On a recent warm day I biked along the Chicago River. Migrating songbirds sang in the trees, Black-crowned Night-herons fished the site of a recently removed dam, and waterfowl negotiated territory as humans passed by. Taking it all in, I said to myself, “neewe šikaakwa siipiiwi—thank you, Chicago River, for being here.” It was a nearly automatic response: In moments of joy, I instinctively reflect on the relationship between my tribe, birds, the land, and our interconnected history in what is now called Chicago. I live in Chicago and am a citizen of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, one of many tribes which call Chicago and the surrounding lands home. As I walk through my city I often think about my ancestors. Around 175 years ago the United States forcibly removed us from our homelands around the southern Great Lakes and sent us on canal boats to Kansas and, ultimately, Oklahoma. However many Chicagoans don’t know our history. That’s because America’s mythology...