The Kansas City area was once home to multiple tribes of American Indians, and Native American Heritage Month (Nov. 1-30) will offer ample opportunities to honor that history.
The Shawnee Indian Mission State Historic Site on the grounds of a 19th-century manual training school for Native American children is the area’s go-to venue for year-round programs and exhibitions. It also is the temporary site for the traveling exhibition“Trespassers Beware!: Fort Conley and Wyandot Women Warriors.”
It’s important to note that for several years the Shawnee Indian Mission site has been in the news: first with allegations that Indigenous children who attended the school may have been buried on the grounds, and later, the ownership of the site has been disputed among Native American tribes, including the Shawnee and the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. The site and its ownership have been at the center of Kansas Legislation…