The Chicago Public Library’s Native and Indigenous Allies Committee invite all to learn from and celebrate our Native and Indigenous neighbors in Chicago, the Midwest, and all over.
Please read CPL’s Land Acknowledgement in partnership with the American Indian Center in Chicago:
The Chicago Public Library is located on the traditional homelands of the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations. Many other tribes such as the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac, and Fox also called this area home. The region has long been a center for Indigenous people to gather, trade, and maintain kinship ties. Today, one of the largest urban American Indian communities in the United States resides in Chicago. Members of this community continue to contribute to the life of this city and to celebrate their heritage, practice traditions, and care for the land and waterways.
Events
View all Native American Heritage Month events, including the highlights below.
Opening Program
The Life of a Navajo Code Talker: Carl Gorman & the First Twenty-Nine
1 p.m. Wednesday, November 9 (online)
Film Screenings
First Nations Film and Video Festival: Eami, A Film by Marie Culerrier (Ayoreo)
6 p.m. Wednesday, November 2 at Harold Washington Library Center
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World (2017)
2 p.m. Saturday, November 19 at West Belmont Branch
We Shall Remain: America through Native Eyes (2009)
1:30 p.m. Sunday, November 27 at Wrightwood-Ashburn Branch
Programs for Adults and Teens
Intro to Indigenous Foods: Menominee Wild Rice with Chef Jessica Pamonicutt of Ketapapen Kitchen
1 p.m. Saturday, November 5 (Online)
Healthy Corn Succotash: Cooking with Menominee Chef Francisco Alegria
6:30 p.m. Thursday, November 10 (Online)
Learn Potawatomi with Mango Languages
6:30 p.m. Monday, November 28 at Wrightwood-Ashburn Branch
Dark Winds, Prey, Trickster and Reservation Dogs-Season 2: A Talk
6 p.m. Tuesday, November 29 (Online)
Programs for Kids and Families
Indigenous History, Mystery & Cultural Pride with Mama Edie McLoud Armstrong
11 a.m. Friday, November 18, at Beverly Branch
Discover Peru
1:30 p.m. Saturday, November 19 at Roden Branch
Native American Pottery Making
4 p.m. Tuesday, November 22 at Roden Branch
Book Discussions
Braiding Sweetgrass
6 p.m. Monday, November 14 (Online)
Killers of the Flower Moon
6 p.m. Thursday, November 17 at Sulzer Regional Library
Books & Brews Discusses: My Heart is a Chainsaw
6:30 p.m. Thursday, November 17 at Roots Handmade Pizza
Grab & Go Kits
Pick up Grab & Go Kits that include a beaded keychain, beaded bowl and a recipe to accompany one of our cooking programs at participating branches.
Coloring Page
Print our Native American Heritage Month coloring sheet, “Little Sister” by artist Steph Littlebird.
Steph Littlebird is an artist, curator, writer, and a registered member of Oregon’s Grand Ronde Confederated Tribes. She received national recognition as curator of This IS Kalapuyan Land (2020) an exhibition at the Five Oaks Museum in Portland, which was featured by ArtNews and PBS NewsHour. Littlebird is the 2020-2021 Fellow of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A widely published writer, she is currently writing a series about Indigenous Resilience for Oregon Arts Watch Magazine with the support of the Oregon Cultural Trust. As an artist, Littlebird’s work combines traditional aesthetics with contemporary materials and subject matter to forge connections between our collective past and imminent future. Littlebird earned her B.F.A. in Painting and Printmaking from the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) in Portland, she currently lives and works in Las Vegas.
Reading Recommendations
Native Heritage Month Reads for Kids
Native Heritage Month Reads for Teens
Native Heritage Month Reads for Adults
