Unlike many states in the Midwest, including Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa, Illinois doesn’t have any federally recognized tribal lands. Yet all around the state, in the names of cities, rivers, streets and sports teams, there are reminders that we are living on land where Native Americans once farmed, traded and made their home.
By the time Europeans first explored the region in 1673, Native Americans had long been settled in villages all around the area.
So why aren’t there any federal Indian reservations in Illinois? (The term federal Indian reservation is used by the U.S. Department of the Interior.)
The answer requires a look back at the region’s history from the late 1700s through the 1830s — a period marked by armed conflicts, numerous treaty negotiations often made under pressure and through coercive tactics, attempts by Native American leaders to reclaim their lands and a series of policies enacted by a U.S. government determined to push out Native peoples. Read the full story, here.
