Native American Leader Recognized at Potawatomi
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
The public dedication for the “Benack’s Village” Indiana state historical marker was held at the park, 16998 Ind. 331, near Tippecanoe in Marshall County. The marker commemorates Potawatomi village leader Stephen Benack and his village, which remained after the forced removal of Native Americans from Indiana.
Opening the dedication ceremony, park board vice president Forrest Kantner said the application for the historical marker was made in 2006. Usually it only takes a year for state approval, but the state didn’t know who Benack was, so the process took three years.
The first draft for the sign was presented in 2009. After many edits by the state and park board, the state finally gave approval for the sign.
The front of the sign reads: “Osheakkebe, also known as Stephen Benack, was an ogimaa (leader) whose village was near here, 1834-1848. Born circa 1780 of Potawatomi and French-Canadian heritage, Benack resisted United States’ taking of lands long inhabited by Indians and sided with Great Britain in War of 1812. He and allied Indian leaders signed 1815 peace treaty at Spring Wells near Detroit.”
The back of the sign reads: “Indian leaders traded tribal lands in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin to U.S., 1817-1832, for annuities, reserves and land rights. By treaty, Benack secured 2,000 acres of land including his village, which remained despite U.S. forced removal of Indians from Indiana in 1830s and 1840s. Benack died in 1855 and was buried at the University of Notre Dame.”
After Mike Zimmerman, with the Pokagon band of Potawatomi, provided the benediction, Dr. Ben Secunda gave a brief presentation on Benack and the history of the Potawatomi in the area that became northern Indiana and southern Michigan. Secunda is the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act project manager for the University of Michigan.
Secunda said the official policy of the U.S. government in the early 19th century was to push Indians out west. The fact that Benack got the right to stay here and resisted removal is why the historical marker is important.
Benack worked with other leaders in the area to stay. The Potawatomi Indians went from a strategy of fighting with the U.S. government to learning to live beside the American people. Benack was buried at Notre Dame because he worked with Catholic missionaries.
The treaties that Benack and others negotiated were a strategy not appreciated at the time. The strategy in the short term was to learn to live next to the new Americans and become more like them, dress like them and worship next to them, Secunda said. There actually was a chapel next to Benack’s Village. The strategy worked almost too well because of lost culture, land lost due to taxes and other issues.
“What has been kept alive is they do have core values, core beliefs kept underneath,” Secunda said.
Benack was able to stay because when the government came to move the Indians, he went and bought land. If the government moved him, that would have invalidated all landowners’ rights, Secunda said.
Potawatomi Wildlife Park was founded by Vernon Romine, who left an estate of 151 of the current 317-acre park property and an endowment fund to be administered by a board of directors.
Romine was a local land owner who visualized a park open free of charge to the public. His vision was to have an area where visitors, especially children, the poor and deprived, could enjoy recreation without being concerned with financial burden.
The park operates on income generated by the endowment fund, donations from private individuals and corporations, and modest fees charged for some group activities. The park receives no city, county or state funding and charges no general admission fee.
In his will, Romine left the task of developing the property to five service clubs in the area, including the Lions Club of Bourbon, Etna Green and Mentone and the Kiwanis Club of Bremen and Bourbon. The property and assets were incorporated Nov. 29, 1982, and became a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit foundation in May 1984. The board of directors represent the counties of Kosciusko, St. Joseph, Elkhart, Fulton and Marshall.
Potawatomi Wildlife Park preserves the site of both prehistoric (8,000 to 10,000 B.C.) and historic Indian encampments including an early 1800s Potawatomi Indian Village. The property also preserves a ford at the Tippecanoe River where more than a dozen different Indian trails, as well as the Goshen Logansport trail, crossed the river.
For more information on the park, visit its website at www.getintonature.com[[In-content Ad]]
Latest News
E-Editions
The public dedication for the “Benack’s Village” Indiana state historical marker was held at the park, 16998 Ind. 331, near Tippecanoe in Marshall County. The marker commemorates Potawatomi village leader Stephen Benack and his village, which remained after the forced removal of Native Americans from Indiana.
Opening the dedication ceremony, park board vice president Forrest Kantner said the application for the historical marker was made in 2006. Usually it only takes a year for state approval, but the state didn’t know who Benack was, so the process took three years.
The first draft for the sign was presented in 2009. After many edits by the state and park board, the state finally gave approval for the sign.
The front of the sign reads: “Osheakkebe, also known as Stephen Benack, was an ogimaa (leader) whose village was near here, 1834-1848. Born circa 1780 of Potawatomi and French-Canadian heritage, Benack resisted United States’ taking of lands long inhabited by Indians and sided with Great Britain in War of 1812. He and allied Indian leaders signed 1815 peace treaty at Spring Wells near Detroit.”
The back of the sign reads: “Indian leaders traded tribal lands in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin to U.S., 1817-1832, for annuities, reserves and land rights. By treaty, Benack secured 2,000 acres of land including his village, which remained despite U.S. forced removal of Indians from Indiana in 1830s and 1840s. Benack died in 1855 and was buried at the University of Notre Dame.”
After Mike Zimmerman, with the Pokagon band of Potawatomi, provided the benediction, Dr. Ben Secunda gave a brief presentation on Benack and the history of the Potawatomi in the area that became northern Indiana and southern Michigan. Secunda is the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act project manager for the University of Michigan.
Secunda said the official policy of the U.S. government in the early 19th century was to push Indians out west. The fact that Benack got the right to stay here and resisted removal is why the historical marker is important.
Benack worked with other leaders in the area to stay. The Potawatomi Indians went from a strategy of fighting with the U.S. government to learning to live beside the American people. Benack was buried at Notre Dame because he worked with Catholic missionaries.
The treaties that Benack and others negotiated were a strategy not appreciated at the time. The strategy in the short term was to learn to live next to the new Americans and become more like them, dress like them and worship next to them, Secunda said. There actually was a chapel next to Benack’s Village. The strategy worked almost too well because of lost culture, land lost due to taxes and other issues.
“What has been kept alive is they do have core values, core beliefs kept underneath,” Secunda said.
Benack was able to stay because when the government came to move the Indians, he went and bought land. If the government moved him, that would have invalidated all landowners’ rights, Secunda said.
Potawatomi Wildlife Park was founded by Vernon Romine, who left an estate of 151 of the current 317-acre park property and an endowment fund to be administered by a board of directors.
Romine was a local land owner who visualized a park open free of charge to the public. His vision was to have an area where visitors, especially children, the poor and deprived, could enjoy recreation without being concerned with financial burden.
The park operates on income generated by the endowment fund, donations from private individuals and corporations, and modest fees charged for some group activities. The park receives no city, county or state funding and charges no general admission fee.
In his will, Romine left the task of developing the property to five service clubs in the area, including the Lions Club of Bourbon, Etna Green and Mentone and the Kiwanis Club of Bremen and Bourbon. The property and assets were incorporated Nov. 29, 1982, and became a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit foundation in May 1984. The board of directors represent the counties of Kosciusko, St. Joseph, Elkhart, Fulton and Marshall.
Potawatomi Wildlife Park preserves the site of both prehistoric (8,000 to 10,000 B.C.) and historic Indian encampments including an early 1800s Potawatomi Indian Village. The property also preserves a ford at the Tippecanoe River where more than a dozen different Indian trails, as well as the Goshen Logansport trail, crossed the river.
For more information on the park, visit its website at www.getintonature.com[[In-content Ad]]
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092