Why Aren’t There Any Federal Indian Reservations In Illinois?

Curious City

WBEZ Chicago

Society & Culture, Education, Public, Chicago, Arts, City, Radio, Curious, Investigation

4.8 • 642 Ratings

🗓️ 16 March 2023

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Unlike many states in the Midwest, including Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa, Illinois doesn’t have any federally recognized Indian reservations. Yet all around the state, in the names of cities, rivers, streets and sports teams, there are reminders that we are living on land where Native Americans once farmed, traded and made their home. So why doesn’t Illinois have any reservations? The answer requires a look back at the region’s history beginning in the 1700s.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Many of the states bordering Illinois have Indian reservations.
0:12.4	Wisconsin is homes of the Potawatomi, Ojibwe, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, and Oneida Nations, among others.
0:20.0	In Michigan, you'll find the Potawatomi, Ojiwe, and Odawa,
0:23.7	and in Iowa, the sack and fox.
0:26.9	But there are no reservations in Illinois.
0:30.4	Yet, all around Illinois, there are hundreds of daily reminders
0:34.4	that we are living on land once inhabited by Native Americans.
0:39.1	You see it in the name of towns, streets, rivers, and sports teams.
0:44.1	Even the name Chicago comes from the word the Miami and Aligni people gave to the wild
0:49.0	onions growing all around the shores of Lake Michigan.
0:52.6	So why aren't there any Indian reservations in Illinois?
0:56.8	I'm Curious City's Jason Mark.
0:59.3	Understanding the answer to this question requires a look back at the region's history
1:03.4	from the 1700s through the 1830s.
1:07.0	It's a period marked by armed conflicts, treaty negotiations, and a U.S. government determined to push out native people.
1:15.4	Coming up, three Native Americans, two of whom were professors, the other a chairman of a Pottawanami band,
1:22.1	tell us the story of how the indigenous people of Illinois lost their lands,
1:26.1	and their decades-long fight to have their
1:28.8	histories and contributions to this area recognized.
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1:54.1	Right now, you have the power to do even more.
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