Wisconsin Walleye War
Encyclopedia
Civil unrest erupted in Wisconsin
after U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb handed down a ruling on August 21, 1987 that affirmed the treaty right of six Ojibwe or Chippewa tribal governments to regulate their members' hunting and fishing outside of the reservation boundaries, based on the treaties of 1837
and 1842
. The events were chronicled in at least two books, the film Lighting the Seventh Fire, and in a Mother Jones article.
judge convicted them of poaching.
Lac Courte Oreilles joined the legal fight on behalf of the two tribal members. The case made its way to the United States Supreme Court, which declined to hear the state's argument that a lower court ruling upholding the treaty rights should be reversed. After the highest court refused to reverse the Seventh Court of Appeals
' decision upholding the rights, five other Chippewa bands joined Lac Courte Oreilles' legal action. The Seventh Circuit sent the case back to U.S. District Court with instructions to determine the scope of the treaty rights
and to resolve conflicts surrounding how the off-reservation resource harvests should be regulated.
In settling questions about regulation of off-reservation hunting and fishing, Crabb ruled the state could intervene to protect natural resources, but that tribes first had the right to establish their own regulatory system, if they showed the court their system was as protective of the resource as was the state's system. After detailed scientific testimony, Crabb approved a natural resource code adopted by the six tribal governments, which allowed members to harvest walleye and other fish using traditional methods during the spawning season, when lakes are closed to state-licensed anglers.
, Wisconsin
rallied at Butternut Lake, where a band of fishers led by former Lac du Flambeau judge and council member Tom Maulson (later featured in the article in Mother Jones) led a fishing expedition. The crowd pressed against the fishers, the tribal wardens and the few state game wardens who were there, pushing them toward the water. Local police declined to render mutual aid and the standoff lasted until a convoy of more neutral officers raced from Superior
, Wisconsin
, almost 100 miles (160 km) distant, and fought their way through the crowd to rescue the fishers and game wardens.
The 1989 fishing season started with the vivid memory of April, 1988 fresh in the minds of fishers, public officials, anti-treaty protesters and residents of northern Wisconsin in general. Thompson, a Republican governor, ordered the emergency government task force to keep the peace, but a Republican Party leader encouraged party members to support or even join the protests. Dressed in riot gear, police more accustomed to breaking up fights at Milwaukee sporting events stood shoulder to shoulder, often three deep, with sticks and shields ready to stop the crowd if they pressed past snow fence
s hastily erected for crowd control.
The unrest after Crabb's 1987 decision escalated enough that Governor Tommy Thompson
mobilized the state's Division of Emergency Government to form a Treaty Rights Task Force. During the spring walleye
spawning seasons of 1989, 1990 and 1991 the task force deployed hundreds of police officers from around the state to help local sheriffs maintain order at lakes where Chippewa members began exercising their newly-recognized rights. Hundreds of protesters lined boat landings to make their case that tribal members enjoyed "special rights" under Crabb's decision. Shouting slogans such as "timber niggers" and sometimes throwing rocks at tribal fishers and at the officials assigned to protect them, many of the protesters attempted to physically stop the tribal fishing. Protesters launched boats and circled the tribal fishers at high speed on the water, attempting to upend the tribal fishers who stood in their boats to spear fish under lamp-light. Others participated in mass arrests, at least one of which degraded into a melee when police moved to seize sound amplification devices from protest leaders.
Pro-treaty groups organized as the Midwest Treaty Network in 1989 in support of the Ojibwe fishing families. Activists from southern Wisconsin cities and from the Twin Cities of Minnesota
trained witnesses to document the anti-Indian harassment and violence at the boat landings, and issued Witness for Nonviolence Reports in 1990 and 1991. Convoys of activists from the American Indian Movement
in Minneapolis also joined the protests, bringing Native drums to sound above the din of emergency power generators and protesters' chants.
