Chicago's Indigenous People's Sculptures

American Indian Center. Photo by Eric Allix Rogers

Chicago has many works of public art depicting the city’s Native American history. But few examples accurately represent the Indigenous people who have populated this region for millennia.

American Indian Center. Photo by Eric Allix Rogers

Chicago has many works of public art depicting the city’s Native American history. But few examples accurately represent the Indigenous people who have populated this region for millennia—including but not limited to the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi nations.

White artists of the early 20th century often depicted Indigenous people based on images they had seen in books, or other common stereotypes of the time. Prominent statues and artworks in Chicago’s downtown and neighborhoods distort the Indigenous nations who have lived in this region since time immemorial, instead depicting tribes of the Great Plains and Pacific Northwest.

This tour presents artworks created by contemporary Native artists, many of whom are investigating historical misrepresentations of Indigenous life to envision a richer and more vibrant future.