Between 1850 and 1900, the United States Federal Government aggressively worked to totally exterminate all Native American Indian Tribes. We should be ashamed about this.

 We may have a chance to finally repair an ugly portion of American history.

America brags about its history, but we very actively tried to totally exterminate all of the Native American Tribes. We even continued this terrible treatment where American politicians DECIDED on the locations to send Indians, where we disposed of all their previous Tribe lands and picked locations on maps to set up "Reservations" and to send many Indians on long and deadly "walks" to such Reservations, such as "the"Walk of Tears" and many others.

This has resulted in a situation where NO modern Native Indian Tribes actually OWN any property.

We have FOUND 2.8 acres of land that ACTUALLY was/is owned by actual Native American Indians!

The United States only came into existence in 1776, and Illinois first became a State in 1818. My research has found that more than a hundred years earlier (1730) an enormous population of Native Indians (more than 4,000 people) then comfortably lived in a mile and a half long 17-foot deep canyon near what is now called Thornton, Illinois. It was very popular since the regular severe west winter winds were blocked from their many families down in the canyon down on the Thorn Creek Flood Plains, and they had easy access of food fish from the Thorn Creek.

I grew up immediately west of this west Thorn Creek Flood Plain, and during the 1950s, I spent much of my youth in hundreds of days of camping down there, often within ten feet of a 6 foot-tall concrete obelisk down there, which had the letters FPD on opposite sides.

The 4 concrete obelisks established that the Cook County Forest Preserve District (FPD) owned the property in recent times.

I personally found hundreds of Indian Arrowheads and other Indian Artifacts and many other small artifacts. I took all of them into my Fifth Grade Teacher Aaron Gordon of Wolcott Elementary School. Other kids found even more Artifacts.

We think that this land should be Deeded back to ten Indian Tribes and set up as a 400-site "Indian Campground" where any modern Indians could stay overnight in a tepee or tent. Members of all Tribes could share stories and experience, to rebuild their modern Indian heritage.

There is a complication. A local business never bothered to get proper Landfill Permits and they dumped 15,000 tons of their illegal landfill, during 1982-1985, onto that Indian-owned land on the Thorn Creek Flood Plain, and that serious problem would have to be fixed.

Anyone can now visit this area. Just go to the Village of Thornton, Illinois and go down to East Maria Street. Just go through the chain-link gate and go down to the Thorn Creek.