Born in 1775 near the Kankakee River to Ottawa parents, Shab-eh-nay, meaning “Built like a Bear,” became a Potawatomi chief after joining a Potawatomi camp near Lake Michigan around 1800, marrying Pa-kwuk-no-quah, daughter of Chief Spotka, and living with his band by farming and hunting on their ancestral homeland. He fought with the British against the Americans in the War of 1812 as second in command to Tecumseh, and after Tecumseh was killed he vowed to follow a path of peace for the rest of his life. Returning to his village in southern DeKalb County, he was elected chief after Spotka’s death and also became a peace chief for the Three Fires Nation, settling tribal law questions and disputes between Native people and settlers. Interested in the welfare of both groups, he learned improved farming from newcomers and shared his knowledge of nature and medicinal plants. In 1827 he warned Fort Chicago of a planned Winnebago attack, and in 1832 he rode for 48 hours through forest and prairie to warn settlers of Blackhawk’s planned raid and prevent bloodshed. In gratitude for his peacemaking, Article III of the 1829 Treaty of Prairie du Chien reserved 1,280 acres in what is now DeKalb County, Illinois, for him and his band, where they lived from 1836 to 1845, but after trips west of the Mississippi to visit relatives the land was declared forfeited and sold to settlers in 1849. Deeply betrayed, he wandered with his family for seven years until supportive settlers gave him a 20 acre tract near Morris, where he lived until his death in 1859; he is buried there beside his wife at Evergreen Cemetery.