and settling into community life. Pokagon claimed attendance at Notre Dame University and Oberlin College, but there is no record of his matriculation.5 It appears more likely that he was educated by the Sisters of St. Mary’s Academy near Notre Dame and at the Twinsburg (Ohio) Institute.6 After the deaths of his two brothers,he was elected leader of his community.7 In his efforts to collect monies due the tribe pursuant to the land cessions of the 1833 Treaty of Chicago, Pokagon twice visited President Abraham Lincoln, and after the Civil War met with President Ulysses S. Grant, accepting an expression of gratitude from Grant for the Potawatomi volunteers who had served in the Civil War.8 The Bureau of American Ethnology provided an early description of Pokagon in its 1910 Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. The Handbook was long considered a major academic resource, but as we shall see, it is riddled with error. The Architecture of Simon Pokagon· 3 · Simon was 10 years of age when his father died, and on reaching his 14th year was sent to school at Notre Dame, Ind. for 3 years; then, encouraged by his mother in his desire for education, attended Oberlin College, Ohio, for a year and next went to Twinsburg, Ohio where he remained 2 years. It is said that he was educated for the priesthood, spoke four or five languages, and bore the reputation of being the best educated full-blood Indian of his time. He wrote numerous articles for the leading magazines and delivered many addresses of merit during the last quarter of the 19th century. In 1899...

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