The tribe contends the land has never been
disturbed by Congress and a top former Interior Department official once
described the tribe's claim as "credible" after Republican lawmakers introduced legislation to extinguish all Indian title in the state.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs will host a public meeting this month to discuss the Illinois casino proposed by the Prairie Band Potawatomi
Nation of Kansas.
The tribe filed a land-into-trust application for the 129-acre site November 2014, The DeKalb Daily Chronicle reported. The BIA is preparing an environmental impact statement as part of the process.
“In November 2014, we submitted a land-into-trust application with the Department of Interior to move our project forward so that we, along with the neighboring local governments, can benefit from our long-standing plans,” the tribe said in a statement to The Chronicle.
The tribe hopes to build a Class II facility on the site, which is located within a reservation that was promised to Chief Shab-eh-nay and his band by treaty in 1829.
Feds seek opinions on Shabbona bingo plan
(The DeKalb Daily Chronicle 1/12)
$P Federal Register Notice:
Notice
of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Prairie Band
Potawatomi Nation's Proposed Trust Acquisition and Gaming Facility Project,
DeKalb County, Illinois (January 6, 2016)
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