The United Remnant Band of the Shawnee Nation (also called the Shawnee Nation, URB) is an

unrecognized tribe Unrecognized tribes in the United States are organizations of people who claim to be historically, culturally, and/or genetically related to historic Native American Indian tribes but who are not officially recognized as Indigenous nations by the ...

located in Ohio who claims descent from the historic

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

before that Native American people's removal to

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign ...

(now Oklahoma). Three

federally recognized This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...

tribes of

are based in Oklahoma. Despite using the word ''nation'' in its name, the group is neither a federally recognized tribe nor a

state-recognized tribe State-recognized tribes in the United States are organizations that identify as Native American tribes or heritage groups that do not meet the criteria for federally recognized Indian tribes but have been recognized by a process established unde ...

.DAVID LAZARUS, "Tribal question a matter of dollars"
''Los Angeles Times'', 2 November 2007, accessed 11 January 2014 Ohio has no office to manage Indian affairs and no state-recognized tribes. The

Ohio state legislature The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. ...

passed a 1979 joint resolution of the United Remnant Band, but the legal status of that resolution has been disputed. Thirty-five groups in Ohio claim to have Shawnee descent, such as the Vinyard Indian Settlement, but "Ohio has no state recognized tribes nor does it have a recognition process," wrote Mary Annette Pember ( Red Cliff Ojibwe.

History

Prior to 1831, the Shawnee were relocated, band by band, to

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

, Oklahoma, and other parts of the American Plains west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

as a number of Shawnee chiefs surrendered independently to the United States. Chief

Black Hoof Catecahassa or Black Hoof (c. 1740-1831) was the head civil chief of the Shawnee Indians in the Ohio Country of what became the United States. A member of the Mekoche division of the Shawnees, Black Hoof became known as a fierce warrior during ...

( Catahecassa, d. 1831) signed the 1817

Treaty of Fort Meigs The Treaty of Fort Meigs, also called the Treaty of the Maumee Rapids, formally titled, "Treaty with the Wyandots, etc., 1817", was the most significant Indian treaty by the United States in Ohio since the Treaty of Greenville in 1795. It resulte ...

and 1818

Treaty of St. Mary's The Treaty of St. Mary's may refer to one of six treaties concluded in fall of 1818 between the United States and Natives of central Indiana regarding purchase of Native land. The treaties were *Treaty with the Wyandot, etc. *Treaty with the Wy ...

, which ceded lands and created small reservations for the Shawnee. The Wapakoneta Shawnee, who followed Black Hoof, were removed to

after his death in 1831. They signed the 1831

Treaty of Wapakoneta {{Short description, 1831 land cession by the Shawnee tribe to the US in present-day Wapakoneta, Ohio The Treaty of Wapakoneta was signed on August 8, 1831. Remnants of the Shawnee Native American tribe in Wapakoneta were forced to relinquish clai ...

. In 1971, at a time of Indian activism across the United States, Shawnee people in Ohio organized the United Remnant Band of the Shawnee Nation as a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization. In the latter part of the decade, the band filed historic and genealogical documents with the state to support their claim of descent from the historical Shawnee. The Ohio General Assembly held hearings and heard testimony from numerous groups. This legislature passed a joint resolution in 1979-1980 recognizing the United Remnant Band as an Indian tribe descended from the historic Shawnee and as Ohio's only state recognized tribe. The URB acknowledges that it is not a federally recognized tribe but points to this resolution as evidence of current state recognition. In 1989 the URB purchased 20 acres of land, three miles (6.4 km) south of

Urbana, Ohio Urbana is a city in and the county seat of Champaign County, Ohio, United States, west of Columbus. Urbana was laid out in 1805, and for a time in 1812 was the headquarters of the Northwestern army during the War of 1812. It is the burial place ...

. According to the late Chief Hawk Pope, this was the only "tribally held piece of land" in Ohio since 1830. In 1995 the URB purchased the Zane Caverns between Zanesfield and

Bellefontaine, Ohio Bellefontaine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Logan County, Ohio, Logan County, Ohio, United States, located 48 miles (77 km) northwest of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus. The population was 13,370 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 Cens ...

and an associated museum."Native Americans Buying Back Ohio Land"
''The Ojibwe News,'' October 16, 1998 In total they have bought 330 acres in four counties, both to aid their economic development and to create communal holdings for future generations. The campground, museum, gift shop, caverns, and surrounding property were renamed as the Zane Shawnee Caverns and Southwind Park. They have enlarged the museum in Bellefontaine, renaming it as the George Drouillard Museum. It is devoted to the Shawnee-French man who was interpreter and hunter for the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gr ...

(1804-1806).Jon Craig, "Indian Gaming Interests Eye Ohio; Secrecy, Big Money Surround Land Deals, Plans"
''

Columbus Dispatch ''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication in 19 ...

,'' 1 June 2003, hosted at American Policy Roundtable, accessed 9 January 2014

Government

The Shawnee Nation, URB has an elected form of government, with council members and a chief. Until his death in 2015, the chief was Jerry L. "Hawk" Pope, who led for more than 40 years.Obituary for Jerry L. Pope, April 26, 1941 - May 13, 2015
(accessed 2015-10-02). Geah (Nightwind) has the position of Mother of the Nation. Both men and women may be elected to the inner council.

Membership

The Shawnee Nation, URB says the organization requires people to trace their lineage and document at least one-eighth Shawnee ancestry (the equivalent of one great-grandparent), or one-16th if the person is a child "of a provable person."Boice, Judith. "A Place Without Apology"
'' Cultural Survival Quarterly,'' Issue 14.2, 30 April 1990, accessed 11 January 2014

Indian gaming

In 2003 the Ohio legislature debated authorizing video slots at racetracks in the state, a move that would establish Class III gaming. With the state having established that level of gaming, under federal law, federally recognized Native American tribes would be able to negotiate with the state to establish gaming casinos as well, although no federally recognized tribe held sovereign land in the state to use as a base for such a casino. Lacking federal recognition, the Shawnee United Remnant Band cannot participate in such development and wants no part in it.

Economic development

In 1989 the organization purchased 110 acres near

. To generate revenue for welfare and development, they purchased the

Zane Shawnee Caverns The Zane Shawnee Caverns is a cave system in Jefferson Township, Logan County, Ohio, United States. The caverns are show caves owned by the nonprofit United Remnant Band of the Shawnee Nation as of 1995. These caverns are located between Zanesf ...

in 1996 and a museum. The latter is now named for and devoted to George Drouillard, a Shawnee interpreter and hunter who was a member of Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery. The US Mint contracted with the United Remnant Band to sew pouches for the 2004 US Mint Lewis and Clark Coin but was informed by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board that "the Shawnee Nation United Remnant Band of Ohio does not meet the legal requirements to produce and market authentic 'Indian' products under the Indian Arts and Crafts Act." The US mint refunded money spent on the pouches.

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Shawnee Nation, United Remnant Band
official website 1971 establishments in Ohio Allen County, Ohio Auglaize County, Ohio History of Ohio Lima, Ohio Logan County, Ohio Unrecognized tribes in the United States Shawnee heritage groups