Blog

I write to you today on behalf of the CAC’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) committee to catch everyone up on our work towards establishing an organization-wide policy of land acknowledgement.

We launched the IDEA committee in 2019 to strategize our commitment to welcoming and supporting Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian-Pacific Islander, and differently abled people as valued guests and community partners. Our tasks have ranged from how to retrofit our space to accommodate folks who use wheelchairs, to how we can better serve CPS students in under-resourced neighborhoods, to identifying minority and woman-owned vendors for our catering and other contracted services. The committee includes junior, senior, and executive-level staff members, in addition to docents who are collaborating with staff to shape aspects of the IDEA work that affects tour training, recruitment, and content creation.

Over the past year, several tragic events have supercharged both local and national conversations about bigotry, police violence and justice – all of which touch on broader themes of ethno-colonial history and equity in the built environment. Through it all, the IDEA team has continued meeting to discuss concrete ways the CAC can align with our most vulnerable friends, family, and partners at a moment defined by crisis. We recognize that antiracism only becomes effective when demonstrated in our day-to-day actions, and so we have evaluated every corner of the organization to build an IDEA framework towards a better Chicago Architecture Center. One aspect of this strategic plan is to establish a policy of land acknowledgement.

For those who are not familiar, a land acknowledgement is a formal statement that recognizes Indigenous people as the long-standing occupants and caretakers of a particular land or region. Such a statement intends to do a few different things all centered around offering respect for the enduring relationships that exist between Indigenous people and their territories. In our case, we recognize the Potawatomi land upon which the CAC itself stands, as well as the broader Chicago metropolitan area where nations including the Ojibwe and Odawa have lived for generations. An acknowledgement helps to correct the fallacy that Indigenous people no longer live in Chicago – they have continuously lived here and participate in all areas of civic life. It also helps to build awareness, creates opportunities for reflection and encourages conversation. Cultural institutions across North America are producing land acknowledgements to appear onsite, online, in print materials, and to read aloud at public programs and events.

In Chicago, several institutions have already adopted a land acknowledgement policy, among them the Art Institute of Chicago, the Field Museum and the Newberry Library. The CAC is working to develop a land acknowledgement of our own – a process that is methodical, slow, and requires guidance from leaders in our local Indigenous community.

This work is not yet finished but we expect to complete it later this year. At that time, we will offer opportunities to become better acquainted with the language and its intended purpose. We are committed to working closely with the docent, education guide, exhibit host, and volunteer communities to demonstrate best practices for incorporating land acknowledgement into the work that you are already doing.

Regarding tours, we recognize and value that docents are responsible for researching and delivering their own content. That is part of what makes our tour program unique. We also pride ourselves in telling stories through a sophisticated, informed, and empathetic lens that values the range of life experiences of anyone who chooses to take a CAC tour. Our words matter. We are working in partnership with the docent council to ensure that when the time comes to discuss how and where to incorporate land acknowledgement into existing tours, we are doing it in a thoughtful way that supports and enriches the stories we tell.

In summary, please know that land acknowledgement language—as part of a broader IDEA framework—is forthcoming. We look forward to working closely with all of our outstanding volunteers to make this a natural part of the Chicago Architecture Center’s messaging going forward.

Sincerely,

Adam Rubin

Here’s something short and sweet until we get more detailed information:

The installation, “You Are On Potawatomi Land,” was created by artist Andrea Carlson (Ojibwe, b. 1979) and installed in June 2021. The installation recognizes, simply and directly, that the Potawatomi Nation has made the land along the confluence of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan their home for countless generations. Indigenous people have always lived in the City of Chicago and still do today, and continue to care for the land and its natural resources.

When speaking about the installation and the Potawatomi in general, be sure to pronounce the name correctly: Pah-tah-WAH-toe-mee.

To learn more about the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi in Chicago, you can watch this recorded presentation by Dr. John Low of Ohio State University, author of Imprints: The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians & the City of Chicago.