November is National Native American Heritage Month, a time to celebrate

and recognize the history, culture and contributions of Indigenous people in our

country. If you look around Chicago, you see echoes of Native American history in

names like Washtenaw, Skokie and Wabash. But Indigenous history is often presented

from a settler or non-Native perspective.

Today, we get into a project out of the Newberry Library called “Indigenous

Chicago.” Through art, education and collaboration, its goal is to change the

dominant narratives about Chicago’s history with the overarching message: Chicago

is, and always has been, a Native place. It all began a few years ago with

conversations within the Native community.

“One of the things we heard over and over again was this issue of invisibility,”

said Rose Miron, director of the D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and

Indigenous Studies. “Native community members found that there were far too many

people who didn’t understand the long history of Chicago as an Indigenous place, but

also didn’t realize that there was a large contemporary community here today.”

“Indigenous Chicago” is a collaboration between representatives of tribal nations

and includes multimedia art, oral histories, public programs, educational curriculum

and an exhibition. Curious City’s Erin Allen spoke with curators Miron and Analú

María López, the Ayer Librarian and assistant curator of American Indian and

Indigenous Studies.