The 21st Show

Best of: Illinois land now held in trust for Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation

Produced by Jose Zepeda
 
At a land title office in Sycamore, IL, Prairie Band Potawatomi Chairman Joseph Rupnick signs document transferring 130 acres of tribal-owned land in DeKalb County to the federal government, for use as reservation land.

At a land title office in Sycamore, IL, Prairie Band Potawatomi Chairman Joseph Rupnick signs document transferring 130 acres of tribal-owned land in DeKalb County to the federal government, for use as reservation land. Prairie Band of Potawatomi

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On April 19, 2024, the United States government transferred portions of the Shab-eh-nay Reservation land to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, effectively returning back the land stolen from them by giving them full sovereignty over it. This also makes Prairie Band Illinois' only recognized Tribal Nation.

This helps to right a wrong committed in 1850, when Chief Shab-eh-nay was visiting family in Kansas and the United States illegally sold the land while he was gone.

On The 21st, we'll hear how people are reacting to this news, other cases similar to this one, and possibilities on what the land can be used for.

GUEST:

Rosalyn LaPier

Indigenous Writer, Environmental Historian and Ethnobotanist

Professor of History, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Enrolled Member of the Blackfeet of Montana and Métis

A version of this conversation was first broadcast April 25, 2024.