Indigenous Chicago

How to Use the Digital Maps

The digital maps listed below were created by the Indigenous Chicago project team with guidance from the Indigenous Chicago Mapping Committee. In consultation with this subcommittee, we identified priorities for re-mapping Chicago’s history in a way that centers Indigenous stories. However, we also made intentional decisions about what data to use and prioritize, as well as what information not to map. For example, many of the maps rely on limited archaeological data that could never tell a full story of Indigenous life. We have tried to be transparent about the limits of this data, as well as prioritized Indigenous knowledge that can help us re-interpret the information. This project is a living initiative that we will continue to expand as we identify more research and stories. If you see an error on the maps or have information to share, please contact us. 

We have also intentionally not made any information about mounds or burial sites public, but have collected this data at the request of our tribal partners. If you are a Tribal Historic Preservation Officer or other designated tribal official and would like access to this data, please contact us directly. 

To hear more about our mapping decisions, we encourage you to tune in to our virtual program on October 17, “Mapping Indigenous Chicago.”

The Native Place Names map shows place names for seven different languages, each of which is shown in a different color. You can select as many or as few languages to view at a time using the legend on the left side of the map. Each place name point shows the literal English translation (if available) and the name for the place at it is known today. We have also included sources for each of the points, and where they exist, sound clips. Like all aspects of the Indigenous Chicago project, this map is an ongoing initiative. We will continue to update the data as we complete or are directed to additional research. 

Sources used for this map are listed within each map point. 

 

The Travel Routes map shows some of the many routes that Indigenous communities and individuals traveled through the continental interior for diplomatic, ceremonial, economic, cultural, and other purposes. The map emphasizes waterways and portages as the primary vessels of movement but also features a few prominent overland trails. Where possible, we provide names for these places and routes in several different Indigenous languages, highlighting the tribal diversity of this region and the intimate, intergenerational relationships Indigenous people have with these landscapes. We have also embedded links that highlight efforts by tribal communities to teach their languages, restore habitats, and rematriate homelands. The data for this map is drawn largely from archaeological data and historical narratives, sources that are limited, and make it impossible to ever create an exhaustive map of all travel routes. Therefore, it is important to note that blank space on the map does not indicate a lack of routes. Like all aspects of the Indigenous Chicago project, this map is an ongoing initiative. We will continue to update the data as we complete or are directed to additional research. 
 Sources used for this map include:
  • Albert F. Scharf and John H. Hauberg were both local historians who spent decades studying historical documents, collecting oral histories, and conducting field studies and landscape walks in order to better understand Indigenous trails and sites in Illinois. Their papers, including extensive maps and notes, can be found at the Chicago History Museum and Augustana College Special Collections.
  • Nelson, John William. 2021. “The Ecology of Travel on the Great Lakes Frontier: Native Knowledge, European Dependence, and the Environmental Specifics of Contact.” The Michigan Historical Review 45 (1): 1–26.
  • Aacimwahkionkonci (miamioh.edu)
  • Wiwkwébthëgen | Pokagon Archives and Dictionary (wiwkwebthegen.com)
   

The Village Sites map shows permanent Indigenous village sites, as well as temporary camps and sites for seasonal labor in the Chicago area from the pre-contact period to the mid-19th century. Native people in the Great Lakes were not static – they moved seasonally, as well as according to internal changes and colonial violence. Therefore, even the “permanent” village sites would have fluctuated in population across the year and across time. The data for this map is drawn largely from archaeological data and historical narratives, sources that are limited, and make it impossible to ever create a truly complete village site map. We have designated larger, more permanent sites as village sites and smaller, more temporary camps as seasonal camps likely used for seasonal rounds – annual patterns of coming to a particular place at a particular time for activities like maple sugaring, harvesting plants, and hunting. Alongside many of these village and seasonal camps, archaeologists have noted the presence of large amounts of flint, and assumed that these were places to create weapons and tools, or “chipping sites.” While there were designated places near villages to create tools, these sites would have also been used to create things like baskets, to process food, and to complete other kinds of community work – these materials simply don’t hold up as well over time, and thus were not seen by archaeologists during their excavations. Therefore, we have re-named these sites as “Community Work Sites” to reflect the full use of these places. Due to the limits of archaeological data,  it is important to note that blank space on the map does not indicate a lack of village sites. We have only mapped the area immediately surrounding what is now Chicago, but in reality the entire United States, especially areas near important waterways, were similarly covered with Native village sites. Where the information exists, we have included information about leaders that lived at these sites, the time periods they were occupied, and the tribal nations who lived there. That said, even the sites marked as being led by one tribe likely contained individuals from several tribal nations, as was common in the Great Lakes. If you click on each point, you can also see the source(s) from which the information was pulled, as well as any additional details we have about the site. Like all aspects of the Indigenous Chicago project, this map is an ongoing initiative. We will continue to update the data as we complete or are directed to additional research. 

