Cecilia Miksekwe Jackson

Cecelia "Meeks" Miksekwe Jackson (October 2, 1922 – May 29, 2011) was a Bodéwademi (Neshnabé/Potawatomi) woman from Kansas in the United States who worked to preserve Bodwéwadmimwen, a critically endangered Algonquian language. She was a native speaker.

Biography Cecelia Miksekwe Jackson was born to Rosann Lasley Potts and Joseph Bill Potts on October 2, 1922, on the Bodéwademi reservation near Mayetta, Kansas. Jackson was instrumental in the language program's work. She helped create a Bodwéwadmimwen–English dictionary, a grammar book, audio and video material, and a storybook in Bodwéwadmimwen.

In 2010, Jackson was honored with a ceremonial dinner, sponsored by the tribal council, for her work to preserve the language. More than 200 people attended.

Personal life Cecelia Miksekwe Jackson adhered to the Drum Religion or Dream Dance, a Native American religion founded by Turkey Tailfeather Woman, a Dakota woman, in the 19th century. The religion spread to many other Native nations, including the Ojibwe, Meskwaki, Othaakiiwaki (Sauk), Šaawanwaki (Shawnee), Mamaceqtaw (Menominee), and the Bodéwademi of Kansas.

Jackson was a member of the local chapter of the American Legion Auxiliary, made of the partners and family members of veterans in the American Legion. She had two children and was a great-grandmother at the time of her death. She died at 88 years old on May 29, 2011.