Just a quick note on this week's episode, the way we think about ourselves and refer to ourselves

and the way we want others to think about us and refer to us is extremely important.

Today's episode revolves around the first people to inhabit Illinois, and we've asked the people

who you'll hear from about what language and which terms they prefer for themselves and their groups.

Because we got a range of answers, you'll hear a range of terms used.

Many of the states bordering Illinois have Indian reservations.

Wisconsin is home to the Potawatomi, Ojibwe, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, and Oneida Nations, among others.

In Michigan, you'll find the Potawatomi, Ojibway, and Odawa, and in Iowa, the Sack and fox. But there are no reservations in Illinois,

yet all across Illinois, there are hundreds of daily reminders that we are living on land

once inhabited by Native Americans. You see it in the names of towns, streets, rivers, and our sports teams.

Even the name Chicago is believed to come from a word Native Americans gave to the wild

onions that grew all around the shores of Lake Michigan.

So why aren't there any Indian reservations in Illinois?

I'm Curia City's Jason Mark.

Understanding the answer to this question requires a look

back at the region's history from the 1700s through the 1830s. It's a period marked by armed conflicts,

treaty negotiations, and a U.S. government determined to push out Native people. Coming up, three Native Americans, two of whom were professors,

the other a chairman of a Pottawanami band, tell us the story of how the indigenous people of

Illinois lost their lands and their decades-long fight to have their histories and contributions

to this area recognized.

Thank you. Right now, you have the power to do even more.

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