Prairie Band to proceed with gaming site in Illinois

Friday, September 29, 2006  

The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation of Kansas says a recent letter from the Bureau of Indian Affairs affirms the tribe's rights to land in Illinois.

The tribe recently purchased a 128-acre farm on ancestral 1,200-acre reservation in Illinois. Plans call for 22,000-square-foot Class II facility as the site.

The Interior Department has said the tribe has a "credible" claim to the reservation. But Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois) says the BIA letter shows the tribe hasn't begun the process to reclaim sovereignty in Illinois.

The tribe would have to seek an Indian lands determination, said Michael Olsen, the principal deputy assistant secretary at the BIA.

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