Joseph Napoleon Bourassa

Joseph Napoleon Bourassa studied at mission schools and the Choctaw Academy. He spoke English, French and Potawatomi and became known as Bourassa the Interpreter. After removal, he taught Potawatomi families, interpreted in federal negotiations and signed the 1846 treaty; tribal histories also record his signature on the 1861 treaty and his work with medicinal recipes.

The Smithsonian preserves a 156-page Potawatomi vocabulary project attributed to him, based on an original version dated 1843. English–Potawatomi entries, verb conjugations and phrases survive together. His biography of the Potawatomi leader Wah-bahn-se appeared in the Kansas City Enterprise on 14 and 21 March 1857.