The Potawatomi Indians were once part of three different tribes. These tribes were the Odawas, the Ojibwas and the Algonquin race. Together, these tribes lived happily by the lake, keeping up the culture that they had been adapted to for the last half a century. Soon the three tribes became one tribe on the lake.

Can you believe this? - They weren't always known as Potawatomi, which means people by the place of the fire, but they were known as the Neshnabek, which means people. It was in the sixteen thirties that they met the first Europeans, who were French fur sellers. Little did the native americans know that these "whitemen" would change their culture forever. They feared them, called the 'hairy faces' and believed that they had supernatural powers. In the mid eighteenth century they had a village meeting to see if they wished to allow the French foreigners into their county. After a long duration of debating they decided to allow them.

This also helped the indians, because in return the French gave them technology (like weapons) and food. It is sad what happens next.