Secret Spot: An Urban Powwow in Chicago

November is Native American Heritage month, and this year I celebrated by joining in a long-standing Chicago tradition. The American Indian Center of Chicago held its 66th annual powwow. Yet, this proud performance is unknown to many Chicagoans. That’s why the powwow is featured as Chicago secret #56 in my book.

Native Americans in Chicago

Chicago is the traditional homeland of many nations including the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi. This heritage is prominently displayed at the 2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial in a land acknowledgement from the American Indian Center of Chicago.

In the 1800s, local Native Americans ceded their land to Europeans in a series of unfair treaties. Most of the population was forced out of Chicago.

The Indian Relocation program of the 1950s moved thousands of American Indians from their reservations to Chicago. Chicago has the country’s third largest urban Native American population, and the community has centered around the Uptown neighborhood for decades. Today, Chicagoland’s 65,000 American Indians are spread across six counties. The nation’s oldest urban American Indian Center continues to be an important cultural resource for the community.

After being in Uptown for fifty-one years, the center moved to Albany Park in 2017. A number of tribes from the United States and Canada are represented at the center; however, you don’t need to be Native American to become a member.

The American Indian Center of Chicago’s new home

What is a Powwow?

Drums are pounding, colorful shawls twirl through the air, and every footstep is in sync. You’re at a Native American powwow, not on a distant reservation, but in the middle of Chicago.

Powwows celebrate Indian traditions through the arts and share them with younger generations. A powwow consists of four circles. The drum is at the center surrounded by a ring of male singers, a ring of female singers, and a ring of everyone else at the event.

This rare, authentic Native American cultural experience is an American Indian Center tradition dating back to its founding in 1953. The center aims to promote fellowship between all tribes in Chicago and connection between Indians and non-Indians. Every year, the powwow welcomes the entire Chicago community to celebrate Native American culture through traditional dance, music, food, and artisans. More than 175 tribes from across the United States and Canada are represented.

Grand entry at the American Indian Center of Chicago powwow

The Chicago Powwow

The 66th annual Chicago Powwow was held at Von Steuben High School on November 9-10, 2019. The event began with a Grand Entry of all dancers entering the arena and a procession of American, Canadian, tribal, and POW flags. A dance honoring veterans kicked off the festivities, followed by hours of intertribal dances and contests of different dance styles and age groups. Singers from two groups provided the soundtrack with music celebrating everything from war to healing to keep the beat.

According to the Master of Ceremonies, Leonard Malatare: “It’s not political, it’s not religious. It’s all about coming together as one people, one community. It’s about unity.”

Dancer at the American Indian Center powwow

“It’s all about coming together as one people, one community.”
– Leonard Malatare, Master of Ceremonies

Take Aim

Another activity at the center that is popular with American Indians and non-Indians alike is archery. All-ages archery classes are available several nights per week.

Whatever your background, the American Indian Center offers many ways to celebrate Chicago’s diversity. Come for the powwow and stay for the cultural heritage programs and Native American art. You might just become an expert archer along the way!

Want to discover other hidden places in Chicago? Check out my book Secret Chicago!