Davis Henderson ’25 is in a race against time. Few of his fellow Potawatomi in southwest Michigan’s Gun Lake region can speak their native language, Bodwéwadmimwen, and it’s possible some of it already has been lost to history.
Yet Henderson would do anything in his power to help save that language and culture for future generations, especially as his people, also known as the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish band of Potawatomi, have done so much to support him.
When mentioning the Gun Lake tribe, “a lot of people think about the casino, but across the street from it is our government center,” he said. “That’s where we have our courts, our police officers, and it’s where we educate our people. They’re responsible for why I’m here right now. I couldn’t attend Kalamazoo College without their support.”
Protecting his heritage means so much to Henderson, in fact, that he has dedicated his Senior Integrated Project (SIP) to it. The SIP is a senior’s capstone project, showcasing the critical thinking, communication and creative skills students develop at K.
The documentary Henderson created for his, titled BODEWADMI NDAW or I AM POTAWATOMI, is the latest in a string of successes that Henderson, a theatre major, has experienced in his film and media studies concentration. Last year he was part of a group of K students that made Motherboard Loves You, which earned the Best Amateur Picture award in the Kazoo 48 film festival. He also spotlighted K’s TV-production class in a Homecoming film festival last fall with ARTX-200, named for the course taught by media producer and studio instructor Jaakan Page-Wood, who served as a consultant for BODEWADMI NDAW.
The title, in capital letters, reflects a declaration of pride that Henderson and others involved with the film feel for their heritage.
“We’ve got a new generation of people who want to revitalize the language and fight for ourselves, and that’s a lot of what the documentary is about,” Henderson said. “We have the facilities, we have the motivation, we have the drive, and we have the assets to revitalize it properly and get the information about our efforts out there.”
The history behind the language’s decline began when Chief Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish signed the Treaty of Chicago in 1821. Many native Americans of the time were moved west, but Henderson’s tribe made a choice to go north. Their ancestral land covered several local areas—including a territory of land that Kalamazoo College now sits on—before they were pushed toward Bradley, and eventually to Wayland.
Some of Henderson’s ancestors, including his great-grandfather, then were forced to attend boarding schools, where staffers enacted beatings. Henderson said he didn’t grow up learning the language as a result. He can speak pieces of it by saying thank you, hello and goodbye. He also can introduce himself, but that’s where the language largely has been left until now, despite his tribe’s recent ambitions to revive it for their children and grandchildren.
One of Henderson’s interviewees even described learning the language because he loves it, not because it’s fun or easy.
“The people learning how to speak the language describe an ache that comes with it because they want to learn it so badly,” Henderson said. “In fact, I was originally going to call this documentary The Ache. But I’ve found that where there was pain, there’s also been a lot of hope. Growing up in our culture, we’re always being hopeful, moving forward with good intent. That’s what we always strive for, and I hope the documentary captures that.”
The documentary begins with the tribe’s construction of a canoe on Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish land for the first time in a few hundred years, by Henderson’s estimation.
“I hope that the moment emphasizes the fact that we’re trying our hardest to rediscover our culture,” Henderson said. “Much of our culture is lost. There are so many words and practices that just don’t exist anymore because we don’t remember them. We don’t have a written language. It’s oral history, so if we’re not listening to the people who knew it before, it disappears.”
The film continues with interviews, festivals, gatherings and meetings with people around Michigan and throughout the Midwest. Viewers see the crafted canoe’s launch, pow-wows, interviews, language conferences and more as tribal citizens attempt to learn Bodwéwadmimwen through conversations and tools such as sign language for a deeper understanding of who they are.
Henderson is grateful to the people who contributed to the documentary and made it possible—such as interviewees Rhonda Purcell-Corkins, Annalee Bennett, Malcolm McDonald, Frank Barker, Iola Goldie Trevan-Nicholas and Holly Trevan—along with the governing bodies of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish and Pokagon bands of Potawatomi. He’s also grateful to Page-Wood and Visiting Instructor Danny Kim for teaching Henderson almost all of his documentary skills.
The documentary premiered at a gathering February 19 at K and is available on YouTube. It can also be seen in the Tube Factory Artspace in Indianapolis starting March 7.
“This has been a long process, and I’ve surrounded myself with a lot of people who I didn’t realize cared so much,” Henderson said. “It’s been a fascinating and beautiful experience. I hope I can follow up on this project in the future. Maybe 10 years or so won’t allow for much of a difference, but I want to check back in because right now we’re just starting to lift off. I want to see what it’s like and think ‘Hey, we’re cruising.’ Hopefully, we’re cruising.”