Before Evanston was founded in 1863, tribal nations including the Potawatomi, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Myaamia (or Miami), Wea, Kiikaapoi (or Kickapoo) and Mascouten called the land home. When settlers arrived, they forced conflict, removal and assimilation on tribal nations while government policy stripped them of their lands. Years later, urban relocation in the mid-20th century brought.
A divide within the Native American community of Chicago took center stage in Rogers Park at what was meant to be a celebration and news conference hosted by the Indigenous Peoples’ Day Coalition-Illinois while green, red and white flags soared in the air downtown as Italian-Americans instead celebrated Columbus Day.
Around 60 community members, activists and volunteers convened at Pottawattomie Park in Rogers Park on Monday to voice support for the renaming of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Chicago and Illinois. Throughout the event and press conference, politicians and activists criticized Columbus Day as a holiday that celebrates colonialism, genocide and near erasure.