The 2018 Annual Report for the Foundation for Excellence is now available here. 

The warming temperatures and rain showers of spring also mark the beginning of mowing season. Residents and property owners are reminded of their responsibilities to maintain grass and prevent the spread of noxious weeds before enforcement of ordinances related to tall grass and weeds begins on Wednesday, May 1.

A new city ordinance, effective April 25, requires property owners to keep grass maintained below 8 inches (previously the requirement was 12 inches), and requires the eradication of noxious weeds, such as poison ivy, poison oak, or ragweed. This includes grass and weeds in the public curb lawn area in front of properties.

Properties in violation will be assessed a fine of $127 and provided 10 days to correct the violation. If the issue is not addressed within the 10-day period, the property will be mowed on the owner’s behalf. The owner will then be billed to recover the cost of the mowing.

The fine for each offense increases from $127 for the first offense, to $277 for the fourth and subsequent offenses. Each time grass exceeds 8 inches will be considered a new violation. Residents and property owners are strongly encouraged to monitor and maintain their properties proactively to avoid fines, prevent the spread of noxious weeds, and keep Kalamazoo’s neighborhoods well-maintained and inviting.

Residents may report properties that are in violation the city’s tall grass and weed ordinance by calling the 24-hour Weeds & Grass hotline at (269) 337-8847 after May 1. 

Installation of new street signs identifying the original boundaries of the 19^th century Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Pottawatomi reservation will be commemorated with the unveiling of the new sign at the intersection of Riverview Drive and Paterson Street at noon on Monday, April 22. Representatives of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, the City of Kalamazoo, and local officials will gather as the first of the new signs is uncovered.

The reservation signs will identify the area set aside for Chief Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish’ s Pottawatomi in 1821 but reclaimed by the U.S. government in 1827. The reservation covers nine square miles and includes Whites Road and Paterson Street as well as portions of Portage Street and Stadium Drive. Signs will also be placed at reservation boundary locations at intersections on Burdick, Bronson Boulevard, Douglas, Howard, Lake, Lovers Lane, Michigan Avenue, Miller Road, Nichols Road, Parkview Avenue, Stockbridge, Vine, West Main, Westnedge, and Winchell Avenue.

A map of all locations is available here. A map showing the boundaries of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Pottawatomi reservation is available here.

The signs were designed by the Kalamazoo Reservation Public Education Committee, which is made up of members from the Tribal Council of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, or Gun Lake Tribe; representatives of the City of Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Community Foundation, Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, the Kalamazoo Valley Museum; and community volunteers. The signs include the logo of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians and identify the location as the boundary.

About the Kalamazoo Reservation Public Education Committee

The mission of the committee is to build accurate and factual community awareness of the Gun Lake Tribe past and present. The committee grew out of the earlier Iannelli Fountain Issues Resolution Committee and ensuing Public Education workgroup for the city’s Historic Preservation Commission’s Bronson Park Committee. To support or learn more about the project contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

About the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, also known as the Gun Lake Tribe

The Pottawatomi Tribe were Kalamazoo’s “first people,” and Chief Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish led a thriving community. Their village and gardens were along the Kalamazoo River before European settlers arrived in this area.

They, and all other Indian tribes in today’s United States, had existed as sovereign nations long before Europeans arrived in North America.

The term, “sovereign nation” is significant because it recognizes that tribes had their own forms of government with established laws and rules, defined in their own words and stories, and later in their written documents.

Even before the American Revolution, squatters had begun moving into territories reserved for Indians, and land companies were sending scouts to identify favorable locations, including those in the Great Lakes area.

After the Revolution, the new United States government made treaties with many tribes, including the Pottawatomi. In exchange for vast areas of their land, the U.S. promised that the tribes would keep their sovereignty and govern themselves within the United States.

The U.S. Government did not honor its treaties and forced many Indians to move far away from their homes in order to sell the land to European-Americans.

The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish successfully resisted the U.S. government’s efforts to remove them to northern Indiana in 1827, and to relocate them east of the Mississippi to what is now Kansas in the1840s. During this period, the Band moved north in an effort to avoid forced removal, and by 1838 they had established a permanent settlement in Bradley, Michigan, near Gun Lake.