What are the Three Fire Tribes Doing Today?
Each Three Fires community lives on its own reservation. Reservations are lands that belong to the tribe and are under their control. Each tribe is politically independent and has its own government, laws, police, and services, just like a small country. Some Three Fires Tribes nations have also formed coalitions to address common problems. The political leader of a Three Fires Tribe is called a chief. Today chiefs can be men or women, and they are elected, like mayors and governors. PotawatomiThe Potawatomis are original residents of the eastern woodlands and prairie regions, particularly what is now Michigan. As more Indian tribes were forced westward into the Michigan and Wisconsin area, many Potawatomi people migrated into other parts of the Midwest, while others were sent to Kansas and Oklahoma by the US government.
Today the Potawatomi's language is endangered because most children aren't learning it anymore. However, some Potawatomi people are working to keep their language alive. |
Ojibway (Chippewa)
Today, the Ojibways are one of the largest American Indian groups in North America. There are nearly 150 different bands of Ojibway Indians living throughout their original home land in the northern United States (especially Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan) and southern Canada.
Odawa (ottawa)Most Odawa Indian people live in their original homeland in southern Ontario and Michigan. Other Odawas were deported to Oklahoma by the US government, and some Odawas assimilated into Ojibway bands. There are about 15,000 Ottawa Indians today.
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