Chicago Politics

2025 Native American Heritage Month Reception 11.13.25

Description

Mayor Brandon Johnson joins city and community leaders at the 2025 Native American Heritage Month Reception.

Transcript

0:00 Evening is a ceremony. Our ceremony will begin in about five minutes. And at this time, the mayor has arrived. And what we're going to do first is we're going to hear the Blackbird Drum and Singing Group. And we're going to see the Blackhawk dancers. So as soon as they start singing, the dancers will be coming in. So thank you all for coming, and you'll hear more from us.

5:02 You can hear me? Okay. Well, thank you. Let's give them a hand of applause. What you see here are people from 14 different tribal nations. Now, but I have to say that over half of them are Ojibwe. But that said, and they are dancing many styles of dance that you would see at a powwow today or traditional dancing. Welcome, Mayor. I see you now. We have the fancy shawl dancers.

5:34 Can you raise your hands? Fancy shawl dancers. This is the most popular of the Native girls' dance. And we have the jingle dress dancers, which comes from our tribe, the Ojibwe people. We have the traditional women's dancers. And we have many students here from CPS, and we have grandmothers. We have our elders, and we have our CPS students. We have a special dancer with us today who is Choctaw.

6:08 Jazam. And we have a special dancer with us that is a fancy, a men's fancy dancer. And we have two dancers today that are woodland. Right, guys? Woodland. Because this is the land of the woodland Indians, right? Okay, well, with that, we're going to dance one more time for you. Give them a big hand of applause.

7:26 Good job, dancers. Good job. wonderful yep no no you can you can leave the stage now they want to keep dancing we usually don't do such a short performance they're used to a much longer performance but we're grateful to be here today thank you guys thank you Daryl for coming back coming out okay all right so Blackhawk performance

8:08 company is almost 40 years old it's the largest and the oldest performance Company in Chicago. And we were founded by Kelly Summers. Kelly, wave your hand, Kelly. Kelly, Kelly Summers, raise your hand. The company was founded by her father, the late Carlos Panetza. And she's a great artist. She beads all of her artwork and her regalia and does leather work and fan work. She's just

8:38 amazing. So she's one of our artists that make all this possible. So in a minute, oh, I see the podium is up. But let's give all of our dancers and singers one more round of applause. It wouldn't be as exciting without them, right? Okay. So thank you. Thank you, dancers and singers. Hope to see you all again soon.

9:08 Now, oh, this one now, okay. Can you hear me now? Okay. Now I would like to welcome Jasmine Gurneau, who is President of the Board of the Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative, who will give a few remarks. Jasmine? Hello, everyone. My name is Jasmine Gurneau. I am a citizen of the Oneida Nation and a descendant of the Menominee Nation.

9:49 And it is my honor to serve as the board president of the Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative, referred to as CAKE for sure. Sure. It's a coalition of 15 different organizations and programs that are working towards improving the well-being of Chicagoland Native Americans. So give a wave anyone of the member orgs or folks that are involved in our committees. Give a round of applause. It's an honor to

10:26 stand here today among so many passionate and dedicated community members to celebrate Native American Heritage Month. This month is a time to honor the culture, contributions, and histories of Native American communities and to reflect on the journey and work that has led us all here in this room today. I want to emphasize that tonight is a time for joy and celebration. There are so many heavy and frankly violent things taking place in

11:02 our worlds right now. We've been fighting, defending, protecting, building, and preserving in so many different ways. And there's always more work to do. But it's also important to take the time to rest and reflect, to pause and celebrate, and be in community with each other, connecting with each other with food, singing, dancing, laughter, and joy.

11:34 And we have so much to celebrate, including the historical return of tribal lands within the state of Illinois and the investment into 45 brand-new units of affordable housing with a Native American focus right here in Chicago in the Irving Park neighborhood. We celebrate today because we are still here, we have a voice, we have a story to share, and we have a future to build.

