A city alderman in Chicago, Illinois, is coming under fire for comments he made about a "peace pipe" during a council meeting on Tuesday.

Ald. Edward M. Burke (D) wants to host a Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation at Fort Dearborn. The fort was the site of a battle during the War of 1812 in which as many as 15 Potawatomi warriors were killed while defending their ancestral territory.

As part of the 200th commemoration of the August 15, 1812, battle, Burke suggested that Potawatomi descendants “smoke a peace pipe” with descendants of fort residents. He made the comments during a city council meeting -- even after Joseph Podlasek, the executive and technical director of the American Indian Center of Chicago, had already warned him not to do so.

"That's very offensive. Our pipes are very sacred items to us," Podlasek told The Chicago Tribune. He said Burke previously brought up the "peace pipe" during a telephone conservation.

Podlasek also noted that the commemoration proposed by Burke ignores the Indian perspective of the battle.

Get the Story:
Burke's 'peace pipe' comment blows up in his face (The Chicago Tribune 6/6)
Ald. Ed Burke’s ‘peace pipe’ remark offends Native Americans (The Chicago Sun-Times 6/5)