Our Story
The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians (Gun Lake Tribe) is part of the historic Three Fires Confederacy, an alliance of the Pottawatomi (Bodewadmi), Ottawa (Odawa) and Chippewa (Ojibwe). Tribal Nations in the Great Lakes region are also known as the Neshnibek, or original people.
Under the command of Chief Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish, the Three Fires Confederacy signed the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 with the United States government. At the turn of the 19th century, the Chief’s Band inhabited the Kalamazoo River valley, with the primary village located at the head of the river’s head.
In 1821, Chief Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish signed the Treaty of Chicago, the first land cession to the U.S. government that directly affected his Band. Under the treaty’s terms, the Tribe retained a three-square-mile reservation located at present-day downtown Kalamazoo.
The U.S. and Pottawatomi Tribes signed the Treaty of St. Joseph in 1827, ceding the tribes’ rights to the Kalamazoo reserve. Neither payment nor land was ever provided to the Chief’s Band, leading to a period of constant northern movement in an effort to avoid removal to the west. The Band briefly settled in Cooper, Plainwell and Martin before permanently settling in Bradley, near Gun Lake, circa 1838.
The Bradley Settlement was initially known as the Griswold Mission, an effort by the Reverend James Selkirk of the Episcopalian Church to Christianize the Indians. Later known as the Bradley Indian Mission, Chief Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish’s band remained an Indian community and persevered as a tribal government up until present times.
The Band’s political leadership following European contact is well documented. First came Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish, followed by his son Penassee, followed by his first son Shu-be-quo-ung (aka Moses Foster), and then Moses’ brother, known by his Anglicized name David K. (D.K.) Foster. Charles foster was elected Chief in 1911.
Under the leadership of Selkirk Sprague, the “Bradley Indians” attempted to organize under the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act. Their efforts were stymied, however, by the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ decision to withhold recognition of Lower Peninsula Michigan tribes.
In the 1980s, the Band prepared for federal recognition under the new federal acknowledgement procedures of 1978. In the early 1990s, the tribe filed for federal acknowledgement by the Department of the Interior’s Branch of Acknowledgement and Research. Federal recognition of Chief Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish’s Band of Pottawatomi Indians finally became effective on August 23, 1999.
The Tribe’s constitution was adopted in 2000 and continues to guide the tribal government. The seven-member popularly elected Tribal Council holds authority over all the affairs of the Tribe and its subsidiaries. The Tribe’s five-county service area includes Allegan, Barry, Kalamazoo, Kent and Ottawa counties.
In 2001, the Tribe began the arduous process of reestablishing reservation lands in order to pursue economic development under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The federal process did not conclude until 2005, after several frivolous legal challenges delayed the Tribe’s gaming project for nearly four years.
In 2003, the Tribe hired Station Casinos to manage its gaming project. After years of struggle and hardship, the Tribe has finally taken steps to forge a brighter future.
Timeline
1795: Chief Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish signs the Treaty of Greenville on behalf of the Chippewa, Ottawa and Pottawatomi Tribes
1820: Primary village located at the head of the Kalamazoo River
1821: Treaty of Chicago
1827: Treaty of St. Joseph
1833: Treaty of Chicago (1833), Chief Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish refused to sign
1838: Chief’s Band settles near Gun Lake in Bradley, the beginning of the Bradley Indian Mission; under the protection of an Episcopalian church and later the Methodist church
1885: Bradley Indian Cemetery established
1890: Moses Foster (Shau-be-quo-ung) and his brother D.K. Foster join with the Huron-Pottawatomi and Pokagon Pottawatomi groups and file claims against the United States for unpaid treaty annuities
1894: The Bradley Mission is “dissolved” by the Church; the land is divided and deeded to 19 descendants of the Chief’s Band; most land was lost due to tax liens
1903: Moses and D.K. Foster die
1904: The “Taggart Roll” is prepared by the BIA as a result of the claims filed by the Pottawatomi to distribute the awarded annuities
1911: Charles Foster is elected Chief
1939: The Bureau of Indian Affairs declines organization under the IRA of 1934
1940s: Many Gun Lake Tribe members serve in the U.S. military in WWII
1992: The Bradley Settlement Elders Council is formed
1993: Tribal Constitution drafted
1994: Petition for federal acknowledgment submitted to the Bureau of Indian Affairs
August 23, 1999: Federal recognition of Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians (Gun Lake Tribe)
2000: Tribe’s constitution was adopted