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SEPTEMBER 22, 2000

Without a tribal land base for almost 170 years, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi are finally getting their own reservation.

On Thursday, the Michigan-based tribe announced the creation of Indian Country's newest reservation. The 1,589 acre site is located in southwestern Michigan and will serve as a home for tribal members, a community center, a health care center, and as the headquarters for the tribal government.

"It has been 167 years since we have had any right to our traditional land," said John Miller, the tribe's chairman. "This reservation site will allow us to provide our tribe and its members with the facilities to live once again as a community."

The establishment of a reservation is indeed a long time coming. While other Potawatomi bands were removed to Kansas or Iowa, the Pokagon negotiated a treaty with the United States in 1833 and stayed in their traditional homelands in Michigan and nearby Indiana.

But they were denied attempts to receive services and acknowledgment from the federal acknowledgment in 1939. The tribe had attempted to reform their government under the guises of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.

The decision to deny the tribe at the time seemed arbitrary. Tribes in upper Michigan were recognized whereas tribes in lower Michigan were not. However, the tribe persevered and were recognized by Congress in 1994.

The tribe's recognition act defined a six-county tribal service area in Michigan and Indiana. In 1999, the tribe and the Department of Interior came to an understanding to take up to 4,700 acres of land in this area into trust for the tribe.

In addition to the new reservation, which is in Dowagiac, Michigan, the tribe is in the process of bringing 700 acres of land into trust at a nearby location. They plan to build a casino resort there.

There are approximately 2600 members of the tribe.

Relevant Links:
The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi - www.pokagon.com