Opening of the Barack Obama Presidential Center: Native American Dance Show Highlights Event

Chicago witnessed the inauguration of the Barack Obama Presidential Center, marked by events that stirred noteworthy responses. Critics mocked the opening weekend’s ‘land acknowledgment’—a gesture addressing claims that U.S. land was built on ‘stolen land’. Saturday’s schedule featured a traditional Native American dance show.

The Black Hawk Performance Company, a Native American dance troupe, performed during the celebration. The group includes dancers from several Indigenous tribes in the Chicago area.

On Saturday, the third day of the center’s grand opening, visitors enjoyed musical and cultural performances. Major attractions included John Legend and local drum lines performing on the premises. The lively Native American display was held in John Lewis Plaza on the center’s campus. It featured a drum circle and traditional dances and songs, including one dedicated to a Native American flag. This part of the event attracted hundreds of participants who joined the dance towards its conclusion.

Earlier on Thursday night, Valerie Jarrett started the opening ceremony acknowledging the original Native American inhabitants of the land. Jarrett is the former senior advisor to President Obama and the current CEO of the Obama Foundation. She stated, “We honor the Anishinaabe, the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, the Odawa and the Potawatomi nations.”

Some criticize such acknowledgments as superficial gestures. Many responses on X noted Jarrett’s speech ironically recognized land possession while retaining it. One X user remarked, “Obama Presidential Center grand opening begins with acknowledging they’re on stolen land. And then they kept the land.” Glenn Beck expressed, “The sheer arrogance of the Obama Foundation using the $850 million Obama Presidential Center to lecture us about standing on ‘stolen land’ is laughable.” He suggested if they truly believed the land was stolen, action should be taken.

The center displays a placard acknowledging the land ownership to ‘indigenous peoples.’ The inscriptions note the Obama Foundation recognizes “the sovereign Indigenous peoples who have, since time immemorial, stewarded the lands.” It highlights efforts to reverse settler colonialism and features a 2009 Obama quote about broken treaties and settlers encroaching Native lands: “Treaties were violated. Promises were broken.”