First Children of Farmington
Apples of Gold is pleased to present a series of fictional children's stories based on the lives of some of the real first children in Farmington, Wisconsin. Don't miss the adventure! Here's the first installment: The Potawatomi Boy
A glossary of terms and further reading suggestions follows, and you can see beautiful illustrations of the story at the following link: http://lisalickel.com/catalog.html
First Children of Farmington
Text, copyright 2008 by Lisa J Lickel
Illustrations, copyright 2008 by Laurie Holle.
No part of this work may be reprinted, copied or otherwise disseminated by any media without the express written permission of the author. One time use rights are granted to Naomi Musch for reproduction in the e-zine, Apples of Gold.
About the author: Lisa Lickel lives in eastern Wisconsin and is a graduate of UW-Stevens Point with a degree in history. She became interested in the local history of her new home when she discovered that her house had been built by a Great Lakes ship captain in the early settlement period of Washington County. She serves the state of Wisconsin and the east central region through the Historical Society of Wisconsin’s Council for Local History, and is a member of several local historical societies. She is the author of numerous newspaper and magazine articles and two novels. Feel free to visit her website: http://lisalickel.com and contact her with questions.
Introduction
At the time this story took place, the mid 1850s, the Potawatomi people had lived in Wisconsin for about two hundred years. They migrated from the eastern United States as a result of the Beaver Wars. In the 1830s the US government began purchasing the land of the different branches of the Potawatomi. The families were moved to reservations in Kansas and Nebraska. A few Potawatomi families either refused to move, or came back. These families became known as Strolling Potawatomi. Farmington residents recall Potawatomi people living in the area into the 1930s.
Clan titles have family names having some related terms. In this story, Silver Birch is the fictional name of the group of related families that make up Little Green Leaf’s clan, and so his name is related to trees. He was born in the spring time, so he is Green Leaf.
Henri Brinker was a real person. He was one of the west central European people who settled near the border of Washington and Ozaukee Counties in 1852. As common with land claimants of the era, they walked inland from Port Washington. Henri’s parents came here with dreams of establishing a store, but without means to restock, quickly realized it was a losing venture. The Brinker’s partners drifted off to make their living by other means, and Henri’s father, a tailor in his native country of Luxembourg, went to Chicago for work leaving his family alone for months at a time.
Little Green Leaf, the Potawatomi Boy
It was the month of strawberries.
Little Green Leaf saw his breath make a cloud in front of his nose. His long shirt felt stiff. He could see goose bumps on his aunt’s arms.
Little Green Leaf peeked around his mother. He saw a boy his own size looking at him.
Little Green Leaf touched his own straight black hair. The other boy put his hand on his own brown curls and smiled.
Little Green Leaf touched his own lips. Then he pulled his head back to hide.
Little Green Leaf’s mother and aunts had come to the Big Hair people to trade their fish.
He watched to see if the lady would take it.
His mother held out the green fish Little Green Leaf trapped that morning near the join of the creeks. He had hoped to eat the fish himself.
But maybe they would trade for the soft white puffy food again. He liked that.
Little Green Leaf’s family had returned to the summer village. It was good to see the other families of their clan.
In winter, each family moved to a camp deep in the forest. They hardly saw each other all season. Father said that in the winter it was easier for the people to build smaller homes in the shelter of the trees. Wood for the fire was close by so they kept warm and cooked their dried beans, venison, and turkey. Squash and beans do not grow when there is snow on the ground.
Now the clans were back together in the clearing on the hill, in their summer hogans of bark and long grass.
Little Green Leaf wandered over to sit on a tree stump to wait for his mother and aunts. His mother carried maple vinegar and dried juniper berries in a basket along with the fish.
Little Green Leaf got hungry when he thought about his favorite dinner, which was fish he caught himself.
He poked his foot at the patch of dirt with strange plants growing. Little Green Leaf could see they were not plants for food. He wondered why the Big Hair people wanted them. The other boy came over to him.
In the long dark of the winter camp, Little Green Leaf’s grandfather told stories of the Big Hairs.
Little Green Leaf remembered something Grandfather said.
“Bonjoo,” he said, and bent his face to hide in his knees.
“Ah, bonjour!” cried the boy. “Bien! Bien!”
Little Green Leaf raised his head so just his eyes showed. The Big Hair boy jumped up and down, up and down. His little hat fell off and his coat buttons jiggled. He made many sounds, none of which Little Green Leaf could understand.
Little Green Leaf leaped off the stump and ran to his mother.
“Mama! Neneyum! Is that boy sick? Does he need some of your healing herbs?”
The Big Hair woman looked at Little Green Leaf.
Little Green Leaf hid behind his mother. He held onto the fringe of her legging with the bead flower she had made when a long snow kept them inside for many days.
The Big Hair woman smiled at Little Green Leaf and said his word: “Bonjour.”
Little Green Leaf’s mother and aunts also said the word.
Then they said another word, “Adieu.”
It was time to go.
Little Green Leaf skipped and jumped when he saw what his mother carried in her basket.