Sources used for this map are listed within each map point. 

The Treaties map shows the eight treaties that either ceded land in what is now northeastern Illinois or were negotiated at Chicago. It also highlights land that was never ceded by treaty. To get more information about each treaty or unceded land tract, simply click on the polygon, where we have included a short description and links to the treaty text and source maps.  Sources used for this map are listed within each treaty polygon.    
The Removal map shows removals in or near the Chicago region or removals of tribal nations whose homelands include Chicago. It depicts approximate removal routes based on primary and secondary historical accounts and attempts to illustrate the general routes that removal parties took. Some of these removals were directly orchestrated and overseen by US officials, while in other cases, communities made the difficult decision to leave a place for the safety of their communities and the well-being of future generations. Even when removals were not directly overseen by U.S. troops, they were still forced departures from land as a result of settler colonialism. Many communities with ancestral connections to Chicago were often removed simultaneously and (in many cases) on the same removal. Most removals targeted communities that signed treaties in which removal was either an implied or explicit stipulation. Removals  of any kind were often deadly, tragic events, and as the period wore on into the 1850s, removals happened regardless of the cost of human life. On the map, we have marked removal routes with a beginning, any points of convergence with other removals, and an end. However, please note: the removal routes featured here represent only the first stages of Indian Removal (1830-1851). Many of these communities were subjected to further removals as the 19th century progressed to places as far south as present-day Oklahoma. You can learn more about each of the removals by clicking on the route beginning icons.  Sources used for this map are listed within each map point.  
The Landscape Change map is an in-progress map highlighting the many changes that U.S. officials orchestrated in lockstep with and following the removal of Native people from what is now known as Chicagoland. Because the creation of this map has required manually entering data from individual survey plats, it is an ongoing project that we will continue to update. For the time being, it reconstructs the waterways and marshlands that were destroyed by engineering projects, and shows historic forests and prairies. The current iteration of the map shows complete reconstructions of Cook and Lake counties, and partial reconstructions of major waterways in other surrounding counties. Like all aspects of the Indigenous Chicago project, this map is an ongoing initiative that we will continue to update.   
The Relocation map highlights the many places that Native people traveled from when they moved to Chicago as part of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’s relocation program in the mid-twentieth century. Many Native people moved directly from their home communities, while others came from various cities, were processed through federal agencies, or came directly from Indian boarding schools. At present, the vast majority of the data on this map comes from federal relocation records. However, like all aspects of the Indigenous Chicago project, this map is an ongoing initiative. We will continue to update the data as we complete or are directed to additional research. If you, your family, or someone you know came to Chicago as part of relocation, we encourage you to contact us.  
The Iconography map shows examples of the many representations of Native people and histories that exist across the Chicagoland area in statues, monuments, signage, architecture, and other types of public art. The vast majority of these representations romanticize, misrepresent, or minimize the contributions of Native people. Others do not include Native people at all, but celebrate colonialism or depict narratives of “discovery.” Native people have long critiqued representations like these and created their own public art to celebrate Native teachings and lifeways. We have striven to represent all of these types of iconography across the map, and will continue to add points and images as we are made aware of them.   

This point-based map features dozens of Indigenous places across what is now known as Chicagoland. Spanning from pre-contact village sites to contemporary Native businesses, the map emphasizes that Chicago is, and has always been, an Indigenous place. Users can explore this map in several ways. A list of points appears on the left side of the screen, and you can use the keyword search to look for specific names, tribes, or places. The filter drop-down allows you to sort by type of place, and if you’d like to explore the map through one of our curated stories (City Stories) or walking tours, you can sort for those as well. A list of these tours can be found below. Finally, the layer icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen allows you to see the boundaries of the four treaties that ceded land in Chicago, as well as land that remains unceded.

Sources used for this map are listed within each map point. 

In addition to the webpage linked above, Urban Archive is also a mobile-friendly site. 

City Stories

 

Walking Tours

Story Map Sections

Chicago is a Native Place

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Early Contact and Travel Through Chicago

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Increased Settlement and the Transformation of the Great Lakes

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Removal and Erasure

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Indigenous Chicago Present and Future

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