A bill aiming to transfer ownership of the Shawnee Indian Mission historic site in Fairway to the Shawnee Tribe is once again coming before lawmakers in Topeka.
House Bill 2208, which calls for conveyance of the Mission site to the Shawnee Tribe, is scheduled for a hearing before a Kansas House committee on Wednesday.
A year ago, the Shawnee Tribe helped introduce HB 2208, along with a companion bill SB 117 in the Senate, to the Kansas Legislature.
The Tribe’s legislative effort came after a rift grew between the tribe and the city of Fairway over ownership of the Mission.
Now, the city of Fairway is urging the public to provide testimony to the committee against the current House bill, saying it’s concerned about possible future uses of the site if ownership is transferred as well as preservation of the site’s history.
For its part, the Shawnee Tribe says it is “fully committed” to restoring the Mission and expanding exhibits for the benefit of the public.
The rift is years in the making
- Back in 2021, the city and the Shawnee Tribe announced a partnership to investigate the history of the Mission from its time as a Native American boarding school.
- The Mission operated as a Methodist-run “manual labor school” between the 1830s and 1860s, according to the Kansas State Historical Society, where children from various Native tribes who had been separated from their families were enrolled.
- In addition to calls from Shawnee Chief Ben Barnes for the Mission to depict a fuller account of its history, Shawnee Tribe leaders in October 2022 raised concerns about a state-backed study to search for potential unmarked graves of Native American children at the Mission.
- The tribe released a study about the state of the Mission and called for ownership of the site a year ago.
- Soon after the study was released, the tribe introduced bills to the legislature — which never gained traction during the 2023 legislative session in Topeka.
- Most recently, the city, state and four tribal nations, including the Shawnee Tribe, met to discuss the future of the Mission in a closed-door meeting in September.
Fairway concerned with ‘everlasting’ impacts
- Through an email newsletter last week, the city stated its concerns with the Shawnee Tribe owning the Mission site include a loss of both tribal and Kansas history.
- The Fairway statement also expressed worry about the tribe attempting to claim the Mission as sovereign land if ownership is transferred, and what that means for how the land is used in the future.
- “The consequences of a potential conveyance of the Shawnee Indian Mission State Historic Site and National Historic Landmark would be immediate and likely, everlasting,” the email reads.
- Mayor Melanie Hepperly at the 2024 State of the Cities luncheon noted the bills that were introduced in 2023 could return for the 2024 session.
- Hepperly said at the luncheon that she received assurances from state representatives and Gov. Laura Kelly that a bill conveying the land to the tribe would fail.
Read the city’s entire email newsletter below.
Loading...
Reload document 
Open in new tab Shawnee Tribe leader plans to speak to lawmakers
- Chief Barnes told the Post in an email statement on Friday that he intends to discuss the tribe’s “plans to protect and preserve” the Mission on Wednesday.
- Barnes said the site “is an important National Historic Landmark.”
- He said the public should be able to learn about its time as a Native American boarding school as well as its impact on Kansas history.
- Barnes said the site is in “deep physical distress” due to “years of mismanagement” — similar to points from the tribe’s study of the site, which the city has argued lacks comprehensiveness.
- “The Shawnee Tribe is fully committed to funding the restoration of the Mission and expanding the historical exhibits to ensure that the public benefits from a wide range of rich historical education opportunities for generations to come,” Barnes said.
The hearing is in the federal and state affairs committee
- The hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Wednesday in the House Federal and State Affairs Committee at the Kansas State Capitol.
- Those who do wish to provide testimony — written or oral — must submit a written copy by 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 23, to H.Fed.State.Affairs@house.ks.gov.
- A specific request to provide oral testimony must be made in the written testimony, and must be a summary of the written testimony.
Go deeper: What could happen if tribe takes over Shawnee Indian Mission?