The story of Little Green Leaf speaking the Big Hair word was told around the fire that night. When it got too dark to see the ball, the boys brought their netted sticks and plopped down on the ground.
Little Green Leaf’s bigger cousins could throw the ball very hard and sometimes Little Green Leaf missed it. They made fun of him for everything.
“Ah! You make Big Hair talk!” Little Green Leaf’s oldest cousin said.
“Why don’t you go live with them?” the younger cousin told Little Green Leaf.
Mother explained to Little Green Leaf that he must not say the strange word if he did not know what it meant.
“What you said was their word for hello,” Mother told him. “We say ‘bozho.’ “That boy thought you could say more of their words.”
“But, Mother, everyone knows bozho. Why can’t they say it?”
Little Green Leaf’s mother shook her head. “All people have their own way of talking.”
Little Green Leaf had not thought of that. “Then how can we be friends?”
Mother said that soon it would be time to plant and she needed Little Green Leaf’s help.
Little Green Leaf might not be as strong as his big cousins, but he could fish. He would show them that he could get good food for the pot while Father was away, trading the furs he gathered all winter.
Little Green Leaf was tired of his cousins’ old contests which he could never win because he was younger and smaller. He wanted to play with another boy his own size. Maybe the brown-haired boy knew some new games.
Little Green Leaf followed the stream to the log house where the boy lived.
He saw the other boy in the water. The boy bent down and came up with a wiggly frog cupped in his hands. When the frog jumped away from him, the other boy said more of his words and splashed after it.
Little Green Leaf watched. After a few minutes, he stood up.
The other boy’s mouth opened wide when he saw Little Green Leaf. Then the boy laughed.
The boy called “Bonjour!” This time Little Green Leaf said “Bozho!”
The boy caught another frog, while Little Green Leaf caught two. He put them in small twig boxes the Big Hair boy brought.
Little Green Leaf and the boy watched the frogs’ throats swell and their mouths open. Little Green Leaf and the boy made the frogs jump from box to box.
Little Green Leaf made the sound of the frogs. “Brrr-eek. Brrr-eek.”
The other boy tried to make the sound, too. They rolled on the ground, laughing and making frog noises.
“Henri!”
Someone was coming down the path. The other boy looked up the river bank and called out some of the strange words. Then he turned to Little Green Leaf, pointed to his own chest and said “Henri.”
It sounded like “Ahn-ree” to Little Green Leaf. Little Green Leaf pointed to himself and said his name.
Henri turned and followed the deer’s path up the bank. He turned to wave at Little Green Leaf. Little Green Leaf waved back and went home to his fire and Mother.
Little Green Leaf took his basket trap to the stream to catch fish. The fish would help the corn grow. His mother asked him to bring as many as he could while she prepared the ground for the seed.
“The little fish will feed the plant, the way it feeds you and makes you grow,” Mother said to Little Green Leaf.
Little Green Leaf liked to catch fish. He was pleased to help his mother, just like the bigger boys. He knew the best place to put his trap.
A stranger was at his special place! Little Green Leaf hid. He poked his head out slowly.
Henri was there with a man of the Big Hairs. They had long sticks in their hands. Little Green Leaf did not know what they were doing. He went closer.
Henri saw him and waved. He talked to the man, and they looked at him.
“Bozho!” The Big Hair man said.
Little Green Leaf’s eyes got big. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Henri laughed. “Come!” Henri pointed to a place next to himself. “Come!”
Little Green Leaf went to Henri.
“Come,” Little Green Leaf said, and ducked his head.
Little Green Leaf saw a string that went from the long stick into the water. The Big Hair man held his stick out of the water. There was a little fish wriggling on the string. Bright drops of water splashed them.
“Gigos!” Little Green Leaf said.
Henri showed him the stick and pointed to the hook at the end.
Little Green Leaf brought his basket trap and pointed to the water. He put it in the water and stood back, so his shadow would not frighten the fish under the water.
Soon, he had his own fish to take to his mother.
That evening, Little Green Leaf’s father walked into the village. It was good to have him home before the rain came.
Little Green Leaf felt a drop on his nose. He sat by the door of the hogan, watching the rain splash the ground outside to mud. It was a little smoky inside, but Little Green Leaf could breathe fresh air through the door.
It rained for three days. Even Grandfather’s stories could not make Little Green Leaf smile.
He made little frog boxes until he had no more twigs.
Before Little Green Leaf opened his eyes the next morning, he listened. He listened so hard that his eyes scrunched up and he held his breath. He heard… nothing! The rain had stopped.
Little Green Leaf leaped out of his blankets and carefully put them away. He would not be staying inside today.
“You may go and play,” Little Green Leaf’s mother said, after he had helped her poke some of the corn seeds back into their mounds.
Little Green Leaf knew where he wanted to go.
Henri was at the stream just as Little Green Leaf knew he would be. Water was swishing and splashing, bubbling over rocks and running up over the bank where they caught frogs.
Henri clutched a frog in each hand and hopped up and down on one foot when he spotted Little Green Leaf. Little Green Leaf ran closer.
