House committee stalls bill to convey Shawnee Mission historic site to Shawnee tribe

The House committee considered House Bill 2,384, which would authorize the Kansas Historical Society to convey the Shawnee Mission site in Johnson County’s Fairview to the Shawnee tribe, but the committee did not advance the bill.

Supporters of the bill said the conveyance would allow the tribe to lead rehabilitation and programming at the site and required the tribe to consult with four federally recognized tribes and any other tribes with historical ties. The proposal also would have required biennial updates to the Joint Committee on State-Tribal Relations for 10 years about rehabilitation work and stewardship.

Representative John Lewis (Representative Lewis) said he opposed conveying sole ownership to a single tribe because multiple groups and the state have historical interests in the property. “I have real reservations about this bill handing over this historical site to just one tribe,” Lewis said, noting the Kaw Nation’s opposition and saying 22 tribes sent students to the school and that Shawnee students comprised “between 30–40%.”

Representative Nathan Mosley (Representative Mosley) urged caution against framing tribal stewardship as untrustworthy, and asked colleagues not to jump to assumptions about future uses such as gaming. Representative Mosley also described the site’s painful history and said that transferring ownership could be a moral redress; Mosley said he supported the bill for that reason.

Representative Corbett moved to table the bill; that motion failed on a voice vote and a subsequent division (6 in favor of tabling, which was insufficient to carry the motion). After further debate, the committee took a final vote on passing the bill out favorably; the motion to pass failed on the voice vote (results not recorded in the transcript). The chair declared the motion failed.

Committee members who spoke cited multiple concerns in opposition: that courts previously rejected the tribe’s litigation-based effort to obtain control; that multiple tribes have historical connections to the site; that state ownership can ensure public access and recognition of diverse historical events (including references to Civil War encampments and trail intersections); and that local community groups currently use and maintain the site. Supporters emphasized cultural and moral reasons for returning the property to tribal stewardship.

The committee’s discussion included requests for additional language and compromise options that might allow improvements without transferring title; some members said they would support legislative language clarifying stewardship or funding without conveyance. No formal amendment that changed title transfer was adopted during the committee meeting.

The bill therefore remains unresolved in committee after the failed motion to pass; no committee referral or next-step date was recorded in the transcript.

Ending: The committee moved on to other agenda items after the vote and announced a later, separate afternoon hearing on an unrelated resolution (HR6016).