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Chicago Tribune - February 2, 2001 LANDOWNERS IN FIGHT WITH TRIBE TO GET AID Author: Joe Biesk, Tribune Staff Writer. Dateline: SPRINGFIELD
East-central Illinois landowners whose property is under siege in a dispute with an Indian tribe over rightful ownership will get help paying legal fees under legislation signed by Gov. George Ryan Thursday. The Miami Indians of Oklahoma want to reclaim about 2.6 million acres under a federal treaty signed in 1805 when Thomas Jefferson was president. The tribe believes the treaty entitles it to a wide swath of land stretching across 15 counties. Currently, 15 Illinois landowners are named in the suit, which state lawmakers believe could have wide-ranging impact on the state if the tribe prevails. The law authorizes state Atty. Gen. Jim Ryan to spend up to $100,000 to pay for the property holders' court costs. "This legislation is consistent with the state's stance to fight for the rights of these property owners," Gov. Ryan said. Miami Chief Floyd Leonard contended there was no need for the state to spend the money. "Until the state sits down and participates in meaningful negotiations to discuss a settlement mutually beneficial to the tribe and Illinois, lawyers are the only ones benefiting from this issue so far," Leonard said. Miami tribe lobbyist Tony Leone suggested potential settlements could include a cash payment from the federal government, a portion of unsettled land or "some type of economic opportunity." State officials say they believe the tribe wants to open a casino on a smaller portion of the land. There are 378,000 acres in Champaign County and 495,000 in Vermilion County that the Miami tribe claims. The Miami also seek portions of Clark, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Effingham, Ford, Iroquois, Jasper, Livingston, Moultrie and Shelby Counties. Under the Jefferson-era treaty, the tribe ceded ancestral lands farther east in exchange for prairie in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. In subsequent treaties, Miami Nation tribes gave up most of the land, but the tribe says it never relinquished the tract in east-central Illinois. Copyright 2001, Chicago Tribune
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