Where did Henri go? Little Green Leaf heard him shout once.
“Come!”
Little Green Leaf knew that word.
Father explained that “come” was the settler’s word for his family’s way of saying “byan.” Many of the Big Hairs knew how to say hello more than one way, and could speak to each other.
He could not speak to Henri with his other words, but he knew that Henri needed him.
Little Green Leaf ran to the side of the stream.
He saw Henri hang on to a big root with all of his might. Cold water rushed over him and tried to carry him away.
Little Green Leaf wanted to go to Henri. He wished that Henri knew that he would not let the water wash his friend away. One of Henri’s boots was on the ground.
Henri saw Little Green Leaf and began to scream again. Henri shook his head from side to side. Little Green Leaf did not know the words to tell Henri to wait. He held up Henri’s boot and pointed to the path.
Henri nodded his head up and down. “Papa!”
Little Green Leaf ran as fast as he could, rushing through the branches. The blackberry canes grabbed at his shirt and pants. He caught his moccasin on a root, and left it on the path. He ran until he came to Henri’s house.
The Big Hair man was chopping wood with an axe.
Little Green Leaf held up Henri’s boot. “Byan! Byan!”
Henri’s father stopped chopping. “Come! Papa!”
Little Green Leaf jumped up and down.
“Come! Come! Henri! Henri!"
Henri’s mother came outside when she heard Little Green Leaf shout. She held her hand up to her mouth.
Henri’s father leaped like a deer down the path.
Little Green Leaf did not know the words to say, so he followed Henri’s father on the path, still holding Henri’s boot.
There was Little Green Leaf’s father by the water, too. He held onto a little tree with one hand. With his other, he pulled on Henri.
“Father! Nte’te’yumnos!” Little Green Leaf ran to pull on his father’s shirt.
Henri’s father reached out, too, and together, they pulled Henri from the stream.
Henri’s mother came, waving her arms and making tears.
“Henri! Henri!” She tugged Little Green Leaf’s friend onto her lap. She rocked and kissed him until he began to wiggle. Little Green Leaf knew how he felt.
Henri came to stand in front of Little Green Leaf’s father.
“Thank you,” he said. “Iwgwien.”
Little Green Leaf’s father nodded his head.
Henri faced Little Green Leaf and grinned. He reached in his shirt and held out his hand.
There was a little green and brown frog.
Little Green Leaf carefully took the frog in his hands and grinned back at his friend.
GLOSSARY
Adieu – Ah-dew - French for “good-bye”
Basket Trap – tied and woven twigs small enough to ensnare a fish through a small opening. The fish would swim in but be unable to exit.
Beaver Wars – between 1650 and 1700, the Iroquois nation in the western New England area had hunted the fur-bearing animals to near extinction to satisfy trade with the Europeans. They began to force other tribal people west and claim the conquered territories for their own.
Big Hair – name by which the Potawatomi people knew the French-speaking settlers
Blackberry canes – the long branches of the blackberry bushes
Bonjour – Bon-zhoor - French for hello
Bozho – Boh-zhoe - Potawatomi for hello
Byan – Bi-yan - Come
Gigos – Gee-gohz, hard “g” like “granite” – fish
Hogan – name for Potawatomi dwelling made of branches bent in a half-circle and covered with bark or rushes
Iwgwien – Ewg–wee–en -- thank you
Maple vinegar – fermented syrup
Moccasin – leather shoe
Month of Strawberries- early spring/May. Potawatomi used terms for seasons. There is some dispute, but I have used the following – January is the month of the bear; February is the month of rabbit; March is the month of the crane; May is the month of the strawberry; June is the month of the turtle; July is the month of the young corn; August is the month of the middle, October is the month of the first frost; November is the month of the turkey (based on www.snowowl.com)
Neneyum – Neh-neh – yum - Potawatomi for Mother
Netted sticks – used to play Lacrosse, a game that had netted sticks to capture and throw a hard ball
Nte’te’yumnos – Net ay-yum-noze – Potawatomi for Father
Strolling Potawatomi – groups of Potawatomi who refused to be moved by the US government
White Puffy food – white yeast bread
REFERENCES
Internet resources:
Sultzman, Lee, Potawatomi History, 1998 website
Prairie Band Potawatomi, www.pbpindiantribe.com
Potawatomi Dictionary, www.kansasheritage.org
Footprints Through Farmington, ©1997, 2001 by FHS
Washington County Historical Society Research Department
The Farmington Historical Society records
Oral histories of residents of the Town of Farmington
Butterfield, Charles, A History of Washington and Ozaukee Counties, 1881
Backwards From Ninety, a biography of Marie Mathilde Kuechenmeister
State Historical Society of Wisconsin, A Short History of Wisconsin, 1962
Encarta Encyclopedia
Smith, Huron H., Potawatomi History, Milwaukee Public Museum, 1933
FOR FURTHER READING
Powell, Suzanne, Potawatomi, Scholastic, 1998
Whelan, Gloria, Night of the Full Moon, Random House Books for Young readers, 1996
Prairie Band Potawatomi, www.pbpindiantribe.com
