Land Acknowledgement
Port of Entry shares the stories of people who traveled here from lands around the world to make new homes for themselves. As we honor their stories, we also acknowledge the first people who made their homes here.
Albany Park is on the traditional territories of the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi tribes. We acknowledge the forced removal of Native people, as well as the centuries of broken treaties, cultural and linguistic erasure, continued neglect, and exploitation.
Today, more than 75,000 Indigenous people representing 180 nations live in the Chicagoland area, one of the largest and most diverse Indigenous communities in the U.S. Right here in Albany Park, the American Indian Center is one of the oldest urban Native Centers in the country while the Chi Nations Youth Council has turned a vacant lot into the First Nations Garden.
American Indian Center
Located at the corner of Ainslie and Kimball in Albany Park, the American Indian Center of Chicago (AIC) promotes fellowship among Native people of all Tribes living in metropolitan Chicago and creates bonds of understanding and communication between Natives and non-Natives in this city; advances the general welfare of Natives into the metropolitan community life; fosters the economic advancement of Natives; sustains cultural, artistic, and avocational pursuits; and perpetuates Native cultural values. Visit the American Indian Center of Chicago.
Chi-Nations Youth Council & First Nations Garden
Native-Led Movements for Justice
Theatre Communications Group offers this resource page with educational, volunteer, and mobilizing opportunities in Native-Led Movements for Justice. Here are a few of their recent suggestions:
Petition: Return Lampson Brook Farm to the Nipmuc People
Join the fight to save Chi’Chil Bildagoteel from a copper-mining conglomerate