January 07, 2011 –
MAYETTA: A new year has begun and business is back in full swing at the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation government. Tribal Council has been meeting and departments and programs are busy moving into new office locations and getting things underway for 2011.
Tribal Council will also attend inauguration ceremonies for Kansas Governor-elect Sam Brownback this coming week. Tomorrow night some of the Council will go the Inaugural Ball at the Kansas Expocentre (Heritage Hall) in Topeka and on Monday morning Tribal chairman Steve Ortiz will present Brownback with a gift on behalf of the PBPN and other Kansas tribes during Brownback’s swearing in ceremony that begins at 11 a.m. on the south steps of the Capitol. In the event of bad weather, the ceremony will be moved to the Dillon House across the street since the interior of the Capitol is under renovation.
Brownback will become the 46th Governor in Kansas. Last year he made two visits to the PBPN, including one in October when he met with the four Kansas tribes at the Prairie Band casino, and another in July when he made a campaign stop to meet with Tribal Council and attend a reception in his honor.
Brownback has been a U.S. Senator since 1996. During his tenure as a Senator, he pushed for the passage of a Native American Apology Resolution that he introduced in 2004 before the United States Congress with former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, of the Northern Cheyenne Nation. Before becoming a congressman, Brownback was an attorney, radio broadcaster, teacher and administrator. He was raised in Linn County, Kan. and graduated from Kansas State University and the University of Kansas Law School.