i have an 1996 news , from the Rochester Sentinal and the Compass. a number of citizen potawatomi nation members trace their ancestry to three brothers who went from indiana to kansas in the 1830s. the name is spelled Bourassa but pronounced Bursaw by the family today. their parents were fur traders. part french and part potawatomi. joseph napoleon bourassa went west in 1837 with chief kee-wau-nay for whom the village of kewanna is named] and nas-waw-kay in the group led by george proffit. his parents and family including his little brother daniel went west on the trail of death in 1838,his brother jude went west in 1840. in 1826 joseph napoleon and jude accompanied rev. issac mccoy from niles mich. to hamilton,new york. where they attended the baptist theological instiutin [now colgate university]. in 1831-32 they attended choctaw academy at white sulphur springs,kentucky. there they took part in the debating society and the lycurgus court.and learned to handie conflict accorting to white mans law. this served them well as leaders of the potawatomi when they lived in kansas. joseph napoleon led a group of potawatomi who proved the white trader joseph clymer jr .and the indian agent, anthony l davis.were cheating and got them fired by the government. this ws an unusual accomplishment ,because most whites who cheated the indians were never reprimanded. joseph n bourassa served as tribal interpreter for many years and was prominent in tribal affairs. jude was an inn kepper, became wealthy and had the first piano in kansas territory. according to letters of william h hutter,first governor of kansas territory in 1854. hutter was impressed with judes comfortable house, fine furniture,and delicious food. judes daughters payed the piano to entertain guests at the inn.joseph n bourassa was sketiched by george winter. both as an individual portrait and in the treaty scene at lake kee-wau-nay in fulton county. he was interviewed by dr lyman draper. whose collection of 5.000 notebooks are in the university of wis. helen depel,oklahoma city. has done extensive research on her ancestors. she gave the fulton county museum two notebooks full of material she copied from old records. she traced their ancestry to francois bourassa 1. born in poltour france. in the early 1600s,his son francois bourassa 11, immlgrated from france to montreal in the late 1600s. he was a fur trader and married marie leber.the dau of the weaithiest merchant of montreal, he died in 1708 age 50. his son rene bourassa and 1 embarked in the ''western trade at michilimackinaw''. his wife and children were one of 10 families living year around at the fort. the site is marked today if you visit the fort mackinaw island. renes son rene bourassa 11 continued in the fathers trade with the indians. living at fort mackinaw, through 1758. he also lived a while at fort st joseph near niles. his son daniel bourassa 1 lived 1752 to about 1830. he marriedmarguerite bertrand,who was one quarter indian.they lived at bertrand michigan..daniel bourassa 11was born at mackinaw in 1780 and bte at mackinaw in 1786.he married theotis pisangarnwaske in 1808, she was chippewa and ottawa and spoke only the indian language. they lived and traded in chicago. they had 14 children in 1837 they were living on the yellow river in marshall county, and in 1838 they went west on the trail of death. daniel bourassa is the first name on the trail of death roll.with the no 9 beside his name. indicating there wre 9 in his family. they and five sons. four grandchildren and a daughter in law died at suger creek mission,kansas. during the 10 years the potawatomi lived there right after the trail of death. joseph n bourassa was the oldest son of daniel 11. he die in 1877 and is buried at willard, jude bourassa [1814-1857] was the third son of daniel 11 and theotis. he went to court to remain in indiana in 1837 but was unsuccessful. he married catherine charet[3\8 indian in the indian village near bertrand mich.they were in the removal of aug 17 1840. going to suger creek. kansas/ he operated an farm along the oregon trail and one of his guest was the explorer freemont. jude cought small pox from a family of immigrants and died. one of his descendants attending the tril of courage living history festival is ron bourassa. colorado springs col. daniel 111 was the ninth son of daniel 11 and theotis. he was born june 22 1827 in chicago and went to kansas as a child. on the trail of death in 1838. he married elizabeth pisita at suger creek in 1844 and died there in 1848.. john rocky barrett tribe chirman of the citizen potawatomi nation. is descended from daniel 111. dehilah bourassa [1850 1900] was judes daughter. born near topeka kansas. she was married three times,to leon bergeron,,,george w gregson,,,,,and thomas grutin. and had children and descentants by all. she and her brother peter would settle their arguments the indian way, they would walk out into the fields and woods,and bury a hatchet. a neighbor said she often saw dehlah coming down the road with a hatchet in her hand. they must have had several arguments. .... Joan [ [ [ [ iam also searching other surnames ] ] ] ] Acker=Boyea=Cicotte=Curran=Hunt=Jourdain=Lynch=Ouaouagoukoue=Reaume=Stafford=Suliere=Tardiff=Walker.