Kitihawa Point du Sable

Kitihawa Point Du Sable (also known by her Christian name, Catherine)[1] was a Potawatomi woman who, with her husband Jean Baptiste, established the first permanent settlement in what is now the city of Chicago.[2] By the late 1700s, Kitihawa and her husband had set up their farm and trading post on the Chicago river.[2]

Biography

There are no known records of Kitihawa's life before her marriage to Jean Baptiste. Kitihawa and her husband were married in the 1770s in a Potawatomi ceremony, followed by a Catholic ceremony on October 27, 1788, in Cahokia, Illinois.[3] Kitihawa and Jean Baptiste had two children, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable Jr., and Suzanne.[3]

Representations in arts, entertainment, and media
  • A December 2019 article in the Chicago Tribune mentions a proposal to rename Lake Shore Drive for Jean Baptiste Point du Sable.[4] The article suggests rethinking the history of the city and considering the centuries that Native American people used the area as a trading post -- and renaming Lake Shore Drive for Kitihawa instead.[4]
  • In August 2019, Floating Museum created an art installation called "Founders," which features Kitihawa, her husband, Harold Washington, and a child.[5] The goal of the piece is to bring attention to the fact that Chicago was originally founded by a Haitian man and a Potawatomi woman.[5] As part of this installation, the poem "Kitihawa Speaks," written by Osage poet Elise Paschen, was displayed in CTA Greenline cars.
  • A photographic art exhibit called "Kitihawa's Chandelier" by Nicholas Henry, "honors the historical, cultural and racial fusion of an African and Native American."[6]

References
  1. "17 Oct 1961, Page 4 - The Edwardsville Intelligencer at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  2. (PDF). 2013-10-21 https://web.archive.org/web/20131021081619/http://www.gbl.indiana.edu/baumann/Baumann%202005%20-%20Du%20Sable.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-21. Retrieved 2020-02-12. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. Meehan, Thomas A. (1963). "Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, the First Chicagoan". Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. 56 (3): 439–453. ISSN 0019-2287. JSTOR 40190620.
  4. Kogan, Rick. "Should we instead rename Chicago's Lake Shore Drive for a woman named Kitihawa?". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2020-02-16.
  5. Rockett, Darcel. "Wonder what that four-faced object is outside your Green Line 'L' window? The Floating Museum's latest art initiative". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2020-02-16.
  6. "Kitihawa's Chandelier: A Photographic Tale by Nicolas Henry and the children of Chicago". Retrieved 2020-02-16.
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