Obama Presidential Center’s Opening Weekend Highlights Native American Culture Amid Criticism

The Barack Obama Presidential Center’s opening weekend in Chicago included a performance by the Black Hawk Performance Company, a Native American dance troupe made up of dancers from several Indigenous tribes in the Chicago area. A standout event on Saturday, the third day of the grand opening, was a lively Native American display featuring a drum circle and traditional dances at the John Lewis Plaza. The hour-long performance included songs honoring a Native American flag, drawing in hundreds of attendees.

The opening ceremony, beginning on Thursday night, sparked controversy with a land acknowledgment given by Valerie Jarrett, the former senior advisor to Obama and CEO of the Obama Foundation. Jarrett recognized the Anishinaabe, the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, the Odawa, and the Potawatomi nations as the original inhabitants of the land.

Land acknowledgments have faced criticism as superficial gestures, a point noted by many social media users following Jarrett’s speech. Commentators, like Glenn Beck, criticized the $850 million center for lecturing about ‘stolen land’ while maintaining ownership. Beck argued that if the center sincerely considers its location stolen property, they should return it or cease the acknowledgment.

Additionally, the center displays a placard acknowledging that the land belongs to Indigenous peoples. The sign affirms the center’s recognition of Indigenous peoples’ efforts to counter settler colonialism and features a 2009 Obama quote addressing broken treaties and lost lands.

Criticism extended to the center’s lack of acknowledgment of modern cultural figures like Chicago rapper Chief Keef, with commentators like Siraj Hashmi highlighting the omission of current tribe leaders.