Photo: Newberry Library.
This image from the Newberry Library in Chicago represents the clans of the ogimaag (chiefs) of the Lake Superior bands of Ojibwe. The clans are shown united at a time when they were petitioning the US government to revise treaty boundaries set in 1842.
In Chicago, there’s a library with an impressive indigenous studies collection, of which the art above is an example. I have never seen anything like it, a charming illustration of tribal chiefs, their individual symbols, and their collaboration to deal with the US government. It is in the Newberry Library.
Courtney Kueppers reported recently for WBEZ about the library and a $4 million grant “from the Mellon Foundation that will help widen access to Indigenous languages, some of which have been on the brink of disappearance.
“The research library holds roughly 2,400 items directly related to more than 300 different Indigenous languages as part of its vast Indigenous Studies collections, which include more than one million manuscript pages, 11,000 photographs and 2,000 maps.
“Right now, only a small percentage of that is available digitally, which can pose a barrier to tribal nations and scholars. Part of the new grant funding will focus on making more of the collection available on Newberry’s website, with a specific focus on language-related items.
“ ‘Those are often of major interest to tribal nations who are working on language revitalization activities,’ said Rose Miron, Newberry’s vice president for research and education. …
“The loss of Indigenous languages has been called a state of emergency. Many languages were nearly eradicated after the U.S. federal government attempted to force Indigenous people to assimilate in the 19th and 20th centuries through orders that included Native American boarding schools. …
“ ‘Children were literally being punished for speaking their own languages and being forced to speak English instead,’ said Miron, a historian whose area of study has focused on Indigenous history in the Great Lakes region. Now, as many tribal nations focus on revitalizing languages and teaching them again, Miron said items in the Newberry’s collection can play a critical role, especially for nations with no living speakers. …
“The Newberry collection includes Bibles and other religious texts created by missionaries who were attempting to assimilate tribal members by translating those works to Indigenous languages. Among the other linguistic items are boarding school materials that were translated into Dakota. …
“Miron said, ‘I have seen people in the collection weep upon seeing something that is related to their family, or is related to their community that they’ve never seen before.’ …
“In total, Newberry says, more than half the funds will go directly to tribal nations.
“ ‘We fundamentally believe that tribal nations are the best representatives of their own history,’ said Miron, adding that the library is also open to repatriating items in its collection.
“The Indigenous collection at the library originated with a donation in 1911 from the wealthy businessman Edward E. Ayer, whom Miron said was an avid collector of books, manuscripts, artwork and publications about different tribal nations. Ayer also endowed the collection, and that has allowed the Newberry to grow the collection over the years and dedicate a librarian to it. …
“The latest round of Mellon funding is an extension of a previous planning grant, which the museum received in 2020. The planning process resulted in the ‘Indigenous Chicago‘ project, which looks to provide information and resources on Chicago’s historic and modern-day Indigenous communities. It includes interactive online maps that reinterpret Chicago’s history from Native American perspectives.
“The project comes amid other recent local efforts to better recognize Indigenous people and their culture. A new partnership between the American Indian Center of Chicago and the Forest Preserve of Kane County led to the introduction of a new bison herd, bringing the animals to the local tallgrass prairie for the first time in 200 years. The center will steward the herd.”
More at WBEZ, here. If you live in Chicago or visit, try to give us a firsthand account of the library.
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