12:18 Thank you so much for being here tonight and to help us celebrate. Each and every one of us plays an important role, and so with that, I say, Thank you, and I look forward to being in community and in celebration with you all tonight. My name is Dr. Doreen Wiese, and I am honored to serve as the emcee this evening.

12:51 I am an enrolled member, an Ojibwe-enrolled member of the White Earth Nation in Minnesota. I'm also Executive Director Officer of the American Indian Association of Illinois, an urban-based nonprofit dedicated to transforming Native lives through education. And I am also president of NACE, Inc., which was formerly NACE College, the only urban American Indian college in the country. Tonight, we gather in celebration and recognition of the many Native nations and communities who have called this land home, past, present, and future.

13:27 My spirit name is Ahuska, Inc., which means white wing. I stand before you as one who performs an activity that was once outlawed in our country. someone who is an American Indian and who dances traditional Native dances and sings traditional songs and prays to the Great Spirit in my way. I stand proud and defiant in that tradition that was not allowed by my parents or grandparents. You see, the powers that be did not want our tribal traditions to be passed down to the children of our people.

14:04 They did not want our songs passed down. They did not want our history, our languages, our spiritual beliefs passed down. They wanted to erase us from the earth, and almost did. By the turn of the century, we were only 250,000 people total in the world. But our ancestors were strong, and many did not forget. So that is why we are still here today, dancing, singing, and telling our stories. The American Indian Association is the home of the Blackhawk Performance Company.

14:38 The name seeks to honor the memory of the great, brave Native leader and sock warrior, Blackhawk, who fought throughout his life to have his ancient homeland of his people in Illinois to save his Native homeland from invading settlers who had stolen his land. The Blackhawk Performance Company Okay. performs for thousands of children and adults every year, telling the chief story. It provides an outlet for experienced American Indian talent who live in an urban area to share their Native arts and cultures with the public.

15:10 And it provides a venue for young Native people to learn and celebrate the many tribal songs and dances that enrich their lives as tribal people. As I mentioned earlier, the Blackhawk Performance Company was created by Zeke Panetza, a Zuni artist. He was the only Zuni in the entire Midwest, but he came here to work, to go to school, and he ended up creating the Black Hawk Performance Company. By working with underserved Native youth who were often in trouble with gangs and in the law and dropping out of school,

15:47 but dance and singing was a way that he saved them. And as you know, music and dance and the arts, they do that. They can help save our young people. Right? Right? And we applaud Mayor Johnson because he knows about school. He knows about kids. And so our kids today, they're in all those public schools, but we today don't have one person working in them to help our kids. So that's a plea I'm making tonight,

16:18 that we find a way to have one Native person in the Chicago Public Schools to help Native kids because they are still dropping out. They are. So it's a problem. Some of the tribes that have lived here, as we talked about, have been the Fox and the Sauk and the Miami, the Kickapoo, of course the Menominee, Ho-Chunk, and Illinois Confederacy, along with the Council of the Three Fires. We were kind of the newer members of this area of the country, the Council of the Three Fires,

16:49 the Ojibwe, the Potawatomi, and the Odawa, but Ojibwe were always the largest, and we're still the largest today. We're the second largest tribe because many of our members are in Canada as well. Over 70 percent, my main message to you is tonight that over 70 percent of all Native people live in urban areas, like Chicago, in cities, not on reservations, not in rural areas. They live in cities. We are the tribal majority, and we need to get people to start talking about our needs and our interests.

17:24 And we have people right now that are striving to work in politics to do just that for us. And so we are continuing to, we're still dancing, we're still singing, still telling our stories by any means possible. We made a great forward action here in being involved with all of you, meeting so many great people here, telling you our stories, telling you where we come from, our tribes,

17:55 what we do here in Chicago, the work that we do. And now we need to focus on the future, and we need to focus on the children of the future. We also need to pay attention to the elderly because our stories are with our elders. Our stories are not all in the books in the library or the University of Chicago or Northwestern University Library. Our stories are in the hearts and minds of our elders, and some of them you have right here. So they are also important to us.

