Watchekee (Overseer):Walking in Two Cultures

Description

Watchekee to some is the ‘Pochantas’ of the Midwest. To others, Watchekee is a mystical and romantic figure. In reality, she was a Potawatomi (Great Lakes area American Indian) woman victimized by the ‘Indian-Trader World’ that sought to exploit land and its natural resources. What happened to Watchekee? What is mythical and what is historically accurate about her? Through the study of tribal documents along with archival governmental and church records coupled with oral family history, her life and the events around her life are revealed. Spurred by apparent emotions and undaunted by her personal tragedies, she ignored the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and often left her homes in ‘Council Bluffs’ of western Iowa and in northeastern Kansas. On several occasions, she returned to her roots in Illinois. Watchekee later was part of the vanguard of Potawatomi who moved from Kansas to the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) in 1872. Watchekee and the small group that she was with started life anew on yet another reservation. Today, the area is the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.