Simon Pokagon

Simon Pokagon (?? 1830- January 28, 1899) was a member of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, an author, and a Native American advocate. He was born near Bertrand in southwest Michigan Territory and died on January 28, 1899 in Hartford, Michigan. Dubbed the “Red Man’s Longfellow” by literary fans, Pokagon was often called the “Hereditary and Last Chief” of the tribe by the press. He was a son of his tribe’s patriarch, Leopold Pokagon.

Simon Pokagon was born to Leopold Pokagon and his wife, who were Potowatomi.

He claimed attendance at the University of Notre Dame and Oberlin College, but that has been challenged, as they have no record of his matriculation. It is likely that he received education from the Sisters of St. Mary's Academy near Notre Dame and at the Twinsburg (Ohio) Institute. Some scholars have challenged his claims of fluency in four of the "classic" European languages.

Pokagon wrote several books and multiple shorter works. He is identified as one of the recognized Native American authors of the nineteenth century. Some have argued that his writings may have been substantially edited by the wife of his personal attorney, although that remains speculation and a matter of controversy among scholars.

Pokagon was a featured speaker at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. While his popularity with some fellow tribal members waned, he was always welcomed among the Gold Coast “High Society” of Chicago and the Chautauqua literary groups of the East Coast.

He was an early activist trying to force the United States to pay monies owed pursuant to treaties and to provide fair treatment of Indian peoples. Pokagon met with President Abraham Lincoln twice to petition for payment from the government for land taken in the 1833 Treaty of Chicago. He also met with President Ulysses S. Grant to accept an expression of gratitude for the efforts of Potawatomi volunteers in the Civil War. In the 1890s, Pokagon began pressing land claims to the Chicago lakefront. A complicated individual with what often seemed to be contradictory motivations, he sold “interests” in that Chicago land claim to real estate speculators, angering some in the Pokagon community.

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