LJWorld.com / Government attorneys say tribe has no right to Sunflower property

Archive for Sunday, September 21, 2003

The Associated Press

September 21, 2003

KANSAS CITY, KAN. — In the latest volley in an ongoing squabble over who owns the former Sunflower Army Ammunition plant near De Soto, government lawyers are contending that the Shawnee Tribe of Miami, Okla., has no right to the land.

Assistant U.S. Atty. David Zimmerman argued recently that the tribe was not recognized as a viable government at the time the land was eligible to be transferred. A lawyer for the Shawnee Tribe argued that Congress never voided his client's right to the property.

The two sides must exchange legal briefs before the case goes to a judge, with final resolution not expected for months.

At issue is a 9,065-acre tract that once was the proposed site for a Wonderful World of Oz theme park and resort. The General Services Administration controls the land and is responsible for its disposal.

Since the Johnson County Commission killed the Oz idea in October 2001, several competing ideas for use of the land have been kicked around. They include a "community in a park" and business concept; a research park; and more recreation space for the county's park district.

All of those plans could be canned or modified if the Shawnee Tribe's claim to the land, made in early 2002, is successful. At the heart of the issue is whether the tribe can lay claim to the land based on a treaty recognized in 1854.

Tribal leaders said the treaty was never amended by Congress and made 1.6 million acres of northeastern Kansas -- including the Sunflower site -- part of tribal land.

"That land was ultimately changed through treaty resolutions and was reduced significantly," said the tribe's lawyer, Scott Beeler. "But Sunflower ground has always been part of the Shawnee reservation."

But the government says the Shawnees were only recognized as a reconstituted tribe in 2001 and lost their opportunity to apply for the land.

Before 2001, the Shawnee Tribe was part of the Cherokee Tribe, and the Cherokees apparently did not forward the application documents for the land to the Shawnees.

The Shawnee Tribe also has made a request from the government for 1,500 acres of the parcel to be used for prairie restoration and reintroducing buffalo to the grounds where they once roamed.