1970’s – Formation of Huron Potawatomi, Inc. | Development of Political Organization
The decade of the 1970’s proved to be a pivotal period in the development of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi’s political organization.
The decade of the 1970’s proved to be a pivotal period in the development of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi’s political organization.
By 1960, most of the group’s members were no longer living at Pine Creek but had moved to cities in southern Michigan that provided employment opportunities. Continuing a trend to seek off-reservation employment that had begun in the 1940s, more and more of the young adults moved out of the core geographical area centered at Pine Creek. The dispersal resulted from a rapidly increasing birth rate which caused significant population pressure on the limited Pine Creek land.
After World War II, the pattern of work off the reservation continued to grow. For many of the NHBP, this period marked the first participation in the urban labor market. By the end of the War, factory employment and other urban jobs had largely replaced the earlier dependence on seasonal farm work and subsistence farming.
Some NHBP members joined the armed services during World War II, while others took jobs in urban industries. During these years, several men worked in factories in Battle Creek or Detroit; women also took industrial jobs.
Albert Mackety and Levi Pamp provided the key political leadership of Pine Creek for the next 40 years.