18:27 So we are honored to be here today to launch the Chicago Native American Heritage Celebration 2025. Thank you, Mayor Johnson and your team and all the Native people who are here and who have helped bring this celebration together. And may we all, in the words of Mother Jones, pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living. Thank you.

19:09 At this time, we would like to recognize the members of the Native American Engagement Council, whose leadership continues to uplift and strengthen our community, and our elected officials who have joined us tonight. Could you all stand or put your hand up if you're already standing? people that are in the Engagement Council and elected officials. We really appreciate you coming and helping put together this event.

19:39 It's just overwhelming and wonderful. We are, as I said, we're extremely grateful to the mayor for hosting this evening's event and his continued support for our Native community. I think this is our third event. Is that correct, or are there more? Oh, okay, so this is probably your third. Depends on when you came in, right? Also, I would like to extend sincere thanks to the supporters and sponsors

20:10 whose generously have helped us make this celebration possible. Aon, Ferreira, Globertrotters, McDonald's, and People's Gas. Thank you. Can you raise your hands if anybody's here from the supporters? As you know, we know, working in nonprofits, we need all the help of the foundation and business supporters that we can get. So thank you if you're in the audience. Also, I would like to recognize the wonderful food being served this evening.

20:41 It's prepared by Kedip Pannon Kitchen, Chicago's first native pop-up kitchen and catering. Can we give them a round of applause? It was excellent, excellent, excellent. Everybody I talked to, they really enjoyed it. So just so you know, they really enjoyed it. This is led by executive chef and owner Jessica Waks first, Pomonica, a Le Cordon Bleu trained chef. Catapanen Kitchen beautifully blends native food traditions and contemporary culinary artistry.

21:15 Jessica's work honors our culture and reminds us that food is a powerful way to share history, identity, and community. Is Jessica here? Well, let's give her a round of applause in absence. Chi-miigwech. And also we would like to thank Vision and Bloom for the beautiful flowers on your tables and around the room.

21:51 They add a beautiful touch. Now it is my honor to introduce the mayor of the city of Chicago, Brandon Johnson. Wow, good evening, everyone. Good evening. Thank you so much for being here this evening. I'm so grateful that we get a chance to yet again celebrate Native American Heritage Month. Since I've been in office, we have done it every single year. And as long as I'm in office, we will continue to celebrate Native American Heritage Month.

22:35 Thank you to our emcee, Dr. Doreen Wiese. Thank you for your leadership. And thank you for your lobbying effort. I like your game. She said, Mayor, thank you for being here. And here's what we need. And message received loud and clear. As we continue to invest in young people, we have to make sure that we visibilize every single group, particularly our Native American community. I'm grateful that we're also joined by our elected leaders. We have our city treasurer here and a member of city treasurer.

23:08 Would you like to stand and please just say hello? And then we also have a member of our district council, a brand new elected space to make sure that we have accountability, particularly around policing. Our district council member, please stand and wave. Give a round of applause to the Native American Engagement Council. Maureen Smiley from the Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative, Sidney Starr from the American Indian Health Service of Chicago,

23:40 and, of course, everyone who helped make tonight possible. I'm grateful that we have our Interim Commissioner for D-Cases here, Interim Commissioner Deputy Mayor Kenya Merrick. Thank you for your leadership being here. I see we have Commissioner Arfa here as well. So thank you all. Thank you all for gathering tonight. Chicago is located on land that has been home to Native peoples for thousands of years.

24:10 This area is the traditional homeland of the Council of the Three Fires, Potawatomi, Ottawa, and Ojibwe Nations. When Dr. Wiese mentioned that it's the Ojibwe Nation and tribe that is the largest, it made me think that Ojibwe must be the west side of the Native American community. So thank you for representing the Ojibwe nations and to, of course, all of the different larger cultural groups.

