I am one of around 4,500 enrolled members of the federally recognized Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. My Indigeneity is sacred, the doubtless core of my identity. After four forced relocations and vigorous federal efforts to end Potawatomi self-government and assimilate us, we persist. We are the Prairie Band Potawatomi not only because it’s where the government removed us to, far from our Lake Michigan homelands. We held out longer than our fellow bands, refusing to let US citizenship validate our nationhood.
Bodéwadmi, anglicized as Potawatomi, means “keepers of the fire.” It means we keep our traditions alive, none of which align with the settler-colonial ideologies of the United States government. I never dreamed I would need to condemn the actions of my tribal nation’s high council, yet here we are. On October 30th, Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) struck a backroom deal with the mysterious KPB Services LLC. On November 28th, the Department of Homeland Security quietly awarded $29,916,916 to KPB Services LLC, affiliate of the Kansas state Prairie Band. I worry, will we Keepers of the Fire abandon our ancestors and forsake our compatriots for ICE?
“Feasibility studies,” “technical assessments” — nothing to worry about?
News about the contract leaked days after the Department of Homeland Security made its offer. Comments protesting the deal appeared on various posts to the Prairie Band’s official Facebook page as early as December 4th. Prairie Band reservation residents more than likely knew first, as gossip travels fast in Indian Country. The deal unofficially went public Tuesday morning, December 9th, when popular Indigenous rights advocate @futureelderscollective broke the story via Instagram.
Later that day, the Prairie Band’s Facebook page administrators posted this response.
“Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and Prairie Band LLC understand the concerns raised about a recently awarded Department of Homeland Security planning contract that involves feasibility studies and technical assessments,” said one slide.
“We recognize the weight this news carries for so many, as well as the feelings of anger, confusion, and disappointment it caused,” another slide said. No further context about the contract was provided. Only platitudes. The truth often lies in parts unsaid.
You can tell what a person’s hiding by the way they try to hide it. You can also pull up records of their nefarious transactions online. Created April 2025, KPB Services LLC is a new venture, less than a year old. They registered their address as 19035 US Highway 75, Holton, Kansas, 66436. The KPB Services LLC business page associated with this address belongs to another tribal subsidiary, Mill Creek. They registered their offices to an address that, when verified, leads to a warehouse.
“Mill Creek is a tribally-owned small business specializing in initial outfitting of furniture, fixtures & equipment (FF&E), equipment planning, space planning, transition planning, move management, interior design, and procurement. We have worked for health care, private, and government sector clients across the nation.”
A red circle indicates the address KPB Services LLC registered with the federal government.
Mill Creek’s webpage designers chose a background image that suggests association with the medical supply chain. Their address matches the one registered with USAspending.gov
This Google Maps screenshot shows where 19035 US Highway 75, Holton, KS really takes you.
What else are they not telling us?
Whether the Prairie Band has fully nullified the contract with ICE/DHS remains to be proven. In the meantime, the council has “made the decision to terminate senior members of the LLC’s senior leadership.” An empty gesture, some might argue. Without naming the perpetrators, the sacrifice has no face. In addition to being suspiciously new, KPB Services LLC also has no website and no contracting history. Without so much as a bullshit mission statement to dissect like some paleoscatologist, I couldn’t defend KPB Services if I wanted to. Instead, I found out who founded the seven-month-old LLC: US military veteran Ernest C. Woodward Jr.
Prairie Band LLC Executive Vice President Ernest Woodward, Jr. Upper left: Profile picture taken from his publicly visible clay.earth CRM webpage. Middle: Profile picture from his public Twitter page.
The kind of man I least want involved with my tribe, his companies of interest include Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and of course, Mill Creek. His profile from CRM website clay.earth links you to an Oct. 2017 press release: “PB, LLC Acquires Mill Creek LLC - Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.” But when you click on it, you get back an Error 404: Page Not Found. However, a simple Google Cache search establishes how long Prairie Band LLC and Mill Creek have been around—and the many veils behind which KPB Services LLC was hidden.
This buried press release confirms a connection between Ernest Woodward Jr. and Mill Creek, aka KPB Services LLC, to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.
The buried press release implicates not only Prairie Band LLC’s Vice President Ernest Woodward Jr., but also President and CEO Jacob Wamego. Wamego became CEO in December 2016. “Due to confidentiality agreements and federal requirements, we cannot comment on specific project details,” Wamego told Yahoo News December 8th. Wamego is bluffing. These details aren’t only publicly available. Federal law requires them to be. While it remains unclear if Woodward Jr. and Wamego count among the terminated staff, Wamego’s LinkedIn profile has since disappeared.
But perhaps most damning of all is a description of the project in full, where in all-caps, the truth comes screaming off the page.
“THE PURPOSE OF THIS CONTRACT IS TO ENGAGE A VENDOR WHO WILL, ON ICE'S BEHALF, PERFORM DUE DILIGENCE AND CONCEPT DESIGNS FOR SECURE STRUCTURES THAT MEET ICE OPERATING REQUIREMENTS FOR DETENTION SERVICES FOR ICE DETAINEES.”
Tribal council formally responds
By December 12th, Council had penned a statement, picked Chairman Joseph “Zeke” Rupnick to deliver it, and posted the recording on YouTube.
“You deserve the truth and full transparency,” the chairman begins. Immediately I am skeptical. “Right now, we are looking at all options concerning exiting this contract. We met with legal counsel immediately, and the process is still underway.”
“We know our Indian reservations were the government’s first attempt at detention centers. We were placed here because we were prisoners of war. So we must ask ourselves why we would ever participate in something that mirrors the harm and trauma once done to our people.” The chairman then proceeded past that opportunity for reflection in favor of nostalgia for his Army days. What he said next increased my skepticism tenfold.
“Those who are veterans like myself understand that working with the government puts you in positions that go against your values.”
It would seem the solution then is to not work with the government. But Chairman Zeke insists.
“In the military, you have no choice. You complete the job and then you live with it. Our LLC works with the government too, but unlike the military, we can say no.”
Chairman Zeke misleads you here, minimizing the contract with ICE while framing $30 million as a bribe. Worse, he implies that backing out of the contract might cost tribe members personally.
“Saying no comes with consequences, including the potential for fewer future contracts. But our values must guide us forward,” he admits, blinking like the safety disengaged on the gun used to hold him hostage. “We do so with integrity and the intent to heal. Scorn and ridicule online helps no one. Speculation is the enemy of the truth.”
Indeed it is, Mr. Rupnick.
What’s next?
“As a sovereign Nation, our values guide the decisions we make, and we acknowledge that this contract does not align with our principles.”(December 9th) Undefined “values” and “principles” aside, sovereignty is a big word, and misunderstanding it fosters a vagueness that shelters nefarious dealings. Sovereignty is a nation’s ability to freely govern itself and its people. Here it is in a sentence: By using tribal resources, Wamego and Woodward Jr. abuse Potawatomi sovereignty to further the US government’s age-old removal campaign.
I am saddened, furious, afraid for the future of my tribe. One thing I am not is surprised. There is no reason to think anyone who, abject in our society, wouldn’t want somebody stationed underneath them—and there’s no reason to believe Native people are exempt. The worst among those involved in this deal are the tribal councilmembers who knew and did not stop it. We may never learn the names every person involved in pushing this contract forward. At least two served the military. But our ancestors see everything.
Prairie Band LLC, terminate the contract now. Take your slap on the wrists; you deserve that and then some. Then, please quietly resign. You're done representing us.
