About NICS

This website is dedicated to all of the elders who struggled to use and maintain this language, even when it wasn't allowed, even when some of them were beaten or humiliated for using it, even when everyone around them began using English, they still kept their language, and now pass it on to the next generations....

Donald Perrote Sr., Donald Perrot Jr., Marion Perrote, Jane Peki, Orlando Green, Mary Wensaut, Mary Daniels, Billy Daniels, Jim Thunder, Sr., Mary Jane Thunder, Cecelia (Meeksekwé) Jackson, Lillian and Kendall Rice, Peter Pemma, Sarah Patterson, Jim Mckinney, Blanche Cook Rice, Walter Cooper, Bud Onzhiway, Lorenzo Mattweoashi, Ernest Pigeon, Carol Snowball Pigeon, and many others who have long since passed........

The Potawatomi language is at a critically endangered level, with less than 20 fluent speakers still alive, and not nearly enough students to learn from them. A language is what a culture uses to define itself, and the Potawatomi language contains a wealth of knowledge about the natural world, ceremonies, and spiritual beliefs. The Potawatomi language plays a critical role in Potawatomi ceremonies and cultural teachings, and to lose such a precious resources would result in the further erosion and possible eventual disappearance of Traditional Potawatomi Culture.

Therefore, the Mission of the Neshnabé Institute for Cultural Studies is to Preserve, Revitalize, and Teach Utilization of the Potawatomi Language.

NICS - The Neshnabé Institute for Cultural Studies

Dedicated to the Preservation, Revitalization, and Dissemination of the Potawatomi Language

Chairman and Founder: Donald A. Perrot

wedase@neaseno.org

Written Inquiries: 214 Edd Drive, Tecumseh, OK 74873

Webmaster: Dolores Perrot wasjewen@neaseno.org

*Photos are used with permission from the Denver Public Library Western History and Geneology Department, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, may not be used or reproduced without their permission.