Native Americans in northern Illinois want their land back

Posted on March 14, 2022
Joseph Rupnick, chairman, Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, says a Supreme Court case is on his group’s side. (Dave Dahl/WJBC)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Native Americans in northern Illinois want their land back.

“In 1849, my fourth great-grandfather, Chief Shab-eh-nay, traveled to Kansas to visit the relatives after we were removed,” Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation chairman Joseph Rupnick told a statehouse news conference. “The U.S. government illegally auctioned off 1,280 acres of his land, which now resides in DeKalb County.”

Rupnick has the support of state lawmakers as well as U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Channahon), but the Nation needs help from senators as well.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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