Mshkodéniwek | |
|---|---|
 Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Flag | |
| Total population | |
| 4,617[1] (2018) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| United States (Kansas, Illinois) | |
| Languages | |
| Potawatomi,English |
Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation (Potawatomi:Mshkodéniwek,[2] formerly thePrairie Band of Potawatomi Indians) is afederally recognized tribe ofNeshnabé (Potawatomi people), headquartered nearMayetta, Kansas.
TheMshkodésik ("People of the Small Prairie") division of the Potawatomi were originally located around the southern portions ofLake Michigan, in what today is southernWisconsin, northernIllinois and northwesternIndiana. Due to their name in thePotawatomi language, theMshkodésik were often confused with another tribe, theMascoutens. As part of theCouncil of Three Fires, the Prairie Band were signatories to the 1829Second Treaty of Prairie du Chien (7 Stat. 320). Independently of the Council of Three Fires, the Prairie Band were also signatories to the 1832Treaty of Tippecanoe (7 Stat. 378) as thePotawatomi Tribe of Indians of the Prairie.
In the 1830s, ChiefShab-eh-nay, the leader of tribal residents on 1,300 acres (530 ha) of land in Illinois, went to visit members of his family who had been forced west to Kansas. While he was gone, the United States seized the property and auctioned it off to others.[3] Under theIndian Removal Act, the Prairie Band were forcibly relocated west, first toMissouri's Platte County in the mid-1830s and then to the vicinity ofCouncil Bluffs, Iowa, in the 1840s, where they were known as theBluff Indians. The tribe controlled up to five million acres (20,000 km2) at both locations. After 1846, the tribe moved to present-day Kansas. At that time, the reservation was thirty square miles which included part of present-dayTopeka.
During the period from the 1940s - 1960s, in which theIndian termination policy was enforced, fourKansas tribes, including the Potawatomi, were targeted for termination. One of the first pieces of legislation enacted during this period was theKansas Act of 1940 which transferred all jurisdiction for crimes committed on or against Indians from federal jurisdiction to the state of Kansas. It did not preclude the federal government from trying native people, but it allowed the state into an area of law in which had historically belonged only to the federal government.[4]
On August 1, 1953, theUS Congress passedHouse Concurrent Resolution 108 which called for the immediate termination of theFlathead,Klamath,Menominee,Potawatomi, andTurtle Mountain Chippewa, as well as all tribes in the states ofCalifornia,New York,Florida, andTexas. Termination of a tribe meant the immediate withdrawal of all federal aid, services, and protection, as well as the end of reservations.[5] A memo issued by theDepartment of the Interior on January 21, 1954, clarified that the reference to "Potawatomi" in the Resolution meant the Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation, theKickapoo, theSac and Fox and theIowa tribes in Kansas.[6]
Because jurisdiction over criminal matters had already been transferred to the state of Kansas by the passage of theKansas Act of 1940, the government targeted the four tribes in Kansas for immediate termination.[6] In February 1954, joint hearings for the Kansas tribes were held by the House and Senate Subcommittees on Indian Affairs.[7]
The Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation tribal leader,Minnie Evans (Potawatomi: Ke-what-no-quah Wish-Ken-O)[8] led the effort to stop termination.[9] Tribal members sent petitions of protest to the government and multiple delegations went to testify at congressional meetings in Washington, DC.[10] Tribal Council members Vestana Cadue, Oliver Kahbeah, and Ralph Simon of theKickapoo Tribe in Kansas traveled at their own expense to testify as well. The strong opposition from the Potawatomi and Kickapoo tribes helped them, as well as the Sac and Fox and the Iowa Tribe, avoid termination.[11]
In May 1997, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation broke ground on the construction of thePrairie Band Casino & Resort to generate revenue for the tribe. The establishment opened on January 12, 1998, under the management ofHarrah's Entertainment (an outside commercial entity). Tribal management subsequently assumed control of the establishment in July 2007.[12]
The tribe purchased a corner of the original reservation inDeKalb County, Illinois, in 2006 and leased the land for farming.[13] TheUnited States Department of the Interior formally placed the 130 acres (53 ha) into trust for the benefit of the tribal band in 2024, thereby giving the Prairie Band tribal sovereignty over the land. The Prairie Band Potawatomi became the first and onlyfederally recognized tribal nation inIllinois, since Native Americans were dispossessed in the 19th century.[3] On March 21, 2025, Illinois GovernorJB Pritzker signed legislation authorizing the transfer of ownership ofShabbona Lake State Park to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.[14]
The Prairie Band are governed by a democratically elected tribal council.[15]
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.39°20′34″N95°50′21″W / 39.34278°N 95.83917°W /39.34278; -95.83917
