Illinois
Illinois returns nearly 1,500 acres of stolen land to state's first federally recognized tribe
Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law to restore Shabbona State Park, a total of about 1,500 acres in DeKalb County, to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.
His action Friday comes nearly a year after the group became the first federally recognized tribal nation in Illinois. Previously, Illinois had been one of 15 states without a federally recognized tribal nation.
The law’s passage is part of an attempt to correct what state lawmakers have called a “historic injustice” that occurred 175 years ago when the U.S. government auctioned off nearly 1,300 acres of Prairie Band land, largely encompassing the state park, when Chief Shab-eh-nay was visiting relatives in Kansas. The state established the state park after it purchased the land with federal grant funds between 1969 and 1978.
Prairie Band Chairman Joseph Rupnick, the fourth-generation great-grandson of Chief Shab-eh-nay, said the move showed “healing and reconciliation are possible.”
“Returning our land is a necessary step toward the recognition we deserve as a people and as citizens of Illinois,” Rupnick said. “Illinois has shown true courage and vision by leading the way in the Land Back movement. … We are proud to once again call this land home.”
Because of “quirks” in federal treaties and the way the land was handled legally, this is only an option — as far as lawmakers currently know — for these parcels of land, and couldn’t be used as a framework for returning land to tribal nations nationwide. However, one of the bill’s sponsors, state Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago, said he wouldn’t be surprised if there are other, similar land transfers that could be made nationwide.
“The Land Back movement is alive and well,” Guzzardi, who represents several Chicago neighborhoods, told the Sun-Times Monday. But “this movement looks like different things in different places. … These are very unique circumstances in Illinois with these parcels of land.”
Prairie Band and the state are now working on a land management agreement to set parameters around how the park is maintained, and the tribal nation has committed to keeping it open to the public and “improving the infrastructure and experience of the park.”
“Our goal and the nation’s goal: The average visitor will not have noticed anything has changed,” Guzzardi said. “It will be preserved as publicly available park land.”
It wasn’t until 2001 that the U.S. Department of the Interior confirmed the history and legal status of the Shab-eh-nay Reservation as federally recognized Indian country because the government’s auction of land owned by Chief Shab-eh-nay had not been approved by Congress, as was required.
Last April, the Interior Department announced the decision to place parts of Shab-eh-nay Reservation land — about 130 acres, or roughly 10% of what was originally stolen — in DeKalb County into trust for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and giving the tribal nation sovereignty over the land.
The Prairie Brand Reservation in Dekalb County.
The tribal nation had spent $10 million over the years to get the land back before handing it over to the government to be put into trust and officially recognized. The change in status allowed the land, which sits just southeast of Shabbona, about 70 miles west of Chicago, eligible for federal benefits and protections, and put the tribal nation in charge of governing the land.
As was the case with the prior land return, there are homes on the property not owned by members of the tribal nation, though tribal leaders have promised to work with homeowners and the state to amend their deeds in order to “assure current homeowners that their property is theirs without condition.”
This can only be accomplished through an act of Congress, given how the homes’ deeds were written in connection to the land, but as part of the agreement, the tribal nation has agreed to push for the change to be made at the federal level, allowing the homeowners to have clear titles to their properties.
“This landmark legislation puts Illinois on the right side of history — fostering a partnership with Indigenous communities and returning what was wrongfully acquired,” state Sen. Mark Walker, D-Arlington Heights, one of the bill’s sponsors, said in a statement. “This transfer is not only a common-sense solution, it’s the right thing to do.”
Our team coverage of last nights severe storms continues. We’re speaking with a hail expert.
Victor Gensini, professor and meteorology program advisor at NIU, joins the show.
One storm near Kankakee, Illinois, produced a large, destructive tornado Tuesday. It also produced what will likely go down as a record hailstone for the state.
It looked like something out of a weather textbook. Let’s show you the moments we knew destruction was happening.
The hail
We’ll start with the hail.
I was getting ready for bed around 7 p.m. EDT Tuesday (since I’m up before 2 a.m.), and I checked my radar app.
The image below is what I saw.
A textbook supercell (rotating thunderstorm) was moving south of Chicago, but there was a unique feature that caught my attention.
I’ve highlighted that in the image. It doesn’t look like much, but it’s a huge teller of large hail. It’s called a TBSS, or three body scatter spike.
As the radar beam hits hailstones, it gets scattered three different times. That results in the appendage you see on radar extending off the storm.
Moments later, reports came in of hail that was baseball-sized and larger. One such report could break the state’s record for largest hailstone.
The report suggested a hailstone of 6 inches in diameter.
According to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, this would break Illinois’ previous record for largest hailstone – and by a long shot.
The largest hailstone on record in the U.S. happened in South Dakota, and it was measured at 8 inches in diameter.
Insane!
The tornado
While it takes time to assess the damage and come up with a rating, there was zero doubt that a tornado spawned from this storm too.
It’s common during tornadoes for there to be hail on the northern flank of the storm. It’s called the “hail core,” and it is a result of rapidly rising air.
In terms of the actual tornado, it became evident that one was active when looking at radar.
A hook echo is commonly seen in supercell thunderstorms. It’s an indication of warm air flowing into the storm, while cold air flows down its rear flank. This is your rotational aspect of the storm that extends down to the surface.
The air spins rapidly and – eventually – it picks up debris. This can show up as a ball on the southern tip of the storm.
Every bit of this storm was something out of a meteorology textbook – a marvel for those who admire the atmosphere, but a nightmare for those at ground level enduring its fury.
Tornadoes rip through Michigan just hours after deadly tornado in Oklahoma
Destructive tornadoes wreaked havoc hundreds of miles apart from March 5-6, as severe storms roared through the middle of the U.S.
Central Illinois is expected to be hit with tornado alerts Tuesday afternoon and evening, with the highest risk between 6 and 10 p.m.
The National Weather Service announced on X that a Tornado Watch is 95% likely in east-central Illinois through 4:30 p.m. The potential storm is forecast to reach a peak intensity of 2-3.5 inch hail, 55-70 mph winds and 120-150 mph tornadoes.
Here’s how to stay updated on weather alerts in your area.
How to sign up for weather alerts in Illinois
Most residents throughout Illinois will automatically receive Wireless Emergency Alerts on their mobile phones from the NWS, warning them of potentially dangerous weather in their area. These will look like normal text messages and will typically show the type and time of the alert, any action you should take and the agency issuing the alert.
Other sources of information include NOAA Weather Radio, the Storm Prediction Center’s live map of nationwide tornado watches and the Emergency Alert System on radio and TV broadcasts.
Residents can also sign up for text alerts through their local county emergency management agency, such as NotifyChicago.
Sign up for USA TODAY Network weather alerts
Illinois residents can sign up for alerts from the USA TODAY Network to receive texts about current storms and weather events in their area.
Tornado watch vs warning
The NWS explains the difference between the varying tornado alert terminology on its website.
A tornado watch means tornadoes are possible in the area, while a tornado warning means a twister has been sighted or indicated by the weather radar. A tornado emergency is the most severe alert, meaning a violent tornado has touched down in the area.
The website uses the phrases “be prepared,” “take action” and “seek shelter immediately” to summarize the three alerts.
Central Illinois weather radar
Chicago weather radar
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