In a formerly vacant lot in Albany Park at the intersection of Pulaski Road and Wilson Avenue stand two tipis—one perhaps 20 feet tall, the other half that height—surrounded by dry, yellowed grass rising up from the cold earth. Across the street to the north is a Citgo gas station, and to the west is the large parking lot of the 17th District Chicago Police Department. The Chi-Nations Youth Council, a grassroots organization that champions environmental and social justice while creating safe spaces for Native American youth, and the American Indian Center, the oldest urban Native American cultural center in the nation, have leased the lot together with the intention of growing a garden.
Chi-Nations was established in 2012 by Native American youth who rejected the conservative leadership of the AIC. Since then, the groups reconciled and leased the lot in November 2018 with the approval of Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa and the City Council.
“When we think about climate change, the plants are gonna move and they’re gonna do what they have to do in order to survive here,” said Fawn Pochel, the AIC’s education coordinator (and Adrien Pochel’s aunt). “We’re gonna get with the system or we’re not. We’re gonna be the ones to fall off well before the plants.”
“Aesthetic-wise, sure, these plants are beautiful, they have blooms, but also they serve purposes that go beyond what we see,” said Fawn. “They keep the soil healthy. Their technologies are not just for us for building and medicinal purposes, but for our animal and insect relatives as well.”
