Land Acknowledgment

Northwestern Pritzker Law is a community of learners situated within a network of historical and contemporary relationships with Native American tribes, communities, parents, students, and alumni. The Law School is in the heart of downtown Chicago and thus sits among the urban Native American community in Chicago and near several tribes in the Midwest.

Northwestern Law is located on the traditional homelands of the Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo), Peoria, Potawatomi, and Myaamia (Miami) nations, and is an extension of Northwestern University, which sits on the traditional homelands of the people of the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa as well as the Menominee, Miami and Ho-Chunk nations. The Chicago and Evanston campuses are placed on lands that were also sites of trade, travel, gathering and healing for more than a dozen other Native tribes and are still home to over 100,000 tribal members in the state of Illinois.

As an academic institution committed to justice, diversity, and inclusion, Northwestern Law has a responsibility to disseminate knowledge about Native peoples and the institution’s history with them. In pursuit of our mission to be a place where theory meets practice and thought meets action, Northwestern University and Northwestern Law work toward building relationships with Native American communities through academic pursuits, partnerships, historical recognitions, community service, and enrollment efforts. 

Northwestern University Native American and Indigenous Resources

Further Information

Three Fires Confederacy - collectively known as Anishnabek (or Anishinabe) people

U.S. Potawatomi/Bodéwadmiakiwen

Potawatomi bands include:

  • Citizen Potawatomi Nation
  • Forest County Potawatomi Community
  • Hannahville Indian community
  • Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi
  • Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi
  • Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Nation

Ojibwe

Nearby Ojibwe bands include: 

Other Ojibwe bands include:

Odawa

Miami Nation

Ho-Chunk Nation

Menominee

Peoria

Kickapoo

The following centers and websites cover current and historical topics related to Native American and Indigenous people of Chicago:

The following sites were referenced in creating this land acknowledgment: