Recording of the meeting is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FkYKH56Gw0
Tribal Land Ownership Event
State Representative Mark Walker (District 53) has submitted legislation, HB4718, that will return some specific land areas of Illinois, that were originally owned by the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and illegally sold by the Federal government in 1849, back to tribal ownership.
This legislation will be discussed at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, 1234 N. Arlington Heights Rd., Arlington Heights, on Tuesday, April 23, from 7 to 9 p.m. Representative Walker will be joined by Prairie Band Potawatomi tribal historic preservation officer, Raphael Wahwassuck.
Feel free to join in person at the church or use the Zoom link below to attend remotely.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85957396543?pwd=aHFLNFFFbFZIS3VodG45U0JGNDJxQT09
Time: Apr 23, 2024 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Email POWER@OurSaviours.org with questions or comments.
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Further Details of the Legislation and History of this Land Ownership.
The Second Treaty of Prairie du Chien was signed in 1829 and it gave sections of land in Illinois to Chief Shab-eh-nay of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. This land was sold illegally to non-Indians by the U.S. General Land Office in 1849. Beginning in 1965, the State of Illinois began buying some of this land and forming Shabbona Lake State Recreation Area.
This past February, Rep. Mark Walker filed a Bill to return this state recreation area to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. He said, “By federal recognition, much of the land making up Shabbona Lake is legally owed to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. However, the land was taken and sold illegally nearly two hundred years ago.”
HB4718 authorizes the Illinois director of Natural Resources to transfer title to the land located in DeKalb County to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, subject to certain conditions.
Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation chairman Joseph Rupnick, who is a fourth-generation great-grandson of Chief Shab-eh-nay, said “Illinois has been a national example lately for what justice truly looks like and it’s our hope that continues with return of our land.”
Because the State of Illinois owns and operates a state park on a portion of Prairie Band’s 1280 acres, it has the authority to return that to the Prairie Band with legislation or through executive action.