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† Preface My brother Glen graduated from Ripon College with Nick Van Der Puy in 1975. By the late 1970s they had both come to live within a few miles of each other in Eagle River, Wisconsin, forty miles east of Lac du Flambeau. Nick drew me into the spearfishing conflict as a supporter in 1988 and 1989. In the spring of 1989, while standing in solidarity with spearing families on the boat landings, I decided to undertake an ethnographic study of what was unfolding, having returned to graduate school the previous fall. I made seven trips to Lac du Flambeau and other Indian communities in northern Wisconsin between mid-April and mid-July of that year. I lived at Lac du Flambeau for seven months from February to September of 1991, doing fieldwork on the cultural dimensions of a con- flict that was at that point largely over. I began my work by informing Mike Allen, then tribal chairman, of my interest, giving him a copy of my dissertation proposal. As we had become somewhat acquainted during the spearing season of 1989, he agreed that such a study would be worthwhile. I then sought out Tom Maulson, Nick Hockings, Scott Smith, and Gilbert Chapman—whom I had also met in 1989—told them of my interest, provided them with copies of my first published work so they could understand my goals (Nesper 1989b), and secured their support. As I met more of the people who appear in this book, I told them of my interest and intentions. The stories and accounts in the text are their recollections. Accounts that are not specifically identi fied with tribal members are my own perceptions and memories of events. I had a great many breakfasts in the Outpost Cafe talking with spearers. In the afternoons, I visited Family Circles, one of the tribal social program offices that sought to involve tribal members more deeply in their culture. It was there that I spoke with Ernie St. Germaine , who would soon become the band’s chief judge. I also attended language classes, ceremonies, public events, and meetings, which led xii Preface to visits with people in their homes. In addition, while my wife, Julie, worked as a home health nurse, I worked as a part-time substitute teacher a day or two a week from February to June in both the elementary school on the reservation and at the high school in Minocqua. Since 1991 I have returned to Flambeau for numerous visits that now, collectively, exceed my original period of research in 1991. Though it could be said that I conducted informal interviews at Lac du Flambeau over the last twelve years, I prefer to think of them as organic conversations indicative of deepening relationships with people , a number of whom have become my friends. on terms I use the native term ‘‘Flambeau’’ throughout this book. It is the most common reference used on the reservation and is accented on the first syllable, like ‘‘Rambo,’’ with which it rhymes. The name Lac du Flambeau is said to have originated with the French as a reference to the local natives’ use of torches while hunting or fishing on the lakes (Warren 1984:192). Today, Ojibwe people say that Lac du Flambeau is French for the Anishinaabemowin term ‘‘Waswaaganing,’’ meaning ‘‘Torch Lake.’’ By the time the indigenous people dwelling in the area of these lakes were named by the French after their practice of hunting and fishing at night, they were known by others and to themselves as a kind of ‘‘Ojibwe.’’ There are at least three different understandings of the origin of the term ‘‘Ojibwe,’’ two that imply relations with non-Ojibwes. According to Warren (1984:35–37), the preeminent nineteenth-century mixed-blood ethnohistorian of the Ojibwes, the name either refers to the moccasin that they wore or to their practice of roasting captives. He noted that ‘‘the name does not date that far back.’’ Hickerson (1962:78) suggests and Schenk (1997) argues at length that ‘‘Ojibwe’’ derives chiefly from the Crane clan as the morphology suggests the sound of the Crane’s voice as expressed in Anishinaabemowin . The term ‘‘Chippewa’’ is the American version of ‘‘Ojibwe’’ and is used in most official relations between the United States and these people. My occasional use of it will be in contexts where officials or agents of the United States play an important role in defining the particular...

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