Kitihawa Point du Sable

alt=Black and white sketch of a well-kept log house, with multiple windows, a front porch, fence and landscape. Two people are on the porch.

Kitihawa Point Du Sable (also known by her Christian name, Catherine) was a Potawatomi woman who, with her husband Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, established the first permanent settlement in what is now the city of Chicago. By the late 1700s, Kitihawa and her husband had set up their farm and trading post near the mouth of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. Kitihawa and Jean Baptiste had two children, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable Jr., and Suzanne. The article suggests rethinking the history of the city and considering the centuries that Native American people used the area as a trading post -- and renaming Lake Shore Drive for Kitihawa instead. The goal of the piece is to bring attention to the fact that Chicago was originally founded by a Haitian man and a Potawatomi woman.