The land that now makes up Lake County has a rich history many residents do not often take time to acknowledge. Long before Lake County existed, the land belonged to generations of indigenous peoples who were forcibly relocated by the U.S. colonist government. CLC is built on that stolen land.
CLC’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) department set out to remind students and community members whose land this college stands on and encourage dialogue about the oppressive history that forced Lake County’s indigenous people to abandon this land. One way the DEI department is working to educate students is through the college’s Land Acknowledgement.
The Land Acknowledgement is a written statement crafted by CLC’s Diversity Council, which recognizes the tribes who originally inhabited Lake County on whose ancestral homeland the college stands. The tribes listed in the tribute are the Kickapoo, Peoria and Potawatomi, though other tribes also inhabited the region.
Jesse Morales, CLC’s DEI director, said the major motivation of the Council was to draw focus to the continued impact of colonialism on American Indians.
“One of the ways to do that is to raise awareness about the historical significance of the land we are living on and, even more importantly, to honor and pay homage to the original stewards of the land,” Morales said. “For some folks, hearing the Land Acknowledgement would be the first time they ever heard which indigenous tribes were settled in Lake County.”
In 1830, under President Andrew Jackson, the Indian Removal Act was signed. The Act forced all indigenous tribes west of the Mississippi. Families were torn from the land their ancestors had held for thousands of years. As a result of this forced exodus, Illinois was left with no federally recognized tribes within the state for nearly 200 years.
On April 19, 2024, Illinois became home again to one of the three tribes honored in CLC’s Land Acknowledgement. The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation were finally granted 130 acres of land, which was placed into trust for a reservation. This reservation will create sovereignty for the Potawatomi in Illinois.
Joseph Rupnik, tribal chairman of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, explained the historic significance of the land trust. The Prairie Band originated in the Great Lakes area. His great grandfather, four generations removed, Chief Shab-Eh-Nay, signed several treaties with the U.S. government. This included the Treaty of Prairie du Chain, which outlined this specific trust of land as Potawatomi country. In total, the Potawatomi signed 44 treaties, all of which were eventually broken through the Indian Removal Act.
Rupnik referenced Article VI of the Constitution, which says treaties are to be the “Supreme Law of the land.”
“Part of my job is to hold the federal government to its treaty obligations and its trust responsibility to the tribe,” Rupnik said. “We have been federally recognized since the first treaty that we signed in 1789. We have been fighting for our rights and determination ever since that time.”
Rupnik explained how 40 years ago his mother, the tribal chairman at the time, began a strong push for their treaties to be honored. He said the 2020 Supreme Court decision McGirt v. Oklahoma, which upheld tribal rights to land allotted to them under Federal treaty, paved the way for her goals to finally move forward.
However, Rupnik cautioned against viewing this ruling as a total victory, adding that the reality is not as positive as the historic headlines.
“We were extorted because folks knew that the reservation still existed, or they figured as much,” he said. “So, the nation paid probably 10 times over the land value of what it should have been.”
When asked what difference official statements like the Land Acknowledgement can make to further tangible change for indigenous communities in Illinois, Rupnik explained that it is about shifting social tides.
“It makes folks realize that there were people here that gave up a lot in order to allow them to settle in those different areas,” he said. “I do see improvements. It is a lot easier to work with the state now as opposed to what it was 30 years ago.”
Rupnik encouraged students and community members to make acknowledgement statements the starting point and not the finish line. He said people should pay attention to active legislation and contact their representatives and senators in support of tribal rights to create real, lasting progress. He also challenged students that they must sit with the discomfort of the past.
“Learn. Learn the history, as ugly as it may be,” Rupnik said. “ We’re hoping that we learn from that and we don’t repeat the same mistakes that were made in the past. It’s not pleasant, that history, and in order for us to progress forward, we have to understand it but not live it.”
CLC’s DEI department wants to lead with actions beyond the words of the Land Acknowledgement.
Morales spoke about the community and educational goals for CLC that reach far beyond a mere statement.
“The next step is developing our relationships with our indigenous population,” Morales said. “ My goal specifically is for our Native American students that are coming to CLC to see options for them represented in our curriculum, options for them in tuition variances.”
Morales shared plans for indigenous studies curriculum and described many events throughout the year that focus on building relationships with Lake County tribes, including a book reading by Dr. Anton Treuer, a descendant of the Ojibwe; craft classes in partnership with Chippewa tribal members; and performances from Potawatomi tribal dancers.
“We also currently support the Potawatomi Powwow that happens in Zion,” Morales said. “This year it will be the weekend of August 30-31 at Shiloh Park.”
Morales said he encourages students to participate in the powwow and future CLC events to educate themselves, build relationships, and honor the history of the land they live on.
Rupnik’s interview took place in December 2024. At the time, the Prairie Band had introduced specific legislation (SB 867) to the Illinois State Legislature to recover a large portion of their tribal land under the Treaty of Prairie du Chain, which had been made into a State Park in the 1960s. After the interview, on January 7, 2025, the legislation passed both houses and the 1,500 acres of land that made up Shabbona Lake Park are now set to be returned to the Potawatomi.