attacks. Also, in 1991, newly-elected Attorney General James Doyle
reached an agreement with the six tribes in which neither the state nor the Chippewa would further appeal the federal court rulings. The state legislature also passed a hunters' protection law, and a law requiring schools statewide to include information about local tribes in history and geography curricula. Later in the 1990s, some of the white sportfishing groups that had opposed Native American fishing rights came together with northern Wisconsin tribes to protect the fish from plans for metallic sulfide mining, particularly the Crandon mine.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
after U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb handed down a ruling on August 21, 1987 that affirmed the treaty right of six Ojibwe or Chippewa tribal governments to regulate their members' hunting and fishing outside of the reservation boundaries, based on the treaties of 1837
Treaty of St. Peters
Treaty of St. Peters may be one of two treaties conducted between the United States and Native American peoples, conducted at the confluence of the Minnesota River with the Mississippi River, in what today is Mendota, Minnesota....
and 1842
Treaty of La Pointe
The Treaty of La Pointe may refer to either of two treaties made and signed in La Pointe, Wisconsin between the United States and the Ojibwe Native American peoples...
. The events were chronicled in at least two books, the film Lighting the Seventh Fire, and in a Mother Jones article.
Background
The conflict started almost two decades earlier when two members of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of the Ojibwe Nation crossed a reservation boundary that divided Big Round Lake, cut a hole in the ice and harvested fish with spears, contrary to Wisconsin state laws. In a class taught by attorney Larry Leventhal, the members had learned their band held by treaty an unresolved claim to off-reservation hunting and fishing rights in the northern part of the state. The members were arrested and a Sawyer CountySawyer County, Wisconsin
Sawyer County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 16,196. Its county seat is Hayward.-History:The county is named for Philetus Sawyer, who represented Wisconsin in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate in the 19th century.-Geography:According to...
judge convicted them of poaching.
Lac Courte Oreilles joined the legal fight on behalf of the two tribal members. The case made its way to the United States Supreme Court, which declined to hear the state's argument that a lower court ruling upholding the treaty rights should be reversed. After the highest court refused to reverse the Seventh Court of Appeals
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts:* Central District of Illinois* Northern District of Illinois...
' decision upholding the rights, five other Chippewa bands joined Lac Courte Oreilles' legal action. The Seventh Circuit sent the case back to U.S. District Court with instructions to determine the scope of the treaty rights
Tribal sovereignty
Tribal sovereignty in the United States refers to the inherent authority of indigenous tribes to govern themselves within the borders of the United States of America. The federal government recognizes tribal nations as "domestic dependent nations" and has established a number of laws attempting to...
and to resolve conflicts surrounding how the off-reservation resource harvests should be regulated.
In settling questions about regulation of off-reservation hunting and fishing, Crabb ruled the state could intervene to protect natural resources, but that tribes first had the right to establish their own regulatory system, if they showed the court their system was as protective of the resource as was the state's system. After detailed scientific testimony, Crabb approved a natural resource code adopted by the six tribal governments, which allowed members to harvest walleye and other fish using traditional methods during the spawning season, when lakes are closed to state-licensed anglers.
Conflict
The spring spearfishing season started somewhat peacefully in 1988, but in late April, residents and visitors of Park FallsPark Falls, Wisconsin
Park Falls is a city in Price County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,793 at the 2000 census. Located in the woods of north central Wisconsin, primarily the Chequamegon National Forest, Park Falls is a small community divided by the North Fork of the Flambeau River, a popular...
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
rallied at Butternut Lake, where a band of fishers led by former Lac du Flambeau judge and council member Tom Maulson (later featured in the article in Mother Jones) led a fishing expedition. The crowd pressed against the fishers, the tribal wardens and the few state game wardens who were there, pushing them toward the water. Local police declined to render mutual aid and the standoff lasted until a convoy of more neutral officers raced from Superior
Superior, Wisconsin
Superior is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 26,960 at the 2010 census. Located at the junction of U.S. Highways 2 and 53, it is north of and adjacent to both the Village of Superior and the Town of Superior.Superior is at the western...
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, almost 100 miles (160 km) distant, and fought their way through the crowd to rescue the fishers and game wardens.
