Noquet Indians (No´ke, ‘bear foot’; another name for the Bear gens (see Noka) of the Chippewa. W. J.) An Algonquian tribe located by the earliest French writers about Noquet bay, at the mouth of Green Bay, extending north across the peninsula to Lake Superior. In 1659 they were attached to the mission at St. Michel, together with the Menominee, Winnebago, and others.
In 1761 Jefferys, probably on the authority of some recent French writer, says they were on the island at the mouth of Green Bay, formerly occupied by the Potawatomi. They were never prominent as a tribe, and were probably absorbed by the Chippewa or the Menominee.
My childhood home was located where a Potawatomie tribe was once located in Kosciusko County, between Leesburg and Warsaw, in Indiana. My street was named after the Chief of the village once located there. His name was Chief Monoquet (sometimes spelled Menoquet). I created a Wikipedia page for Chief Monoquet, as the story of the Pottawatomie always fascinated me, and being that I was just a euro-american white boy living on land that the natives were forced off of, I felt a sense of duty to, in the least, make sure their story is told.
That being said, through my research on the Monoquet Tribe, I read that they relocated to Kosciusko County Indiana from somewhere in Wisconsin. Possibly near the ‘Door Peninsula of Wisconsin’. (As a side note, when I saw pictures of the Door Peninsula of Wisconsin, I saw a big similarity to the landscape along the Tippecanoe River where the Monoquet’s tribe lived, although not as beautiful as in Wisconsin).
Is it possible that the Noquet tribe you write about, is being mixed up with Chief moNOQUET’s tribe? Furthermore, could the original spelling of Monoquet (‘MEnoquet’) be a name that was lost in translation? As in the chief was stating who he was, as in, ‘my name is Noquet’? (Me-Noquet)?
I’m currently researching the Wisconsin origins of the Monoquet tribe, as well as more broadly the Potawatomi, to see how close the locations are in reference to the above mentioned ‘Noquet’ tribe.
Anyone with any ideas is much welcome to reply to my comment, or contact me.
The Wikipedia page I created for Chief Monoquet is located at the link below:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoquet_(Potawatomi_chief)
Pōsōh (hi) Jon! Mark newīhswan (My name is Mark)! Netōmeqnomenēwem (I am Menominee). I first read about the Noquet tribe a few years ago and have found a few things here and there about them since. Most importantly though, I will tell you the reason I’m interested in trying to find out more about them. Larger nations like the Ojibwe, Cree, Oceti Sakowin (Sioux), Cherokee, and many more have subcultures or dialects of their languages that existed even precontact (this is basically the term used for before Columbus). When I first read about the Noquet, I saw they were most closely related to the Menominee, maybe even a subculture. You can imagine that, as someone who is Menominee, my curiosity was piqued. There isn’t a whole lot I’ve been able to put together, but I would enjoy working with you because maybe we can help each other out.
Wāēwāēnen (thank you),
Mark
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