Neshnabe

Bozho jayek. Cole Rattan nde zhnekas. Gigo o ndodem. Bodewadmi ndaw. Tecumseh, Oklahoma ndoch bya. Shawnee, Oklahoma nde da. Shishibeniyek Ndebendagwes. 

   Hello everyone! My name is Cole Joseph Louis Rattan. I am enrolled Citizen Band Potawatomi (historically referred to as the St. Joseph Band of Potawatomi) and I belong to the Moutaw, Welch, Ouilmette, and Chevalier families. I am a cultural resource management major at East Central University in Oklahoma. I have always had a love for history and a dream of becoming an archaeologist. The research areas I want to focus on are the Algonquian speaking peoples, anything to do with the 3 Fires Anishinaabek (Ojibwe, Odawa, and Bodewadmi), the French fur trade, and the Great Lakes region. This is not my first field school, and I am not here by coincidence. My ancestors are Francois Peirre Chevalier (Metis) who was a headman for the Potawatomi who married Chopa Neeboash, daughter of Potawatomi Chief Naunongee (prominent Gigo Clan member) who fought and died at the Battle of Fort Dearborn. I'm proud of my heritage. I know I'm connected to the Chevalier family that was at Fort St. Joseph. I just don't know how yet because the connections haven't been made certain for Francois' lineage (Chief Shobbonier). 

  I am fortunate and thankful to all who have made it possible for me to attend this field school. It was a 15 hour drive from Oklahoma. I wouldn't be here if Justin Neely Zagnenibi, our language director of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, wouldn't have put the word out that I needed a place to say. Then, Nicole Keith Wasnode, food sovereignty director of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, said I could stay in her game room at the Pine Creek Indian Reservation. I also wouldn't have made it without my grandpa Don Moutaw who gave me the funds to get up here to the Home Land. Igwiyen! I'd lastly like to thank Dr. Michael Nassaney (who discovered the Fort's location in 1998) and field director Erika Hartley for letting me be a part of the 2022 Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Field School.

Thank you all!

Cole Rattan