As of 2024, there are 574 federally recognized Native American tribes in the U.S., and many others that are no longer federally recognized. In April 2024, The Prairie Band Potawatomi became the first federally-recognized tribe in Illinois. In Chicago alone, more than 65,000 people live here who identify as Native American, and they represent over 175 different tribes. There are many ways in which tribes share a common history, and yet they are also culturally and linguistically distinct from one another.
Stereotypes of Indigenous peoples still exist in American life. Such simplified imagery has been appropriated from others’ cultures, sometimes for profit and sometimes in what is now seen as a misguided attempt to connect to the past. Native American names and images sell products such as the Jeep Cherokee or Winnebago RV, or football’s Kansas City Chiefs. It is ironic that depictions of Native Americans have been used as positive symbols because governmental units and the larger American society have consistently attempted to erase their languages and cultures through acts such as the 1830 Indian Removal Act, the 1887 General Allotment Act, the Indian boarding school system, the termination of federal recognition in the 1950 and 1960s, and the urban relocation program, just to name a few. Yet, they are still here.
This virtual exhibit looks at a few examples of the use of Native American images from the North Shore’s past. The items shown are from the Museum’s collections. Following the examples is a short list of suggested books by Native American authors.
Table of Contents
New Trier High School Mascots
New Trier High School used an image of a Native American man as their school emblem from 1948 until 1981. During the period 1965 to 1981, when New Trier East and New Trier West existed (two high schools in one district), New Trier East remained the Indians and New Trier West became the Cowboys, playing off of a stereotyped conflict seen in the movies, on TV, and elsewhere. The Native American mascot was of a man wearing a Plains Indian feather headdress, a common depiction of Native American men that was supposed to stand in for all Indigenous peoples. More such examples will be shown in this exhibit.
When the two campuses once again merged in 1981 with a drop in school enrollment, the mascot was changed to the Trevians.
Shawnee Country Club
Wilmette’s Shawnee Country Club existed from 1929 to 1943 on Michigan Avenue. The club was reorganized as the Michigan Shores Club in 1943. The Shawnee club chose as its logo this image, shown here on a matchbook cover, of a Native American man in a feather headdress, not something a Shawnee man would have worn as part of his regalia but typical of the stereotypical images used by non-Indigenous people. The Shawnee (saawanooki in their language) originally resided in the Ohio River Valley but were continually pushed westward, including into southern Illinois, until they were forcibly removed across the Mississippi River in the early 1830s.
Find out more about this artifact in our Online Collections.
Indian Hill Estates
This 1920s housing subdivision in west Wilmette was named Indian Hill Estates by the developers. They used tribal names for many of the streets, such as Miami and Pawnee, and advertised the subdivision using Native American images such as the one to the right.
The black and white photograph shows a group of Native American men in 1930. According to the note on the back of the photo, they are standing in front of the Wilmette home of Ben Bills, one of the developers, and were in town to advertise Indian Hill Estates. Because the subdivision’s logo has a Native American man with a Plains Indian feather headdress, most of the men are wearing such headwear, although given their other clothing, they do not appear to be from tribal cultures that would typically wear them. It is possible that some or all of the clothing was supplied to them for the photo shoot.
“Pioneer Days” Film
A silent movie was filmed on Wilmette’s lakefront in August 1912. The movie, made by the Selig Polyscope Company of Chicago, a very early motion picture company, was released in 1917 as “Pioneer Days.” Filmed on the bluff and the beach at Elmwood Avenue, the movie reenacted the 1812 Chicago Battle of Fort Dearborn. No copy of the film is known to have survived.
However, the Museum has several stills from the movie, including the one shown here. It appears that the producers might have cast Native American actors, although it may be all makeup and costume. Many of the costumes include Native American-made beadwork items, probably created close to the time of the film’s production. Historical narratives about how white settlers conquered native peoples and established a new society were very popular at the time.
Official Village of Wilmette Seal
The Village of Wilmette’s official seal from 1872 to 2022 included an image of a Native American man dressed in clothing he might have worn in the 19th century in the Great Lakes area. Many people objected to the larger scene, which showed the man looking out over Lake Michigan as a schooner sailed into the area. The drawing suggested to some the arrival of White settlers in the area, foreshadowing the conflicts and ultimate removal of Indigenous people beginning in 1830 with the Indian Removal Act. In response to such objections, the Village had a new seal designed, and it debuted in 2023. Native Americans are depicted on many governmental seals.
Suggested Books by Native American Authors
Fiction
Louise Erdrich (Ojibwe), Love Medicine. 1984 (her first novel) or The Night Watchman. 2021
N. Scott Momaday (Kiowa), House Made of Dawn. 1968
Susan Power (Standing Rock Sioux), The Grass Dance. 1994
James Welch (Blackfeet/A’aninin), Fool’s Crow. 1986
Non-Fiction
Ned Blackhawk (Western Shoshone), The Rediscovery of America. 2023
Vine Deloria, Jr. (Standing Rock Sioux), Custer Died For Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto. 1969
David Treuer (Ojibwe), The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee. 2019