Native Americans

Two state-run museums and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign are making progress on their repatriation efforts with the help of recent legislation, but a small nonprofit museum near the state’s western border has been slower at complying with the repatriation process.

In the past several years, Native American advocacy groups have scored what they call major victories in state government.

During a muddy "field day" last weekend, artist Ruth Burke drove her team of oxen, Clark and Sparky, over the one-acre plot that will be home to a living art installation of native plants.

The Illinois House has approved a bill that would ban portrayals of Native Americans in school logos, names and mascots, and another bill that would force a Southern Illinois school to drop its use of the Midgets nickname.

The land in southern Dekalb County once belonged to Chief Shab-eh-nay of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation but was seized and sold by the U.S. when the chief was visiting relatives.

The Illinois State University Horticulture Center is literally going back to "native roots" for this year's Autumnal Festival. The center is honoring the connection to indigenous plants as part of the annual fundraiser for the center on Saturday and Sunday.

Gov. JB Pritzker signed a package of bills Friday extending cultural protections to Native Americans in Illinois and requiring the teaching of Native American history in public schools.

Historians and McLean County officials gathered at West Park north of LeRoy to dedicate a new historic marker that details the history of the Kickapoo tribe in central Illinois.

A performance centering on Native American voices served as a sort-of groundbreaking for a natural art piece at Illinois State University's Horticulture Center that will be developed over the course of eight years.

In a first-of-its-kind hire last month, the Illinois State Museum added a director of tribal relations – a pioneering role in the institution’s 145-year-history. Heather Miller will be responsible for building and repairing relationships between the Springfield-based museum and Native American tribes with historical ties to the state, specifically when it comes to how the state has handled native artifacts and remains.