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. 

• Albert F. Scharf and John H. Hauberg were both local historians who spent decades studying historical documents, collecting oral histories, and conducting field studies and landscape walks in order to better understand Indigenous trails and sites in Illinois.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)

To view the map in a new page, click here.