Nearly 200 years after Native Americans were forced out of Illinois, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation has become the first federally recognized tribal nation in the state after a decision from the U.S. Department of the Interior last week.
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Illinois state legislators joined the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation on Thursday in support of a bill that would transfer a state park in DeKalb County back to the tribal nation on whose historic reservation the park currently sits. State Rep. Mark Walker (D-Arlington Heights) filed House Bill 4718, giving the state of Illinois the opportunity to right historical wrongs and transfer ownership of the Shabbona Lake State Park – roughly 1,500 acres in total – to Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.