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Hannahville Potawatomi - Michigan (U.S.)

Native American

image by Donald Healy, 6 January 2008

The band
The flag

See also:

The Band

map image by Peter Orenski based on input from Don Healy

Hannahville Potawatomi - Michigan

Having lived in the Michigan area since the mid-1600s, the Potawatomi were forcibly evicted by the federal government in the 1830s. Like the famous Cherokee "Trail of Tears", the Potawatomi remember their eviction as the "Trail of Death". Not all Potawatomi were successfully rounded up and pushed westward. Some of those that avoided the federal removal became the Hannaville Potawatomi of today.

Located on the sparsely populated Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the Hannahville Potawatomi recall another, happier time in their history. Almost five hundred years ago the Ojibwe (Chippewa), the Ottawa and the Potawatomi were one great people - each having separate responsibilities toward them whole.

The Potawatomi bore the sacred fire around which the three groups would assemble. Thus they were dubbed "The Keepers of the Sacred Fire". It is that name that the Hannahville Potawatomi celebrate on their flag.

The Flag

The flag is white. It bears a black and white image of a warrior tending a fire. The warrior faces toward the flagpole. The fire is shown in red and yellow with a jagged outline arcing behind the flame. The title "Keeper of the Fire" in red letters is written across the edge of this emblem starting at the edge of the firewood and terminating at the feather on the warrior's head. Below this entire logo is the name Potowatomi in large light blue letters.

© Donald Healy 2008
information provided by Peter Orenski, 6 January 2008