Indigenous Peoples Day celebrated with song, dance, culture and connection

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Monday is Indigenous Peoples Day, and across the Chicago area there were vibrant celebrations giving native communities the opportunity to connect with each other and their friends and neighbors.

Anna Johnson, a Potawatomi Nation tribal member, said she wants her two boys to grow up with the culture she didn't get a chance to experience herself as a child.

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"I'm able to gift them something that I didn't have, and then they can decide what they choose to do with it," she said. "It's more than just my culture, because across the United States, there's over 500 recognized tribes."

Exploring the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, she said she has been reconnecting with her own tribe over the past couple years, including making and selling regalia.

"Just being immersed in that scenario is very humbling and wonderful," she said.

Others across the area also took the day to immerse and educate themselves about indigenous culture, from learning stories through song and dance at the Field Museum to caring for the Earth at Navy Pier There, the Children's Museum allows kids to make seed balls of native Illinois flowers and then plant them in the spring.

"This really follows the one very important value of indigenous peoples, of caring for the land, taking care of the natural world that is around us," said Natalie Bortoli, VP of programming at the Chicago Children's Museum.

It also teaches kids the value of diversity in the here and now.

"There are a ton of people that view indigenous people in a museum and believe that, oh, this happened in the distant past, and not really aware that we're still here," Johnson said.

Johnson said the best way to learn about indigenous culture is to come to events or exhibits and ask questions, or better yet attend a pow wow.