Artist ARCY from New Haven, Connecticut, works in July 2022 on the fifth and last mural he has painted at the Indiana Dunes National Park Visitors Center.
Christine Livingston, vice president and marketing director of Indiana Dunes Tourism, gives an update on the Indigenous Cultural Trail project during the Indiana Dunes State of Tourism event.
CHESTERTON — The Indiana Dunes Indigenous Cultural Trail, a project five years in the making, is beginning to fall into place.
“The Pokagon Band looks forward to the day the tribal flag is flown in front of the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center, signifying the culmination of collaborative work amongst diverse stakeholders," Jennifer Kanine, director of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians' Department of Natural Resources, said in a recent news release.
The aim of the cultural trail, which will be completed in stages, is to educate visitors on the Indigenous tribes that once called, and continue to call, Northwest Indiana home. The trail will stretch from the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center, which is in Porter, to 15 acres of adjacent National Park land. The current vision for the trail includes: a trailhead located at the visitor center, boardwalks and crosswalks connecting the trail, spaces for programming and educational signage scattered throughout.
Though the project has been in the works for years, Indiana Dunes Tourism officially announced the trail with a celebration last July. During the event, a few key elements of the project were unveiled, including five murals depicting animals that are native to the Region, a metal land acknowledgment, a copper fire pit and some informational signs that feature Indigenous translations.
However, the real work has just begun.
On Thursday, some 50 attendees crowded into Riley's Railhouse in Chesterton for the Indiana Dunes State of Tourism presentation. Christine Livingston, vice president and marketing director at Indiana Dunes Tourism, discussed the trail's inception.
Discussions began after 15 acres of land located near the visitor center property were donated to the National Park. As Indiana Dunes Tourism and the National Park began to talk about a collaboration, Livingston said two themes emerged: The partners wanted to highlight all of the unique plants growing at the site, and they wanted to acknowledge that the park sits on Indigenous land.
The traditional homelands of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians are in the Great Lakes region. Both tribes' territories stretched into parts of Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin; the Miami also had a presence in Ohio. However, after decades of land theft and forced removal, the tribes were largely driven out of Indiana.
In 2016, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi was able to secure 166 acres in South Bend, and the Miami have a Cultural Extension Office in Fort Wayne.
Though there is no federally recognized tribal land in Northwest Indiana, Kanine said members of the Pokagon Band still live in the Region.
The Indigenous Cultural Trail will eventually stretch from the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center to 15 acres of nearby National Park land.
"A lot of people talk about the tribe as a historic thing, as ‘the tribe was here,'" Kanine said. "'The tribes are still here, the tribes are current."
She hopes the cultural trail will show visitors that Indigenous peoples continue to practice their traditional lifeways.
“Really the entire trail has been driven by our conversations and collaborations with the tribes," Livingston said.
Most of the project's engineering is complete. Indiana Dunes Tourism secured a $200,000 match grant from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources' Lake Michigan Coastal Program. On Thursday, Indiana Dunes Tourism launched a crowdfunding campaign in an effort to raise an additional $50,000 for the trail. If the campaign is able to secure $50,000 by May 16, the state will give the project a matching grant through the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority’s CreatINg Places. It’s a state program that’s raised more than $7.5 million in public money and $6.3 million in matching funds for projects in communities across the state.
A botanical site survey has already been completed at the visitor center property. Additional signage will help hikers identify the area's unique flora.
Livingston said she hopes to complete the trail's yellow and orange crosswalks this summer. The crosswalks will improve pedestrian safety at the visitor center and will feature a pattern "reminiscent of a woodland Indian ribbon skirt design," Kanine explained.
The area in front of the visitor center is slated to undergo a makeover. A circular gathering space with the cardinal directions stamped in the concrete will serve as the trailhead; the area will be surrounded by native plants, and eventually, both the Miami flag and the Pokagon flag will be on display.
The wetland in front of the visitor center will feature a boardwalk that leads to a turtle sculpture carved from Indiana limestone. The turtle will be surrounded by native plants and will be slightly elevated, though visitors will be able to walk on it.
"We want to sculpt it so we can add features, really bring it to life, have it be something that as you turn the corner to come into the visitor center, you get this welcoming feeling," Livingston explained.
Renderings show plans for the Indiana Dunes Indigenous Cultural Trail.
Educational programming will help school groups and other visitors learn more about the tribes as they navigate the trail. The tribes are currently proofing the proposed programming.
Lorelei Weimer, president and CEO of Indiana Dunes Tourism, called the trail “a big vision that we’re excited is becoming a reality."
Eventually, the Indigenous Cultural Trail will connect to the 15 acres of nearby National Park land. A shelter will welcome visitors to the second part of the trail, and boardwalks will carry hikers over wetland areas.
Kanine noted that the project could take another three to four years to complete. She hopes the fundraising campaign is successful because she doesn't "want to see anything get cut."
"I hope that everybody keeps in mind once it's (the trail is) done, that it took a lot," Kanine said.
Trail donations can be made at patronicity.com/project/indiana_dunes_indigenous_cultural_trail.
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