The Potawatomi tribe came to this area several hundred years ago and established a home here for many decades. In summer, the families all relocated to one large village, while, in winter, they set up separate, smaller camps. The following paragraphs describe a typical year for a
Potawatomi family in this area a couple hundred years ago. Can you imagine their homes as you read about their routines in the different seasons? In the summer, we live in a big village where we use large poles to build our new house. Even though we cook outside, we build the roof so that it is a shelter over the cooking area as well. Therefore, the roof covers more than just the floor space, where we sleep. In the big village, my mother and I use a shoulder
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We get to see our friends and the entire extended family, and there are so many exciting things to see and do in the summer.
All of that makes summer my sister’s favourite season, and it really is a fun time for all of us. My siblings and I get to roam and explore and go swimming. My mother also likes it because being with our big family means there are people to assist with the work and other people to talk with; she also gets to see her own brothers and sisters. My father gets to sit with the other men and he doesn’t have to worry about us having enough food for a while. There is plenty of work to do, but everyone helps and there is company.
In the fall, we have a great amount of food: big squashes and pumpkins and corn, as well. Every day, I am able to harvest even more beans. We dry the big gourds to eat in the winter, when we will have less food and when it will be too cold to want to search for more. My father found salt from a salt spring, which we are using to dry the meat.
This is so exciting because we sometimes run out of meat before the winter ends, or often times it spoils before we have a chance to eat it.