Indian Gaming > Opinion: Restore Prairie Band sovereignty in Kansas

September 07, 2006

Opinion: Restore Prairie Band sovereignty in Kansas

"The Prairie Band Potawatomi Indian Tribe recently purchased a 128-acre farm near the Shabbona Forest Preserve and Shabbona Lake State Park in DeKalb County.

Over the years, the Potawatomi tribe has suffered a great deal of injustice. Their land was taken from them at gunpoint. The tribe was relocated several times against their will and lives were lost. I am not proud of the U.S. government's unfair dealings with the Potawatomi Indians and all the other American Indian tribes. Much of the tribe moved to Mayetta, Kansas, where they are now based. The tribe dealt with high unemployment, lack of health care and education, and other trials.

We should allow these people to have their sovereignty on the land that was reserved for them, and lay our fears about possible future dealings to rest."

Get the Story:
Liz Baxter: Tribe to build bingo hall (The Northern Star Online 9/7)