This Place (Rogers Park)

The video above has been compiled from materials and archival images generously shared by the American Indian Center and Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society. During Winter 2021, narration of the video was recorded with Grayson Alexander, Isabella Chamberland, and Edelawite Sasahulih of the 49th Ward Youth Council.

The video has been shared at 1224 W Loyola in Spring 2020, and was subsequently on view as a part of the Summer 2020 exhibition Birchbark, Wiigwaas at Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society, featuring new work by Nora Moore Lloyd. The video was also featured as a part of Moore Lloyd’s installation for human / nature: the weight of our actions on the natural world at the Illinois State Museum in 2021-2022.

Please let us know if you would like to add your voice.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT. IN RECENT YEARS IT HAS BECOME A TREND TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE TRADITIONAL HOMELANDS OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF A PARTICULAR AREA THROUGH A LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT. THIS TYPE OF ACTIVITY IS DESIGNED TO BRING MORE AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE HISTORY OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND THEIR TERRITORIES. BUT A LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT SHOULD ALSO BE MORE THAN THAT; IT SHOULD BE A CALL TO RETHINK ONE’S OWN RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE HISTORIES OF ALL PEOPLES. IN PARTNERSHIP, THE AMERICAN INDIAN CENTER AND ROMAN SUSAN ART FOUNDATION HAVE CRAFTED THE FOLLOWING LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO HELP ALL RETHINK THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE CITY, THE LAND AND THE ENVIRONMENT. THIS ACKNOWLEDGMENT DEMONSTRATES A COMMITMENT TO BEGINNING THE PROCESS OF WORKING TO DISMANTLE THE ONGOING LEGACIES OF SETTLER COLONIALISM. CHICAGO IS THE TRADITIONAL HOMELANDS OF THE COUNCIL OF THE THREE FIRES: THE ODAWA, OJIBWE AND POTAWATOMI NATIONS. MANY OTHER TRIBES LIKE THE MIAMI, HO-CHUNK, MENOMINEE, SAC AND FOX ALSO CALLED THIS AREA HOME. LOCATED AT THE INTERSECTION OF SEVERAL GREAT WATERWAYS, THE LAND NATURALLY BECAME A SITE OF TRAVEL AND HEALING FOR MANY TRIBES. AMERICAN INDIANS CONTINUE TO CALL THIS AREA HOME AND NOW CHICAGO IS HOME TO THE SIXTH LARGEST URBAN AMERICAN INDIAN COMMUNITY THAT STILL PRACTICES THEIR HERITAGE, TRADITIONS AND CARE FOR THE LAND AND WATERWAYS. TODAY, CHICAGO CONTINUES TO BE A PLACE THAT CALLS MANY PEOPLE FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS TO LIVE AND GATHER HERE. DESPITE THE MANY CHANGES THE CITY HAS EXPERIENCED, BOTH OUR AMERICAN INDIAN AND ROGERS PARK COMMUNITY SEE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LAND AND THIS PLACE THAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN A CITY HOME TO MANY DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS AND PERSPECTIVES.