2025-01-06 Action of the Week: Returning Land to the Potawatomi Nation
UU ChicagoArea
Act today to return state park land
to the Potawatomi Nation
Last May, the Illinois Senate voted 49-7 to deed a 1,500-acre state park in DeKalb County, much of which was once part of a reservation seized from the tribe in the mid-19th century, to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation for $1.
Aligning with UU values of justice, equity and compassion in human relations, this bill would help right a historic wrong done to Native Americans at no direct cost to the state.
SB 867 passed the House on first and second reading last spring, but wasn't called for a final vote before the session ended. If it doesn't pass in the lame duck session, which ends Tuesday, the legislation will die.
The bill allows the tribe and the Department of Natural Resources to enter into a land management agreement under which Shabbona Lake and State Park would remain open to the public for recreational use.
The bill is part of an effort by the Potawatomi to reclaim land that many historians and legal experts agree was illegally taken from them. More information on their effort is in this news article.
Please take action to ask your state representative to vote yes on HB 4718.
UUANI is supported by contributions from Unitarian Universalist individuals and congregations all across Illinois, and by grants from the Fund for Unitarian Universalist Social Responsibility, Side With Love and the Chicago Area UU Council. We are grateful for each of these forms of support!
Unitarian Universalist Advocacy Network of Illinois
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