(Bradley, Mich) – Gun Lake Tribe’s Tribal Historic Preservation Office has been awarded a Tribal Heritage grant funded by the Historic Preservation Fund and administered by the National Park Service, Department of Interior.

The funds awarded through this grant will allow the Tribal Historic Preservation Office to develop an inventory of cultural and historical resources related to Gun Lake Tribe and successfully implement forms, policies and procedures related to the GIS inventory.

“This project will build up the infrastructure on the Tribe’s Historic Preservation office in order to support the Tribe in protecting cultural and historical resources and asserting our rights as a Sovereign Nation,” says Bob Peters, Tribal Chairman.

Through this project, the Tribe plans to develop a process to formally identify and inventory sites within the GIS database of cultural and historically significant sites in order to protect and preserve the sites and resources. This will be the first, most important step to identifying, recording and storing information pertaining to all sites of cultural and historical significance to Gun Lake Tribe.

“We are looking forward to utilizing this grant funding to lay the foundation for our Tribal Historic Preservation Office to build additional historic preservation programs and infrastructure,” states Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Lakota Pochedley, “This project will ultimately lead to us further focus on community outreach and educational programming.”

This project is supported through the Tribal Heritage grant program, which is funded by the Historic Preservation Fund and administered by the National Park Service, Department of Interior.

Questions related to the grant and MBPI’s THPO should be directed to Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Lakota Pochedley, at 269.397.1780 or lakota.pochedley@glt-nsn.gov. For more details about the Historic Preservation Fund, NPS Tribal Heritage grant, and other 2020 award recipients, click here.

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About Gun Lake Tribe

The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians (Gun Lake Tribe) has a rich history in West Michigan and a close connection to the land. The Bradley Indian Mission, located near Wayland, is the historic residential and cultural center point of the tribal community. The Tribe’s ancestors, and political predecessors, signed treaties with the United States government dating back to 1795. The Tribe was re-affirmed to federal recognition in 1999. For more information about the Tribe visit https://gunlaketribe-nsn.gov/.