"Old Indian Burial Ground," 1935, Wisconsin Historical Society
A Stand for Land Rights
Throughout the 1960s, the Ojibwe took a stand for their lakeshore land rights. Ojibwe sent Nelson many letters asking why Wisconsin needed more park land, stating that Wisconsin has “…twice that of any other state.” - Chippewa and Woodland Indians of Wisconsin and Citizens "Save the Indian Land" Committee, 1966, Letter to Senator Nelson on the Indian "Land Grab" Bill 24698. The Ojibwe also organized protests, including one in Milwaukee while Nelson gave an Earth Day speech.
"…as a tribe of Indians in the past have ceded large areas of land to the United States government, and what we reserve for ourselves under treaty, we aim to keep." - Albert Whitebird, Bad River, 1965, American Indians and National Parks
"At the rate the Dept. of Interior is taking our land, we won't even have burial space left in Wisconsin." - Chippewa and Woodland Indians of Wisconsin and Citizens "Save the Indian Land" Committee, 1966, Letter to Senator Nelson on the Indian "Land Grab" Bill 24698
At the House hearing in 1969, Ojibwe members testified against the Lakeshore bill's inclusion of their land. American Indians across the country called and sent telegrams to their representatives in opposition.
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"I would like to dispute the man who welcomed you to God's country. This is not God's country. It is Indian country. We already gave you everything we had -- Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota -- I do not know where you are going to push us -- out in the lake?" - Victoria Gokee, Great-great Granddaughter of Chief Buffalo, 1969, House of Representatives Hearing |
“No land held in trust by the United States for either Red Cliff or Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, or allottees thereof, shall be acquired or included within the boundaries of the lakeshore established by this act.” – Section 2 of National Lakeshore Bill, 1970, American Indians & National Parks
Impact: Land Rights Preserved
The final bill passed by Congress on September 26, 1970, did not include Ojibwe land. Today, Ojibwe live, teach, work, hunt, and fish on their land near the National Lakeshore.
Impact: National Parks Recognize Indigenous Culture
Before the Apostle Islands controversy, the NPS did not acknowledge the history of the people who lived on Lakeshore land before it existed. Many national parks have been built on American Indian reservations and sacred land. Because of the activism of Ojibwe and others, National Parks now teach about the cultural history of the land, from the Grand Canyon Havasupai to the Yellowstone Shoshone.
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"Nelson, for example, was not especially interested in the human history of the islands. Yet today, in cooperation with the local Ojibwe tribes, the NPS works to interpret the centrality of the islands to American Indians past and present. " - Bob Krumenaker, Superintendent of Apostle Islands, 2016, Wisconsin Magazine