In a message dated 7/9/04 7:39:01 PM Pacific Daylight Time, leisa@netonecom.net writes: > Hi, I am looking for any information on Mota or Weesau or Weesaw/Wesaw, > Potawatomi Indian from the Kosciusko County area. I would like most to find out > HOW he died. I believe it was around 1836 but that could have been another > family member. Please send me a note at: > leisa@netonecom.net > > Thanks! > Cindy > Cindy-- I have no idea about the individual you are describing, and I haven't lived in the state of Indiana since I was a kid nearly 50 years ago, but I think it's "way cool" that you are researching him. In American history, there's a huge void which hasn't been adequately addressed by historians. That is, the lives of Indians who lived "amongst us" throughout our history. NOBODY is researching this! What about the Indian friends of the Plymouth colony? What about the Cherokees, the Delawares, the Potawatomis? What about Pocahontas and John Rolfe, in Virginia? What about William Penn and his compact with the Delawares? What about Peter Stuyvesant and the Dutch New Yorkers? What about Conrad Weiser, Indian agent for Pennsylvania in the 1760s? What about Pontiac and Tecumseh, and the white woman he nearly married, prior to his rebellion? The early relations with Native Americans are, to me, one of the most fascinating and least investigated aspects of American history. If you are doing research on these topics, I'd like to stay in touch with you. I'm amazed and embarrassed that historians have never adequately covered this topic, and while I have never published, I would be happy to volunteer to collaborate on a book on this topic. I honestly believe that Hispanic immigration from Mexico may eventually trigger some academic interest in our Amerind heritage, because in Mexico, everyone is made aware of their Indian heritage in the schools. Meanwhile, in our own history, we have ignored the Indians, even when they made enormous contributions to our public life, such as the Iriqois Confederacy as a model for our federal constitution. Not to mention the Cherokees. What happened to them, and all the eastern tribes after 1828, is a crime of Holocaust proportions. President Andrew Jackson effectively erased our connection with Native American heritage; he was the most evil president in our history, and I'm ashamed that I've got to look at his rotten face on the $20 dollar bill every time I go to the ATM. Let's stay in touch. ---Bob