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Seg. 1: Shawnee Mission Schools Grapple With Walkout. Seg. 2: Native Histories In The West Bottoms.

Paul Sableman
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Flickr - CC
Before it became the site of the Kansas City Stockyards, Kansas City's West Bottoms region was home to several indigenous tribes who were pushed out by settlers.

Segment 1: Schools in the Shawnee Mission district have been accused of stifling expression during student demonstration.

During last Friday's national school walkout, parents and students at several Shawnee Mission schools reported that administrators attempted to curate and censor student speech. These complaints have spurred an investigation by the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas. Today, we asked what happened during the demonstrations, and how the school district is responding.

Segment 2, beginning at 27:57: Native American settlements in the West Bottoms.

The West Bottoms is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Kansas City, but who was there before French traders settled the land in the mid-1800s? We sat down with one expert to learn about the indigenous groups that once lived in the area, and how their legacy has shaped the city's history.

Bill Worley will deliver the talk "Kawsmouth: The West Bottoms as Indian Territory" at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 29, at Kansas City Public Library's Central Library, 14 W. 10th St., Kansas City, Missouri  64105. For more information, visit KCLibrary.org.

When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.