D'Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies

[2] Founded in 1972, the center’s inception was guided by an advisory council composed of prominent scholars and intellectual leaders from across the country, with a majority American Indian membership.

They chose D’Arcy McNickle (a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and prominent scholar and literary author) to serve as the first director and help formulate the Center’s mission and goals.

[3] For four decades, the McNickle Center’s staff, fellows, and affiliated research projects have played a major role in shaping modern scholarship in American Indian and Indigenous Studies.

The center’s current activities include academic seminars in American Indian Studies, fellowships for scholars and public programs.

D’Arcy McNickle worked closely at the Center with Father Peter J. Powell, who was a priest serving the Native American community of Chicago.

The D’Arcy McNickle Center provides public programming highlighting the work of contemporary scholars, authors, and artists who engage American Indian and Indigenous histories, cultures, and perspectives through a variety of mediums.

The McNickle Center is committed to featuring public events that reflect both the local and hemispheric American Indian and Indigenous experiences.