Canoku (Wife #3)

Canoku is not listed on the 1907 Wooster Roll since she died long before 1907. Canoku, meaning "Fat Woman" since she weighed over 300 pounds, also is spelled Cocanoka, Cacanoke, Pokanoka and Pa-kwak-no-quah. She was the third wife of Chief Shabbona. She survived the War of 1812 and the removal period. She drowned in Mazon Creek, near Morris, IL, on Nov. 30, 1864. Image and commentary from Canoku file of http://www.earlychicago.com/encyclopedia.php?letter=c

Further history is noted from an April 29, 2013 undocumented source at https://familysearch.org/photos/stories/820785

History of Pokanoka · 29 April 2013 · 0 Comments

It is said that while Shabbona, an Ottawa Indian by birth, was on a hunting expedition from his native Ohio Territory about 1800, he visited the Potawatomi people living near the southern tip of Lake Michigan. This visit resulted in his marriage to Chief Spotka’s daughter, Pokanoka (Pa-Kwuk-no-quah, also called Cocanoke). After Chief Spotka’s death, Shabbona became Chief of the Potawatomi at Chief Spotka's request.

The courtship and marriage of the Indians was extremely simple. If a Brave fancied a certain Indian Woman, he would send word that he would visit her wigwam on a certain night. He would enter the wigwam and stir the embers of the fire and add a bit of wood. If the Indian Woman remained wrapped in her blanket, he was rejected and departed without more ado. If she got up and blew out the torch, he was accepted and they were man and wife thereafter.

Shabbona and Pokanoka spent much of their early marriage alternating between Paw Paw Grove and Shabbona Grove. The Paw Paw grove got its name from the abundance of Paw Paw apple trees found there, and which still grow there today. This fruit is small, juicy and luscious. It is found nowhere else in this vicinity. They also made sugar from Maple trees using the backs of turtles as sap buckets. They would boil the syrup and add rabbits or woodchucks. Game was plentiful. Deer, prairie wolfs, wild cats and an occasional bear, along with wild turkeys, geese, ducks and prairie chickens were the main game.

Two sons and five daughters were born to Pokanoka and Chief Shabbona. The boys were named Smoke and Wynonwy. Smoke lived as a white man and was given a Christian burial in Iowa, and Wynonwy lived with the Indians. The daughter’s names were: Sebequay (River Woman), Waywash (Bad Girl), Mkosiqhah (Bear Woman), Motowayquah (Maude), and Hononegah (Mary). Mary was Shabbona’s favorite and Sebequay was the most beautiful.

It is said that Shabbona offered a bushel of silver dollars to any white man who would marry his most beautiful daughter, Sebequay. However, a visit at meal time may have frightened any eligible young man. Any bird or small animal of the prairie might be roasted or boiled with all claws, feathers, fur, etc. intact. Then it was torn apart and eaten. The sight of the beautiful Sebequay devouring food in such a fashion might have seemed repulsive to any white man not used to the Indian culture.

Chief Shabbona and his tribe lived at Shabbona's Grove, near the present town of Shabbona. The chief's entire family (children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews) frequently went to Fort Dearborn, now called Chicago, on horseback to visit relatives. Pokanoka always road in a cart called a "democrat wagon" because she became too heavy to ride a horse. She weighed over 300 pounds.

Once at a ball in Ottawa Illinois, Sheriff George Walker asked Chief Shabbona to choose the most beautiful lady present to preside as Queen of the Ball. Chief Shabbona accepted this challenge. He proceeded by asking each lady to stand while he critiqued her. Once he finished with all the ladies, he walked over to his large wife and said “Much big, heap prettiest squaw”, and Pokanoka was named Queen of the Ball.

On July 26, 1859 the Joliet Signal announced the "Death of Sha-be-ne." It read, "The Grundy County Herald announces the death of this renowned Indian Chief. He died at his wigwam near Morris, on the evening of the 18th. He had been indisposed for several days but on the day before his death had gone fishing, and got a wetting from which he took a severe cold, causing his death in 24 hours. He was about 90 years old. Upon his death being announced in Morris, the bells were tolled, and the citizens generally attended his funeral.

"In 1812 his tribe took the field [war] against his counsels. Instances are related, even when he was fighting against us, of acts of kindness to our people. Since the war of 1812, he has been the fast friend of the whites and has rendered them great service on various occasions.

"The mark of respect, on the part of the citizens of Morris, on the occasion of his death, was an evidence of the respect in which he was held. He preferred to remain here and die by the graves of his braves to following his tribe to their new hunting grounds at the base of the Rocky Mountains; and though none of his people were here to bury him at his death, his remains were interred with due honors by his pale faced friends."

After Shabbona’s death, Pokanoka and two of her daughters came back to their old home at Shabbona Grove. On July 5, 1864, they took quiet possession of a thicket near their old home. Soon after this, on November 30, 1864, while crossing the Mazon Creek, in Grundy County, with her grandchild, they were mysteriously thrown from the wagon and both drowned. Pokanoka always rode in a cart because she was too heavy to ride on a horse (she weighed over 300 pounds). Pokanoka and the grandchild are buried next to Shabbona in Evergreen Cemetery, Morris, IL.

Mrs. William Dewar of Morris related Pokanoka’s last day in an interview for the Sycamore True Republican Newspaper on November 24, 1909. “On a trip to Sam Holderman’s farm for flour, vegetables and meat, Pokanoka met her death. Sam was very kind to them, always loading their wagon. Her ponies stopped at our place. We lived on the Ed Lott place then. My father went and put the ponies back on the road again for her and gave her the lines. She started away, sitting in the bottom of the wagon. We thought she would be alright. She had her little granddaughter with her. This was in the evening”.

“The next morning we were going to the field to husk corn and just before we drove onto Pine Bluff bridge, we discovered her lying on her face in just enough water to reach her ears. A little further down stream was her granddaughter. Both had drowned. Their ponies were found near by, feeding in the woods”.

At website https://www.familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/820785 is a statement that "All of Shabbona’s people who remained moved out west, after the death of Pokanoka.". This appears to be too comprehensive a statement since some descendants claim otherwise.