DeKalb Times

Rep. Tom Demmer (R-Dixon) sponsored House Resolution 504 to show support for land-regaining efforts for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.

“Over the last several years I’ve been working with both tribal representatives and representatives of the local government at the Village of Shabbona which is in DeKalb County in the southern end of my district to right this historical wrong,” Demmer said. “To try to call attention to a very unusual circumstance, one that we’re not accustomed to dealing with in the state of Illinois.”

According to its website, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation has been around since the 1400s.

HR504 was introduced last year by Demmer. Both Democrats and Republicans support the effort.

Demmer said Congress has the power to designate lands for nations such as the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.

“There’s currently a bill in the United States Senate, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Shab-eh-nay Band Reservation Settlement Act of 2021, that would rectify the situation,” Demmer said. “It’s important to know it would not disrupt individuals who currently live on the land, the people who own houses or own property there or the state park that's currently on the land in question.”

The resolution supports the efforts of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation to regain possession of the Shab-eh-nay Reservation after it was illegally sold by the federal government in 1849.

On the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation website, it said the land was illegally sold in a public auction.

 “The United States government made a mistake 170 years ago by illegally selling the land that belongs to the nation and now we have an opportunity with today’s lawmakers here in Illinois and with our counterparts in Congress to correct that and to leave it in a proper line with the Legacy that they deserve,” Demmer said.

Sen. Jerry Morgan (R-Kansas) introduced a similar action in the U.S. Senate that was referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs in November.