Ceded Territory Treaty Rights

Fall 2019 Class Project

Instructions

There are 5 short videos on the class page

Watch all of the videos as background for how the Lake Superior Bands of Chippewa Indians in Wisconsin have developed fishery and wild rice management programs in the ceded territories

Pick one of the videos and create a slide that tells us what your impressions are of how the culture, tradition, and knowledge of the Bands influence their management decisions, and how this might differ from current State and Federal management decisions

Crossing the line: Tribble Brothers - William Schmidt

• The Tribble brothers were two Anishinaabe Indians who grew up ice fishing on strictly on the reservation.
• Since their upbringing, they were warned to never fish off the reservation and told the stories of how Indians received citations and got their equipment taken away for doing such a thing.
• This was the common belief of the whole tribe.
• The Tribble brothers always held this belief as truth until they attended an Indian treaties class at the college of St. Scholastica.

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Crossing the line: Tribble Brothers

• It was at this class that the Tribble brothers discovered that the treaty between the U.S. government and the Anishinaabe tribe allowed for fishing to be done on ceded land as well as the reservation.
• To test out their findings in a trial case, the brothers went fishing off the reservation and received a citation shortly after.
• After much battle in the courts, the tribe was eventually granted the rights to fish as stated in the treaty.
• Many tribe members practice this right and fish as their ancestors did to this day.

Ojibwe Spearfishing Controversy- Noelle Barber

• Hypocrisy was the key issue with the white people
• The whites accused the Ojibwe of “special rights”
• They said the Ojibwe were “raping” the fish (since they speared during the spawning times, the whites assumed they killed all females- this was simply untrue)
• The whites accused the Ojibwe of overfishing, even though the numbers proved that non-indians took way more fish
• From an outside view, it appears that the white people were just being racist
• The courts had to step in to make sure the DNR would protect the Ojibwe

Ojibwe Spearfishing Controversy- Katelyn Milbrandt

• Anti-Native American Rights Movements spread across the U.S. in attempts to strip Natives of their rights, blatantly provided within treaties
• The Ojibwe practiced Spearfishing, as it is a right to hunt, gather and fish in addition to water and mineral rights under the Native American Treaty
• This led to the accusations of ‘poaching’ which led to a class action lawsuit against the State of Wisconsin
• State officials accused of removing Native rights making its way to the U.S. Supreme Court
• 1837 and 1842 the Ojibwe ceded land to the U.S. to obtain further rights to the land
• Native American rights of the Ojibwe were continuously challenged throughout Wisconsin
• Favor was made to the original treaties

Ojibwe Spearfishing Controversy- Katelyn Milbrandt

• Due to the cultural and traditional Native knowledge of the Ojibwe, they obtained all rights to management of fishing
• 1983 Voigt Decision was made in the Federal Appeals Court that Wisconsin was under no right to regulate fishing practices on reservation, the Ojibwe was to manage this
• It was made clear that the Ojibwe were taking far less of the safe fish harvest and even re-supplying their takings
• Americans were protesting that they would take far too much, however, this appears to be a form of oppression and disrespect towards the Native Community
• The management decision might differ from current state and federal management decisions as the form of ‘co-management and state management’ where the community is within the state for regulatory purposes seems to be of use to regulate fishing practices today

Spearfishing: a living history-Raul Saenz

• The Ojibwe course of traditions comes from the experience of practicing the methods to how inter-generational practices been past down from one family member to another.
• The video highlights an important relationship of being a “contributor” to the community.
• Giving the most amount of their catch to other members of the community when they cannot provide for themselves.
• Being seen as the greatest honor for themselves.
• There is discourse that there is some degree of assimilation to the customs of American life (eg. technology and methods of catching) but it's far more important to keep the education and way of hunting to keep their identity as a culture alive.

Ojibwe Spearfishing: A Living History Shandra

• Spearfishing is part of their history and makes them feel more connected to their ancestors because they are using the same methods and tasting the same fish.
• By spearfishing, they are contributing members of their community because they give away as much fish as they can, to others that cannot or do not fish, like single mothers and elders.
• They feel like they have assimilated like the Federal Government wants them to in some ways, but they still have their own education and living history that they will continue to practice.

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Spearfishing: a living history- Ryan Davis

• Highlights the issues the Ojibwe have been presented in regards to spearfishing.
• Violent protests from outsiders
• Telling them to “go back to the reservation”
• Shows a blatant disrespect for the Ojibwe culture
• Certain lakes younger Ojibwe would not be allowed to fish, because of issues from outsiders
• Teaching the younger generation has a huge impact on keeping their culture alive.
• Never know what will happen in present times when they are out fishing.
• People on docks occasionally show disrespect. Explains he has had rocks thrown at him, people have shined lights on them, and cursed at them.
• Some people are just curious as to what they are doing, and seem very supportive of them.

Manoomin: Food That Grows on the Water

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• Method: two people in a canoe, one poling and one hitting the rice plants.
• Respect, love and gratitude for the plant
• “Every time I hit a plant, I’m saying ‘miigwetch’ - thank you.” “...and then the rice comes in for me because I am honoring and praying to that rice, giving it the respect that will keep me and my partner going.”
• “I see the rice and know that I am going to live another year.”
• Dehydrate it over a fire for storage up to 5 years
• Methods passed down through generations

Ojibwe

Ojibwe Treaty Rights: Connections to Land and Water

Ojibwe Treaty Rights: Connections to Land and Water

Ojibwe Treaty Rights: Connections to Land and Water

Manoomin: Food That Grows on the Water

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Manoomin: Food That Grows on the Water

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