Potawatomi ethnonyms

This is a list of various names the Potawatomi have been recorded.

Neshnabé (without syncope: Eneshenabé), a cognate of Ojibwe Anishinaabe, meaning “Original People.” The plural is Neshnabék.

Bodéwadmi (without syncope: Bodéwademi), a cognate of Ojibwe “Boodewaadamii”. It means “those who keep/tend the hearth-fire”, which in this case refers to the hearth of the Council of Three Fires. The word itself comes from “to keep/tend the hearth-fire”, which is “bodewadm” (without syncope: “bodewadem”; Ojibwe “boodawaadam”). The plural is Bodéwadmik.

This is a loose translation of Bodéwadmi.

This is a shortening of Bodéwadmi, which happens to be a homophone to the French word for “lice” (poux).

These name come from hybridization of Bodéwadmi with the French poux.

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