"Gaylord Nelson at the Apostle Islands," 1967, Wisconsin Historical Society
The Apostle Islands
In the mid-17th century, before Europeans arrived in the Apostle Islands, they were home to the Ojibwe. Ojibwe hunted, fished, and lived freely on their sacred land. After the French and British arrived, the Ojibwe were forced into restricted areas that the U.S. Government made smaller throughout the years. In 1854, Ojibwe reservations were created along the northern Wisconsin coastline, and the Ojibwe maintained hunting and fishing rights on the islands.
"Madeline island or Moningwunakauning became the center of the Ojibwe universe. It was the center of our economic system, it was where our religious center was, it was the cultural center for the Ojibwe people for our ceremonies and for trade. It became really important and is why the Ojibwe people were not willing to have it part of a national lakeshore. We love lakeshores, we love parks, but we have so little left of the land that we were able to reserve for ourselves." - Professor Patty Loew, Ojibwe member, 2017, telephone interview . |
The beauty of the 21 Apostle Islands touched many hearts. Seeing the archipelago developed and logged motivated many to fight for preservation. In the 1930s, Wisconsin residents petitioned to make the islands a National Lakeshore. The National Park Service (NPS) rejected the proposal because it did not meet NPS specifications due to logging and quarrying. In the 1950s, conservationists again pushed unsuccessfully to make the islands a National Lakeshore.