On Saturday, April 6 2024, the Bishop Hill Heritage Association is hosting Singing Bird and the Importance of Native American Women in Illinois Historyprogram provided by the Illinois Humanities Road Scholars Speaker Bureau. Dressed in her native regalia, Kim Sigafus McIver gives a history of Natives in Illinois with a focus on Native women, or what was considered “The Hidden Half.” Her primary focus is women such as Singing Bird (Blackhawk’s wife) and Hononegah.
Kim will bring the audience into these women’s day-to-day lives, including courting, marriage, and child-rearing. She will also talk about their role in their husbands’ lives, and how those lives affected the history of Illinois. Kim will also bring items that women would have used in their daily lives, as she discusses the role women played within the family unit. The audience will be able to pick up and view the items, learn Native language and music, and get the chance to play the drum in this interactive experience.
This free one-hour public program will start at 1 p.m. in the Steeple Building Museum, located at 103 North Bishop Hill Street in Bishop Hill, Illinois. For more details, please call the BHHA at 309 927-3899, or email bhha@mymctc.net, or visit www.bishophillheritage.org.
***Courtesy of the Bishop Hill Heritage Association***
