Fish in the Lakes, Wild Rice, and Game in Abundance
Testimony on Behalf of Mille Lacs Ojibwe Hunting and Fishing Rights
Publication Year: 2000
On 13 August 1990 members of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe filed a lawsuit against the State of Minnesota for interfering with the hunting, fishing, and gathering rights that had been guaranteed to them in an 1837 treaty with the United States. In order to interpret the treaty the courts had to consider historical circumstances, the intentions of the parties, and the treaty's implementation. The Mille Lacs Band faced a mammoth challenge. How does one argue the Native side of the case when all historical documentation was written by non- Natives? The Mille Lacs selected six scholars to testify for them. Published here for the first time, Charles Cleland, James McClurken, Helen Tanner, John Nichols, Thomas Lund, and Bruce White discuss the circumstances under which the treaty was written, the personalities involved in the negotiations and the legal rhetoric of the times, as well as analyze related legal conflicts between Natives and non- Natives. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the 1999 Opinion of the [United States Supreme] Court.
Published by: Michigan State University Press
Cover
Title Page, Copyright
Contents
Foreword
Download PDF (221.0 KB)
pp. vii-x
THE SIX REPORTS COLLECTED IN THIS VOLUME HAVE THEIR ORIGIN IN A LAWSUIT FILED by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians. The Band sued the State of Minnesota to stop it from interfering with hunting, fishing and gathering rights that were guaranteed in an 1837 Treaty between Ojibwe Bands and the United States. In that treaty. the Ojibwe ceded nearly 14 million acres to the United States. Article 5 of the treaty contains this promise: ...
Preliminary Report of the Ethnohistorical Basis of the Hunting, Fishing, and Gathering Rights of the Mille Lacs Chippewa
Download PDF (11.5 MB)
pp. 1-140
THIS REPORT WAS PREPARED IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DISPUTE WHICH HAS ARISEN between the Mille Lacs Chippewa and the State of Minnesota concerning the historical basis for Chippewa rights to make use of natural resources from the territory ceded by the Treaty of 1837. My opinion on the cultural and historical questions, which will be of concern to the court in resolving this dispute, was solicited by the Mille Lacs Chippewa. ...
The Regional Context of the Removal Order of 1850
Download PDF (15.6 MB)
pp. 141-328
On February 6, 1850, President Zachary Taylor issued and executive order addressed to Secretary of Interior Thomas Ewing. The order which is sometimes referred to as the Removal Order of 1850. contained the following wording:1 . . . The privileges granted temporarily to the Chippewa Indians of the Mississippi. by the Fifth ...
The 1837 Treaty of St. Peters Preserving the Rights of the Mille Lacs Ojibwa to Hunt, Fish, and Gather: The Effect of Treaties and Agreements since 1855
Download PDF (10.5 MB)
pp. 329-462
Legal counsel for the Mille Lacs Ojibwas of Minnesota requested that I prepare this report discussing the band's understanding about federal treaties and agreements with them since 1855. The report examines the impact of these documents upon Ojibwas' hunting, fishing, and gathering rights reserved under the 1837 Treaty of St. Peters, ...
Supporting Testimony
Download PDF (47.7 KB)
pp. 463-464
The Mille Lacs Band and the Treaty of 1855
Download PDF (1.8 MB)
pp. 465-485
This report concerns the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe whose reservation headquarters is located at Onamia, Mille Lacs County; Minnesota. The Mille Lacs band was represented at negotiations with the federal government for the following treaties: (1) Treaty of Prairie du Chien, August 19, 1825;1 (2) Treaty of St. Peters, July 29, 1837;2 (3) ...
The 1837 and 1855 Chippewa Treaties in the Context of Early American Wildlife Law
Download PDF (2.3 MB)
pp. 486-513
In 1837 the Mille Lacs band of Chippewa Indians was party to a treaty with the United States which contained the following provisions: . . . Article 1. The said Chippewa nation cede to the United States all that tract of country included within the following boundaries: ... Article 5. The privilege of hunting and fishing, and gathering the wild rice, upon the ...
The Translation of Key Phrases in the Treaties of 1837 and 1855
Download PDF (896.8 KB)
pp. 514-525
In connection with this litigation, I was asked to examine the English language texts of the Treaties of 1837 and 1855, especially certain passages dealing with hunting, fishing, and gathering and with the relinquishment of right, title, and interest to certain lands, to determine how key phrases might have been translated into Ojibwe by ...
Opinion of the Court
Download PDF (1.8 MB)
pp. 525-546
In 1837, the United States entered into a Treaty with several Bands of Chippewa Indians. Under the terms of this Treaty, the Indians ceded land in present-day Wisconsin and Minnesota to the United States, and the United States guaranteed to the Indians certain hunting, fishing, and gathering rights on the ceded land. We must decide whether ...
Index
Download PDF (2.3 MB)
pp. 547-572
E-ISBN-13: 9781609171551
Print-ISBN-13: 9780870134920
Page Count: 572
Publication Year: 2000
