Simon Pokagon

Born around 1830, Simon Pokagon was a member of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and the son of Leopold Pokagon. He became known not only as a public speaker and advocate for Native people, but also as a writer whose work reached readers far beyond his own community.

Pokagon wrote on Native rights, memory, religion, and everyday life, and he spoke at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Among his best-known works are The Red Man's Greeting and O-gi-maw-kwe Mit-i-gwa-ki (Queen of the Woods), a novel published in 1899 shortly after his death.

Today, he is often remembered as an early Native American literary voice in the United States. His writing mixes protest, reflection, and storytelling, giving modern readers a direct sense of how he pushed back against erasure while preserving Potawatomi identity.