Native America Calling: Chicago welcomes the Democratic National Convention

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Monday, August 19, 2024

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Chicago welcomes the Democratic National Convention

For their most important public gathering in the presidential election, Democrats have chosen to meet in Chicago, Illinois, for the Democratic National Convention.

Chicago is within the traditional lands of the Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Ojibwe, Odawa peoples and a handful of other nations. And while Illinois has no established federally recognized tribes, the number of residents who identify as Native American in the state’s largest city has more than doubled in the past ten years.

Native America Calling will be in Chicago, talking with Native Chicago residents who are also clued in to the Democratic political process about what the party is doing to reach Native voters and what sets them apart from their political rivals.

A view of the Chicago River in Chicago, Illinois.

Guests on Native America Calling

Pamela Silas (enrolled member of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin and Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin descendant), active member of the American Indian community in Chicago, Illinois

Mary Smith (citizen of the Cherokee Nation), former director of the Indian Health Service and founder of the Caroline and Ora Smith Foundation

Monica Rickert-Bolter (Prairie Band Potawatomi), visual artist and director of operations at the Center for Native Futures in Chicago, Illinois

Shaun Griswold (Laguna, Zuni, and Jemez), editor of Source New Mexico