Lecture on Notable Native Americans in Chicago History November 8, 2009

Mark G. Thiel, a Marquette University archivist, will detail the lives of notable Native Americans of 19th- and 20th-century Chicago in a talk at 1 p.m. Sunday, November 8, at the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, 3001 Central Street, Evanston.

In his talk, titled “Indians in Chicago: Hiding in Plain Sight, 1830s–1930s,” he’ll discuss documentary material, recently uncovered, that “adds some significant new information to the story of Indian people in Chicago.”

Thiel will discuss the lives of

• Billy Caldwell, a local Potawatomi Indian leader who protected Americans taken captive during the Battle of Fort Dearborn and who once owned the land that is today’s Sauganash neighborhood on Chicago’s northwest side

• Shabbona, an Ottawa Indian born near Morris, Ill., who befriended American settlers and helped prevent violent conflicts

• Alexander Robinson, a Métis who assisted in treaty negotiations and lived in a house near present-day Lawrence Avenue and East River Road and whose descendants continued to live in the vicinity until the 1950s

• Leopold and Simon Pokagon, whose Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians successfully fought the U.S. government’s efforts to forcibly remove them from the region — but gave up their rights to downtown Chicago in the process

• Dr. Carlos Montezuma, an Arizona-born Yavapai Indian, who became the first Native American medical doctor

• Rev. Georges Pierre Mathieu, a Chicago-born Potawatomi and Roman Catholic priest famous for, among other things, having publicly lectured Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley on the economic plight of the city’s Native American population

• Evelyn “Billie” Frechette, a mixed-blood Menominee Indian from Wisconsin who gained notoriety as the girlfriend of bank robber John Dillinger

Admission to the talk is included with museum admission, which is $5 for adults, $2.50 for seniors, students, teachers (with valid school ID), and children. Maximum admission per family is $10. For information, phone (847) 475-1030. On the Net: http://www.mitchellmuseum.org.

Official Website: http://www.mitchellmuseum.org