Shawnee Indians

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 report commissioned by the Shawnee Tribe concluded up to $13 million in restoration and repairs are needed at the longtime Native American boarding school. But the city of Fairway, which is responsible for maintaining the site, says it has no plans to transfer ownership.

The Shawnee Tribe said the Kansas Historical Society's planned study of the Fairway boarding school site “was wrong from the start," and was being done without consultation "or even acknowledgement of the cultural sensitivity involved with doing something like searching for the graves of deceased Native children.”

The city of Fairway says that four Native American children were reported to have died while attending the boarding school. But the Shawnee Tribe said they have "serious concerns" about an investigation by the Kansas Historical Society.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly signed a bill requiring the Kansas State Historical Society to give the Shawnee Tribe ownership of a cemetery where many of its tribe members are buried.

Two federal efforts — one in Congress and one at the U.S. Interior Department — could affect the search for marked and unmarked graves at the Shawnee Indian Mission in Fairway and Haskell University in Lawrence.

Rev. Thomas Johnson was a slaveholder and led the “Bogus Legislature” that sought to install Kansas as a slave state before the Civil War. But rather than renaming Johnson County, the Charter Commission may decide to change its namesake.

The culture, history and contributions of the Osage, Kaw, Otoe-Missouria, Shawnee, Wyandot and other Native American tribes can be found across the Kansas City region.

Over the summer, the remains of hundreds of Indigenous children were discovered at a Canadian boarding school. Since then, officials in Fairway, Kansas, said they would work with the Shawnee Tribe to look into the history of the Shawnee Indian Mission.

The Shawnee Tribe is partnering with the city of Fairway to look into the history of the Shawnee Indian Mission boarding school, and to find if there are any unmarked graves of Native American children.

Researchers are conducting a study at the Kansas State Historical Site looking for unmarked graves and human remains that could suggest more about who is buried there and when they were interred.

The district's board of education voted to end the use of mascots like Indians and Braves because they are racially insensitive. Shawnee Mission North has used their current mascot, which will have to be changed, for 98 years.