Chicago's history did not begin with the arrival of European explorers in 1673, but was inhabited by at least a dozen distinct Indigenous nations for centuries.
Indigenous peoples used Chicago as a center for meeting, trade, and seasonal resource harvesting.
The Anishinaabeg, a confederation of Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Odawa people, were the primary Indigenous nation in Chicago after the first land cession in the late 18th century.