Documentary Screening The Negotiator: Billy Caldwell

The White Oak Library presents a viewing and discussion of the documentary, The Negotiator: Billy Caldwell with director Susan L. Kelsey.

As one of the Illinois treaty signers in 1829 and 1833, Billy Caldwell and others negotiated the sale of 5,000,000 acres of land in northwest Illinois, resulting in the removal of all Native American tribes in the state. Billy Caldwell, son of a Mohawk woman (Rising Sun) and British Army Captain (William Caldwell), was a leader in early Chicago. Although he was not a blood relative of the Great Lakes tribes in the area in 1833, Caldwell worked to negotiate the safe passage of the United Nations of Chippawa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi out of the state of Illinois and west to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Today, Caldwell’s Band of Prairie People now live in Mayetta, Kansas as the federally recognized tribe of Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. “The Negotiator: Billy Caldwell Documentary” explores these actions through research and interviews with local subject experts. 

After the viewing there will be a discussion with director and producer Susan L. Kelsey.

Supplemental material for this documentary can be found at https://thebillycaldwellmovie.com/