According to the Portage Historical Society, our area was home to two tribes- the Miami and the Potawatomi. In Portage, there is evidence of one Native American settlement. This settlement would have been found north of Crisman Road near Route 20. A burial site was also found near Route 249 and Route 20. The main settlement of the area's Potawatomi Tribe is believed to have been in the Garyton area of Portage in the early 1800s.
Chief Pokagon was their leader. Not a lot is known about him. What is known about him comes from the oral history that was passed down within the tribe.
The Potawatomi Tribe lived along the shores of Lake Michigan. In the summer, they lived in farming villages. In the fall and winter, they broke into smaller groups and went to their hunting grounds. They lived in wickiups which are bark-covered, dome-shaped structures. The Potawatomi diet consisted of bison, deer, fish, corn, beans, squash, berries, seeds, roots, and wild rice.
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 forced most of the Potawatomi to move west. In 1833, Pokagon found a way to keep the Pokagon Band on their ancestral land. Pokagon was able to arrange a revision to the 1833 Treaty of Chicago. This allowed Pokagon's Band to remain on the land of their ancestors in Michigan.
The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians can be found in southwestern Michigan and northeastern Indiana. It is a federally recognized tribe.
The Miami also spelled Myaamia, Tribe lived in what is now the Midwest. This tribe could be found in northern Indiana, but also parts of Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio.
The Miami built their villages in river valleys, and their homes were built with wooden poles covered with bark. Their diet consisted of corn, squash, beans, pumpkins, and melons. After the yearly harvest, the Miami would leave their villages to go hunt bison.
