The city of Fairway is pushing back against flyers bearing the message “Save the Shawnee Indian Mission” that began appearing in local residents’ mailboxes last week.
Thousands of flyers paid for by the Shawnee Tribe started showing up at homes around the Mission site in northeast Johnson County, detailing the tribe’s argument that the historic site is in “distress” and that it should be transferred to the tribe for restoration.
The flyers also lay out a multi-year restoration plan and repeat the argument that the land the tribe has made in recent weeks that the site would not be used for gaming if the tribe takes control.
But city officials say the flyers are riddled with misinformation about what could happen to the land should the tribe become the owner.
The tribe paid for nearly 4,000 flyers
- Maggie Boyett, chief communications officer for the Shawnee Tribe, said the mailers were made by her office and the tribe’s “Cultural Historic Preservation team.”
- The mailers, she said, are intended to provide local residents with information about the tribe’s stance, but there is no call to action included in the flyers.
- Control of the historic site is not up for any upcoming public vote but is the subject of bills introduced in the Kansas Legislature this session.
- Boyett said the flyers “give local citizens facts about the deteriorating conditions at the Shawnee Indian Mission and lay out the Shawnee Tribe’s commitment and multi-year plan to restore it in alignment with best industry practices.”
City says flyers contain misinformation
- Fairway City Administrator Nathan Nogelmeier told the Post via email that the city “is aware.. [Shawnee Tribe] Chief Ben Barnes commissioned” the flyers.
- Nogelmeier said the flyers repeat “many of the claims and much of the misinformation already pushed by Chief Barnes.”
- A Jan. 19 special announcement from the city states the Kansas State Historical Society is on the record that it has “preserved the property at the highest preservation standards,” which have evolved over time.
- “The city of Fairway and its partners, the Kansas State Historical Society and Shawnee Indian Mission Foundation, are ready to constructively work with all Native American tribes who want to be part of the Mission’s future,” Nogelmeier said.
A full version of the flyer, provided by the Tribe to the Post, is found below:
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Open in new tab Legal memo bolsters city’s claims about sovereignty
- Meanwhile, the city has continued to push its case that the tribe would essentially have complete sovereign control of the land if the Mission site were to be transferred, claims the Shawnee Tribe have disputed.
- A memo from Richard A. Cook, an attorney at Kansas City-based law firm Stinson, which has represented the city for years, argues the Shawnee Tribe could seek to establish tribal sovereign authority over the Mission site under the New Deal-era Indian Reorganization Act.
- Cook’s memo, which was provided to the Post by the city, goes on to say the tribe could also try to establish gaming operations under the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
- Cook does point out that this could happen only if the site is first placed into trust and if the Tribe wants to operate a casino after that.
- The Shawnee Tribe has on multiple occasions to the Post denied any intent to operate or build a casino should the state transfer the land to the tribe.
Read the city’s full legal memo below:
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Mission bill is unlikely to get a hearing this year
- Two companion bills introduced this session in Topeka, HB 2208 and SB 117, would transfer the ownership of the land from the state to the tribe.
- Those bills say the Mission land could not be used for gaming purposes, though Cook’s memo said tribal sovereignty could be used to eventually pave the way for a casino or gaming facility.
- Rep. Will Carpenter, chair of the House Federal and State Affairs Committee to which HB 2208 was introduced, said he has no intentions to hear the bill this year.
- Sen. Mike Thompson, who chairs the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee where SB 117 was introduced, said he needs to sift through a large stack of bills to determine which are priorities.
Go deeper: Prospects for Shawnee Indian Mission bill wane this session
