SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) – State offices were closed Monday in honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, but Illinois has also supported Native Americans with several recent laws.

Thousands of Native American remains and artifacts sit in museums across the country after the Department of Transportation dug them up to build highways years ago. However, a 2023 law called on the Illinois State Museum and federally recognized tribes to return the Native remains and artifacts for proper burial. The law also created a cemetery for unidentifiable remains.

Violators of this law are charged with a Class A misdemeanor for their first violation and a Class 4 felony for subsequent violations. They could also be liable for fees to clean, restore, or repair Native materials found. Restitution is deposited into a Repatriation and Reinternment Fund.

“Illinois is proving that the government is capable of reflecting on the harmful past and planning for the future that respects and celebrates our interconnectedness,” said Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Chairman Joseph “Zeke” Rupnick.

Illinois public schools have also been required to allow students to celebrate their cultural, ethnic, or religious identity during graduation ceremonies. Sponsors and advocates said Native American students are often given eagle feathers and other tribal regalia to show pride and gratitude for their academic achievement.

Lawmakers filed the legislation following a 2022 incident when a Native student was told he couldn’t wear an eagle feather and native beads with his cap and gown. Nimkii Curley was forced to watch his classmates graduate while he sat in the bleachers. Curley told WAND News that he would’ve been the first man in his family to graduate from high school if Evanston Township High School administrators let him participate in the ceremony.

“My grandfather was a boarding school survivor, and my father didn’t graduate from high school,” Curley said. “So I would have been the one to break the cycle. I would have been the one to have that graduation ceremony, so that’s why it’s really important for us.”

Gov. JB Pritzker and sponsors invited Curley to the 2023 bill signing ceremony to properly celebrate his graduation and recognize his effort to change school policy.

“Thank you for being a catalyst for change,” Pritzker said. “You should never have been denied the opportunity to walk alongside your classmates, and we will all work tirelessly to protect and expand your right to be who you are.”

A separate law required school districts to include Native American history curriculum in their social studies classes starting with the 2024-2025 school year. Advocates worked with lawmakers to draft the best language for teaching students about major events of the Native American experience and Native history of the Midwest and Illinois.

Students in sixth grade and up are taught about the genocide and discrimination of Native Americans. Some schools also have units on treaties that led to forced relocation. The Illinois State Board of Education worked with Native leaders to ensure school districts received instruction materials and professional development opportunities to use as guidelines for developing the history units.

“In order for us to know where we’re going, we gotta truly know where we’ve been,” said Rep. Maurice West (D-Rockford). “And the Native American history is in the DNA of this state.”

Pritzker also signed a bill into law last year to return approximately 1,500 acres of Shabbona Lake State Park to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.