U.S. government must return land it took and never developed to Nebraska tribe under new law

U.S. government must return land it took and never developed to Nebraska tribe under new law

WINNEBAGO, Neb. (AP) — The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska will soon get back about 1,600 acres (647 hectares) of land that the federal government took more than 50 years ago and never developed.

A new law will require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to return the roughly 2.5-square-mile (6.5-square-kilometer) tract of land along the Missouri River in Iowa that it took through eminent domain in 1970 for a recreational project that was never built.

The tribe has been trying for decades to reclaim its land.

“This is a truly historic moment for the Winnebago Tribe as the lands that were taken from us over 50 years ago will soon be returned to our tribe,” said Winnebago Tribal Chairwoman Victoria Kitcheyan.

The bill that ultimately made this project a reality was sponsored by the Nebraska and Iowa congressional delegations.

“Our bill, now law, corrects a decades-old wrong. We can now finally return these lands to the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska,” said U.S. Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska.

The lands that will be returned to the Winnebago Tribe were originally part of a reservation created for the tribe in northeastern Nebraska by treaty in 1865. Some of that land ended up in Iowa because the Missouri River moved westward over the years. Another tract of land on the Nebraska side of the river that was taken at the same time has already been returned to the tribe.

In recent years, some tribes in the United States, Canada and Australia have won restoration of their rights to their ancestral lands thanks to the growth of the Land Back movement, which aims to return land to indigenous peoples.