Who should control the Shawnee Indian Mission? A second Native tribe says land belongs to them

The Shawnee Tribe says the state of Kansas should give up ownership of the historic Native American boarding school in Fairway. But this week, the Kaw Nation made an argument that they — as the original inhabitants of the land — should have a say in who controls the site.
A battle is brewing over who should control the Shawnee Indian Mission in Fairway.

Fairway city officials this week pushed back against the Shawnee Tribe’s efforts to take over the historic site and say they have started meeting with Kansas lawmakers to lobby against transferring the land from the control of the state.

Shawnee Tribe officials contend the 12-acre site off Shawnee Mission Parkway, which is owned by the Kansas Historical Society and maintained by the city, is in “deep physical distress” and want to take control, they say, in order to better preserve and maintain it.