The 1989 fishing season started with the vivid memory of April, 1988 fresh in the minds of fishers, public officials, anti-treaty protesters and residents of northern Wisconsin in general. Thompson, a Republican governor, ordered the emergency government task force to keep the peace, but a Republican Party leader encouraged party members to support or even join the protests. Dressed in riot gear, police more accustomed to breaking up fights at Milwaukee sporting events stood shoulder to shoulder, often three deep, with sticks and shields ready to stop the crowd if they pressed past snow fence
Snow fence
A snow fence is a structure, similar to a sand fence, that forces drifting snow to accumulate in a desired place. They are primarily employed to minimize the amount of snowdrift on roadways and railways. Farmers and ranchers may use temporary snow fences to create large drifts in basins for a...
s hastily erected for crowd control.
The unrest after Crabb's 1987 decision escalated enough that Governor Tommy Thompson
Tommy Thompson
Thomas George "Tommy" Thompson , a United States Republican politician, was the 42nd Governor of Wisconsin, after which he served as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. Thompson was a candidate for the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, but dropped out early after a poor performance in polls...
mobilized the state's Division of Emergency Government to form a Treaty Rights Task Force. During the spring walleye
Walleye
Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...
spawning seasons of 1989, 1990 and 1991 the task force deployed hundreds of police officers from around the state to help local sheriffs maintain order at lakes where Chippewa members began exercising their newly-recognized rights. Hundreds of protesters lined boat landings to make their case that tribal members enjoyed "special rights" under Crabb's decision. Shouting slogans such as "timber niggers" and sometimes throwing rocks at tribal fishers and at the officials assigned to protect them, many of the protesters attempted to physically stop the tribal fishing. Protesters launched boats and circled the tribal fishers at high speed on the water, attempting to upend the tribal fishers who stood in their boats to spear fish under lamp-light. Others participated in mass arrests, at least one of which degraded into a melee when police moved to seize sound amplification devices from protest leaders.
Pro-treaty groups organized as the Midwest Treaty Network in 1989 in support of the Ojibwe fishing families. Activists from southern Wisconsin cities and from the Twin Cities of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
trained witnesses to document the anti-Indian harassment and violence at the boat landings, and issued Witness for Nonviolence Reports in 1990 and 1991. Convoys of activists from the American Indian Movement
American Indian Movement
The American Indian Movement is a Native American activist organization in the United States, founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota by urban Native Americans. The national AIM agenda focuses on spirituality, leadership, and sovereignty...
in Minneapolis also joined the protests, bringing Native drums to sound above the din of emergency power generators and protesters' chants.
Resolution
Protests subsided in 1991 as a result of developments on several fronts. Judge Crabb issued an injunction against the "Stop Treaty Abuse" group for physically harassing and blocking the exercise of treaty rights by the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe. (Lac Courte Oreilles had not been the target of any protests, primarily because of long-standing social relationships between tribal leaders and local resort owners.) Biological data from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission had shown that the Ojibwe speared only 3 percent of the walleye in treaty-ceded territory. Protest leaders had lost considerable prestige by reports of racially motivated chants, gunshots, an occasional pipe bomb and frequent rock throwing and slingshotSlingshot
A slingshot, shanghai, flip, bean shooter or catapult is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame held in the off hand, with two rubber strips attached to the uprights. The other ends of the strips lead back to a pocket which holds the projectile...
attacks. Also, in 1991, newly-elected Attorney General James Doyle
Jim Doyle
James Edward "Jim" Doyle is a Wisconsin politician and member of the Democratic Party. He was the 44th Governor of Wisconsin, serving from January 6, 2003 to January 3, 2011. He defeated incumbent Governor Scott McCallum by a margin of 45 percent to 41 percent; the Libertarian Party candidate Ed...
reached an agreement with the six tribes in which neither the state nor the Chippewa would further appeal the federal court rulings. The state legislature also passed a hunters' protection law, and a law requiring schools statewide to include information about local tribes in history and geography curricula. Later in the 1990s, some of the white sportfishing groups that had opposed Native American fishing rights came together with northern Wisconsin tribes to protect the fish from plans for metallic sulfide mining, particularly the Crandon mine.
External links
- Chippewa Treaty Rights: History and Management in Minnesota and Wisconsin
- http://www.wnrmag.com/supps/1999/oct99/caught.htm
- Midwest Treaty Network http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/content.html