24:43 Anishinebe, I'm lurking how to get that language right, but to all of the nations, including Miami and Ho-Chunk and there you go. The Mino Mini, Sac and Fox and Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wee, Kickapoo and Mascotton all identify this region as their homeland. And for millennia, this area has been a place for gathering and exchange, connection among many different people.

25:15 And Chicago has become the world-class global city that it is today because of our great diversity and mixture of rich cultures, traditions and heritage. In the spirit of D-Case that has been established through the Cultural Healing Grant programs, which uplifts organizations that celebrate and elevate cultural heritage, this month I am proud to present the Cultural Heritage Grant to the Center for Native Futures. The Center for Native Futures was founded to advance Native fine arts

25:56 through gallery exhibitions, artists in residencies, and community events. Through their work, Native Futures is ensuring that Native arts and artists will continue for generations to come, has been already articulated tonight, ensuring that we protect our cultures, particularly our Native American cultures. It is tantamount to us being a global city.

26:26 Chicago is home to the third largest urban Native community in the country and the largest in the Midwest, with a Native American community representing over 150 tribes. These communities have added to the cultural diversity and vibrancy of our city in the realms of art and music and business and finance and education, social services, the sciences, and, of course, medicine. So I'm very proud, as we celebrate Native American Heritage Month, which is vital to taking steps towards resaping Chicago in the future that we all wish to see it manifest in.

27:06 And so one that honors Native peoples who have called this place home for thousands of years. So help me celebrate this incredible organization with this cultural grant.

27:55 It's been expressed already, but I announced an open call for artists. And I want to do this in a very clear way. Starting today through January 2026, we're proud to announce an open call for artists for a $500,000 public art commission at the future DuSable Park. DuSable Park named after Jean-Baptiste Point DuSable, Chicago's first non-native settler.

28:30 It's going to be a site of remembrance and celebration of Chicago's early history. This project, in partnership between D-CASE and the Chicago Park District, will prioritize Native artists, especially those with a connection to this region. The artwork will uplift Native voices, honoring indigenous inhabitants whose continued presence and their foundational role in the origins of Chicago still live on today. And we will uplift Native

29:02 voices while telling a story, a story of alliance and cultural exchange and enduring vibrancy. When complete, DuSable Park will feature commemorative and educational elements, including the actual figurative statue of DuSable, interpretive signage, a mural charting early Chicago history, and design landscapes reflecting the area's cultural legacy. This park will join public art displays and galleries throughout the city,

29:36 such as the Native Art Gallery in the South Loop, and it will be commemorating the long historic Native American trails that are now Chicago streets. And as we celebrate Veterans Day this month, we must also recognize the Native Americans who bravely served in the U.S. military. During World War I and World War II, it was Native cold talkers that used their language to transmit secure messages that confused the enemies.

30:08 It saved countless lives and helped to secure victory. And today, Native Americans serve in the military at a higher rate than any other demographic in our country. This is why it is important to come together to remember and honor our Native American roots and celebrate the contributions of Native peoples for generations to come. We are a city that honors and celebrates our diverse communities, and we are always working to ensure that each and every community is seen, heard, valued, and, of course, included.

30:42 the Native people that come before us, that have come before us, and those that continue to enrich our city today and beyond. Chicago is truly the greatest city in the world because of the history of this city, which obviously is definitely connected to all of the Native nations. And so today and every day, let us continue to learn from one another. Let's share in our heritage and let's embrace the cultural richness. I am so grateful that our city is standing firm, strong as we beat back against authoritarian rule,

31:17 understanding that the love story that established this city has profound roots in the very people who are indigenous to this land. And if America were to ever hold to its true values, what a much more dynamic place it would be. But what gives me hope is that we are celebrating the very people that made it possible for all of us to live in the greatest freaking city in the world, the city of Chicago. God bless you all, and happy Native American Heritage Month. Thank you.

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