It’s a homecoming that has been some 200 years in the making.

The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians has completed work on six new housing units in its tribal village on South Bend’s southwest side (3115 Locust Road).

It’s the first such village the tribe has had in the city in a couple of centuries.

“After the on slate of settlers, we kind of got dispersed with the removal act and everything, so we just kind of laid in silence a long time,” said Pokagon Chairman John P. Warren. “It’s kind of like all of us were on a shipwreck or a deserted island and then one day we're able to come back together.”

The South Bend tribal village has a total of six housing units in two buildings although the grounds are designed to hold a total of 44 housing units, a community center, and a health center.

“You could probably see 44 units at this spot. It’s going to probably be in the next decade or more, so this is just the beginning of that process,” said Chairman Warren.

“We've always been here, this is part of who we are we're just connected to it, and this connection was so strong that we needed a place to call our own,” said tribal member Deborah Williams.

Although the units are on sovereign tribal land—the new tenants will be sewer and water customers of the City of South Bend. “You know, they're again residents of the city as well as citizens of the tribe, and so while this is tribal sovereign land this is also contributing to the community. And as the community center takes shape, as they’re able to take advantage of family support services, medical services the tribe offers that strengthens the whole community because people who live in our community are better off,” said South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

The tribe has about 75 housing units in its village in Dowagiac, and about 16 more in Hartford.

“A lot of people grow up in Michigan. Some people grow up in South Bend and for some reason they don’t like crossing those state lines, so they waited for this for a long, long time,” said Chairman Warren.