Whose Lakefront (2021)

In 1914, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians sued Chicago for land along the lakefront. As co-signers of the 1833 Treaty of Chicago, they had been forced to give up their land in Illinois up to the shore of Lake Michigan. Since then, the city had created land beyond the shore, including Streeterville, Lincoln Park, and Grant Park, some of the most valuable property in the city. The Pokagon Band argued for the return of this unceded land or payment for its value. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, where, predictably, the Potawatomi lost.

Mainstream Chicago history rarely includes this story. Whose Lakefront aimed to unsettle assumptions about land, history, and belonging by visibly marking this unceded land in the heart of Chicago’s downtown. 

On October 2, 2021, a procession led by Native people collectively drew a line of red sand along Michigan Avenue between the Chicago River and Museum Campus, tracing the original shoreline of Lake Michigan. 

The Whose Lakefront Planning Group included members of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, other Native artists, activists and scholars, and non-Native allies: Jacob Adams (Colville Nation), Andrea Carlson (Grand Portage Ojibwe), Iris Colburn, Tol Foster (Mvskoke Creek Nation of Oklahoma), Aaron Golding (Seneca), Phoebe Kuo, John Low (Pokagon Band of Potawatomi), Heather Miller (Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma), Dave Spencer (Mississippi Chata/Dine), Billie Warren (Pokagon Band of Potawatomi), Madolyn Wesaw (Pokagon Band of Potawatomi), and Debra Yepa-Pappan (Jemez Pueblo & Korean).

Further documentation on www.whoselakefront.com & Facebook.

PRESS

SUPPORT

This project was supported by the Propeller Fund, the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) Individual Artist Program, and the Illinois Arts Council Agency. The project is not affiliated with the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi tribal government.