This podcast series offers historical and cultural context for the November 2025 delegation trip to Paris, organized as part of the Reclaiming Stories project. In short episodes, Walking in Chicagou’s Footsteps traces the remarkable journey of an Indigenous leader from the Illinois Country who crossed the Atlantic in 1725 to meet with the French court.
Featuring the Peoria headman Chicagou and other chiefs from the Mississippi and Missouri Valley regions, the 1725 embassy to Paris represented more than French spectacle. It was an Indigenous initiative: a bold act of diplomacy and exploration, undertaken to strengthen alliances and expand horizons. Too often told only as a story of “Indians marveling at France,” the history of this delegation needs a rethink. So this series flips the script, centering the travelers’ perspectives, their reasons for going, and the meanings they carried home.
Doing so makes good sense now. That’s because in Fall 2025, three hundred years after Chicagou’s journey, a new delegation of Indigenous leaders, artists, and historians will travel to France, and walk in his footsteps. The 2025 trip will reclaim an important history, connect present communities with the past, and highlight the enduring significance of Indigenous travelers like Chicagou.
Join us as we follow the path of Chicagou and his companions — from the Illinois Country to Paris — and reflect on what it means to return.