Help Bring Clean Water to Native Communities

Baseball season officially arrived this week! ⚾️ Jim Thorpe was the first multi-sport professional athlete, playing football, baseball, basketball, and of course winning Olympic gold in track and field, which makes him the original #GOAT! 🐐 Can you name every baseball team he played for? 💡 #BrightPathStrong

#jimthorpe #brightpathstrongpetition #sacandfox #potawatomi #nativeamerican #NativeAthletes #NFLHOF #oklahoma #oklahomagrown #carlisleindianschool #Haskell #haskellindiannationsuniversity #carlisleindianschoolproject #Olympian #CantonBulldogs #OorangIndians #NewYorkGiants #CincinnatiReds #BostonBraves ...

What better way to close out #WomensHistoryMonth than by learning about one of the women that gave us the great Jim Thorpe — his great grandmother Massaw. 💙 Massaw was a distinguished Potawatomi chieftess whose presence was very influential in councils, a right customarily reserved for males. She was the daughter of Potawatomi Chief Wassato and, later, the wife of a French-Canadian fur trader. 🦦 She held standing as a Tribal headman and prominent business owner in the Potawatomi village near Lake Keewawnay in present-day Indiana.

Massaw's reputation was that of an intelligent businessperson and host, entertaining dignitaries and others at her home. Many accounts describe her as stoic and business-minded, and although women held an integral role within the Tribe, they rarely received invites to authorize treaties as a headman. 📜 ✍️ But Massaw was even noted as a man on the first two treaties she signed, according to a curator at the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Cultural Heritage Center.

British artist George Winter sketched many Native Americans in the Great Lakes region including Massaw. 🖼️ He wrote in his journal about her high status within the Keewawnay Village, including the large, two-story cabin that she opened to dignitaries including U.S. military officials. Winter also discussed Massaw’s likeness in his diary, including her smooth, shiny dark hair; deep blue broadcloth blanket and petticoat with ribbon applique; silver brooches covering her cape; and her large, attention-grabbing earrings.

He also mentioned Massaw’s lack of homemaking skills, noting what cooking abilities she lacked she made up for with her cunningness to wager and win bets against the men. 💪🃏

Don't stop learning about Massaw and other amazing #NativeWomen. Visit tribal museums in your area, seek out tribal educational resources, or plan a #postCOVID domestic vacation to visit a tribal cultural center in the United States!

Portrait 🖼️ by George Winter, 1837

#JimThorpe #BrightPathStrong #Massaw #Potawatomi #CitizenPotawatomi #CPN #PrairieBand #PrairieBandPotawatomi #NativeAmerican #WHM2021 #RepresentationMatters #WeAreStillHere #LandBack ...