United Remnant Band of the Shawnee Nation

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The United Remnant Band of the Shawnee Nation (also called the Shawnee Nation, URB) is a band of Native Americans who hold that they are descended from the Shawnee from before the Shawnee's removal from the U.S. state of Ohio. The Shawnee Nation, URB own the Zane Shawnee Caverns and a museum.

[edit] History

Prior to 1831, the Shawnee were relocated, band by band, to Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and other parts of the American Plains as a number of Shawnee chiefs would surrender to the United States. By the time Black Hoof died, historians claim there were only 400 Shawnee living in Ohio. These Ohio Shawnee left Wapaughkonetta and Hog Creek (near present-day Lima, Ohio) for Kansas after the death of Black Hoof. However, the United Remnant Band claims that there were Shawnee still living in Ohio after Black Hoof's death. In any case, say the URB supporters, Black Hoof never signed a treaty forfeiting the remaining Shawnee settlements to the U.S. government. The United Remnant Band therefore claims that there are lands in Ohio still legally owned by the Shawnee nation.

In 1971, the United Remnant Band of the Shawnee Nation was organized in an attempt to reclaim these lands. An investigation was launched by the Ohio General Assembly in the latter part of the decade.^[1] This legislature officially recognized the United Remnant Band in 1979.^[2] Today, the URB states flatly that it is a state-recognized tribe, not a federally recognized tribe.^[3] The tribe is not recognized by any of the three federally recognized Shawnee tribes living in Oklahoma.^{[citation needed]}

The tribe purchased a tract of land, consisting of 20 acres, three miles (6.4 km) south of Urbana, Ohio in 1989. In 1996 the URB purchased the Zane Caverns between Zanesfield and Bellefontaine, Ohio.^[4] The caverns and surrounding property were renamed the Zane Shawnee Caverns and Southwind Park.

[edit] References

^ American Indians in Ohio, Ohio Memory: An Online Scrapbook of Ohio History. The Ohio Historical Society, retrieved October 10, 2006
^ "Joint Resolution to recognize the Shawnee Nation United Remnant Band" / as adopted by the [Ohio] Senate, 113th General Assembly, Regular Session, Am. Sub. H.J.R. No. 8, 1979-1980
^ Boice, Judith. "A Place Without Apology", Cultural Survival Quarterly, Issue 14.2, April 30, 1990.
^ "Native Americans Buying Back Ohio Land"; The Ojibwe News, October 16, 1998