Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation asks DeKalb County Board to sever 2008 agreement

SYCAMORE – Members of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation have asked the DeKalb County Board to jointly leave a 2008 intergovernmental agreement that had formerly established how 1,280 acres of land in southern DeKalb County was governed.

Chairman Joseph “Zeke” Rupnick of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation said the Nation’s Tribal Council approved leaving the intergovernmental agreement with DeKalb County in February, but has since decided both parties have to agree to terminate the agreement.

The 2008 intergovernmental agreement defines how DeKalb County and the Potawatomi Nation sometimes jointly, often separately, govern the Shab-eh-nay reservation in the southern part of the county. Rupnick said it was built on “grandiose plans” that didn’t come to fruition.

“The nation was hoping to build a mega resort casino, and things like that” Rupnick said. “The land situation has not worked itself out, Illinois has expanded gaming across the state, so there are some other factors at play here that really brings to the point that this resolution, or this agreement needs to be renegotiated.”

Other factors causing the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation to want to void the intergovernmental agreement are the happenings on Capitol Hill, officials said.

On May 9, two pieces of federal legislation that would clear long-disputed land titles on the Shab-eh-nay Band Reservation, and would give the Nation funds to buy back land on that reservation, were introduced.

Obviously no casino has been built there, and that is not part of their current plans at the moment. So the idea is to get a new [intergovernmental agreement] that more closely relates to the situation as it exists now.

—  DeKalb County Board Chairman Suzanne Willis

U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, D-Chicago, Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Naperville, and four others cosponsored House Resolution 3144. Senate Bill 1492 was cosponsored by U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall, both Kansas Republicans.

The two bills have mostly identical text and would allow the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation to acquire 1,280 acres of land near Shabbona State Park in compensation for what the Nation has long held was illegal acquisition of the land by the U.S. government 173 years ago.

According to the filed legislation, the Potawatomi Nation and other tribes ceded land in northern Illinois in a treaty signed July 29, 1829, commonly known as the Second Treaty of Prairie du Chien.

Potawatomi Chief Shab-eh-nay and his Band at their village near Paw Paw Grove, however, were allowed to keep two parcels of land, totaling 1,280 acres. That land became known as the Shab-eh-nay Band Reservation. In 1849, while Shab-eh-nay was visiting relatives who had been forced to move to Kansas, the land was sold by the General Land Office of the United States at a public auction, according to the bills filled in Congress.

Rupnick said the bills filled on Capitol Hill “would have the [Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation] recognized as the original owners for that land,” but it would also allow current homeowners within the boundaries of the original reservation to have a “clear and free title.”

That means private landowners who own homes on the 1,280 acres in Shabbona currently will get to keep their homes without pressure to sell or move. The legislation would seek to recognize that the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation were the original owners of that land.

In compensation for the U.S. government’s illegal sale of the Nation-owned land, the federal legislation, if approved, would award $50 million to the Nation.

The money would be distributed to the Nation over five years, at $10 million annually as settlement for the illegally sold land. That money could be used to acquire up to 1,151 acres of land (the total land given to the Prairie band in the 1829 treaty minus the land the Nation has since bought back) within the boundary of the reservation, or within the perimeter of a designated replacement area from private landowners.

“I’m really enthusiastic for the tribe that they’re finally going to get some of their land back, and also for the residents who are now on the land that was originally deeded to them, who will be able to get clear title for their property,” DeKalb County Board Chair Suzanne Willis, a Democrat from District 10, said of the two federal bills.

According to the federal documents, land within the reservation or reservation replacement area may not be acquired by condemnation or eminent domain and can be acquired only through purchase with payment of the land’s fair market value.

Neither bill has has advanced passed committee, and Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation officials are lobbying for support from local legislative bodies.

“Last year, we met with the County Board to ask for a letter of support for our legislation and the federal legislation that we were trying to push through to recognize our land in Shabbona. From my understanding there, because the bills were not filled at that time, the county declined to support that, which I understand that completely,” Rupnick said.

Standing on Prairie Band Potawatomi-owned land last summer, Willis said she wished the letter seeking endorsement from the County Board had been met with bipartisan support, but it wasn’t.

Now, Rupnick said he’s asking the board to terminate the 2008 intergovernmental agreement because the Nation no longer seeks to build a new casino on the Shab-eh-nay Band Reservation.

“At this time, we’re not planning on building anything,” Rupnick said.

Willis said she believes the 2008 agreement was written with the expectation a casino would be built on Potawatomi Nation-owned land in Shabbona.

“Obviously, no casino has been built there, and that is not part of their current plans at the moment. So the idea is to get a new [intergovernmental agreement] that more closely relates to the situation as it exists now,” Willis said.

Willis suggested that a small committee of county officials could sit down and look at the 2008 agreement to determine what conditions would be kept or eliminated in a proposal for a new agreement between DeKalb County and the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, however nothing is set to happen yet.