PEORIA, Ill. – A tribe native to central Illinois will play a role in Peoria’s celebrations of America’s 250th birthday next year.
The Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma will build custom cases through its company, Henley Custom, to display historical American documents for the Riverfront Museum’s “America 250” exhibit next year. The announcement was made during a press conference at the museum.
Chief Rosanna Dobbs says the partnership will provide an economic boost for the tribe and its people. But she notes that having the connection to the tribe’s homeland makes it more special.
“Just having a partnership here in our homelands is one of the most important things to us,” Dobbs said.
Dobbs and tribe leaders have been visiting locations across the state all week long. She says they’ve visited sites such as the Illinois State Museum, as well as the stop in Peoria on Thursday for the “America 250” announcement.
Dobbs says everyone they’ve encountered has been welcoming and inviting, even with some difficult discussions about the tribe’s history. She says one goal is to bring members of the tribe, especially the youth, to central Illinois to visit their homelands.
The cases that will be built by the Peoria tribe will hold some of the most important and consequential documents from American history. Those documents include the first newspaper printing of the US Constitution in 1787, and an Abraham Lincoln signed Emancipation Proclamation from 1863.
Museum President and CEO John Morris calls it a “true national level exhibition.”
“Just think about that 5th grade girl who gets to come through here and see documents that she could not see anywhere else,” Morris said. “These are not publicly displayed documents. These are out of private collections, some institutional collections.”
Morris announced on Thursday that the “America 250” exhibition will open on January 31st next year, and be open for the entire year.
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