The Menominee, Cherokee, Iroquois, Potawatomi and Ojibwa all consume the plant in their traditional cuisines. Among sister Algonquian languages are Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Cree, Fox, Menominee, Potawatomi, and Shawnee. These Indians were probably the ancestors of the Chippewa, Potawatomi, and Menominee. The area was originally inhabited by Native Americans, including the Menominee, Potawatomi, and Sauk people. These included the Potawatomi, Ottawa, and Ojibwe. In these 1840's, George Gebhardt started trading with the surrounding Potawatomi and Menominee neighbors. He is of Seminole, Cherokee, Potawatomi, Scottish, and German descent. Merrillville occupies what used to be woodland belonging to the Potawatomi Indians. Among the tribes inhabiting the region were the Shawnee, Delaware, Miami, Wyandot, Ottawa and Potawatomi. The Council of Three Fires is an alliance of the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi tribes. Most were from the Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk, Kickapoo, and Ottawa tribes. The northwest tribes include the Chippewa, Ottawa, and the Potawatomi. In the 17th century, the region was inhabited by Huron, Odawa, Potawatomi and Iroquois peoples. The English "Potawatomi" is derived from the Ojibwe (syncoped in the Ottawa as ). A reservation for the Prairie Band Potawatomi is located at Mayetta, Kansas.