Contemporary American Indian History

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 16.01.08

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction
  2. Rationale
  3. Objectives
  4. Government Policies and Native Relations in the 20th and 21st Century
  5. History of the Menominee Tribe
  6. Classroom Activities and Implementation
  7. Annotated Student Resource and Reading Bibliography
  8. Endnotes
  9. Bibliography

The Menominee Journey to Self Determination

Ashley Pate

Published September 2016

Tools for this Unit:

History of the Menominee Tribe

The Menominee tribe is considered the oldest continuous residents of Wisconsin.10 The tribe settled on their current reservation after their Treaty of 1854 secured their lands in this region. The Menominee’s aboriginal land was over ten million acres, but after four treaties and multiple laws that effected Native peoples, the tribe lost a great deal of land. Today, the reservation spans still over 230,000 acres. The heavily forested area is surrounded by natural resources of timber, lumber, and rivers that they utilize for hunting, fishing and wild rice. The Menominee’s rich history and legacy of self-sufficiency caused the government to see them as the ideal candidates to the Termination Act of 1954. Though termination caused devastating effects, the Menominee tribe was able to collectively exercise their rights to end termination, achieve restoration and reestablish themselves as a sovereign nation.

The way of life of the Menominee people is admirable in many ways. They cultivated a strong sense of community and established an equally strong political voice. The tribe flourishes on its homeland by upholding values of a sustainable lifestyle, priding themselves on only taking enough when utilizing their natural resources.11 They illustrate communal values and compassion by sharing resources with neighboring tribes when necessary. As it relates to making major decisions for the tribe, especially concerning the United States government, Menominee leaders are dedicated to neglecting selfish ambitions in an effort to operate in the best interest of the tribe. Thus, major decisions that affect the entire tribe are decided as a community. 12 These practices are major factors that aided the Menominee in cultivating strong tribal leaders that kept the tribe’s legacy, longevity and well-being top priorities at all times.

When the United States government enacted the Allotment Act, the Menominee tribe was not affected because they were viewed as self-sufficient. The Menominee established a logging mill which created many jobs for the tribe, though most of the employees were non Tribal members. In some instances, the number of workers exceeded the number of actual jobs, but the Menominee were more concerned with tribal members being employed than they were about an efficient business model or profit. Similarly, the tribe owned and operated three nonprofit power plants which provided free electricity for all tribal members.13 They outlasted contention and multiple governmental policy changes because they knew how to navigate the political system. The Menominee people have developed a long standing legacy of petitioning Congress that dates back to the mid-nineteenth century. Often times, the tribe sent representatives directly to Washington, DC to lobby Congressional leaders.14 While some efforts were more successful than others, the tribe consistently strived to build connections and relationships with legislators in an effort to best serve the interest of the tribe.15 At the same rate,  they were not resistant to suing and accusing the government of any wrongdoing anytime legislative acts threatened to interrupt or reduce their quality of life. 16 In fact, the passing of the Indian Reorganization Act provided the tribe the right to view past financial decisions the Bureau of Indian Affairs made on behalf of the tribe. The tribe sued the Bureau for mismanaging their tribal funds accumulated from their lumber industries in 1934, and in 195117 the tribe was awarded 8.5 million dollars.18 Historian, Patty Loew, argues that this settlement was the catalyst for the government to enforce termination on the Menominee tribe.19

The Menominee were seen as prime candidates for termination for a number of reasons. Unlike most tribes, Menominee land was not affected by the Allotment Act. When the Termination policy was enacted, the tribe only relied on the federal funding to handle costs for a school that only a quarter of the children in their population attended. To make its case, the government considered that the tribe had over 10,000,000 dollars in its treasury, and financially supported two schools, a Catholic hospital, a lumber mill and a nonprofit utility company. In addition, the tribe paid for the Bureau of Indian Affairs positions that served the tribe.20 Some interpreted the policy to mean that tribes were still entitled to the rights established in their treaties and their positions as sovereign entities, though others, like Utah Senator Arthur Watkins, saw it as the tribal members being emancipated from reservation life and another effort to assimilate tribal members. Some government officials saw the way of life of Menominee to reflect communistic ideals.

In 1954, Senator Watkins visited the tribe located five hours north of Chicago to discuss the termination policy. He was required to take a vote on the termination policy before it could take effect. The results showed that the tribe overwhelmingly voted in support of termination. At the same time, however, only six percent of tribal members were present at this meeting. Many Menominee people disputed reports that they favored termination and claimed that tribal members present did not understand the verbiage and potential outcomes of this complicated plan. Within five days of Watkins’ visit, the tribe reassembled and deeply unpacked the terms of this policy. Once the tribe gained a better understanding of the terms of the Termination Act,  they expressed their discontent and lack of support for the policy, but considering that the Senate strongly supported termination policies during this time, the termination policy passed.21 Even though the tribe did not initiate this plan and overwhelmingly opposed the policy, they were responsible for paying for expensive legal counsel to create a termination plan.

Originally, termination was set to happen in 1954, yet the Menominee successfully postponed implementation until 1961.22 According to legislators, the termination policy entailed the withdrawal of federal supervision and support from tribes they deemed self-sufficient. Contradictory to the goals of termination, the tribe’s dependence on social service programs, government insistence and nearby counties increased.23 The Menominee Enterprise Incorporation(MEI) poorly managed the industries on the Menominee reservation, which increased dissatisfaction amongst tribal members. To say the least, the MEI did not operate in the best interest of the tribe and brought about many changes on the reservation. Originally, tribal members practiced communal values and did not impose taxes on tribal members or require them to purchase land. Immediately, MEI charged taxes on the land. People who wanted to build on property now had to pay for it, and it even considered selling portions of Menominee land to outsiders in the Legacy Lake project reserved for people looking to buy vacation homes.24 When state jurisdiction took effect, the tribe realized they would have to incur over 40,000 dollars in renovations to their power plants to meet state regulations and consequently they have to charge high rates for tribal members to use electricity in their homes.25 As a result, the tribe felt it was in their best interest to sell the power plants to the Wisconsin Power and Light Company. When tribal members still could not afford the electric bills, many of them lost this luxury and were relegated to using kerosene lamps in their homes instead.  Though they began with over ten million in their tribal treasury, by the third year of termination only 300,000 thousand dollars remained and by the end of termination the tribe operated at a yearly deficit of over 200,000 dollars. 26

The devastating impact of termination happened quickly. The unemployment rate doubled. Many Menominee applied for federal welfare assistance, but were denied services because they owned shares in Menominee industry. In order to qualify for welfare, tribal members had to sell their shares to the Wisconsin government which caused the government to gain over a million dollars in bonds.27  There were no school buildings, buses, hospital facilities or road maintenance.28 To fulfill these duties, the Menominee had to outsource many of these services to a nearby Shawano County. The downside to this arrangement was that the Menominee had no voice or rights in Shawano County politics, thus when racial tensions and unfair practices ensued their expressed grievances were ignored.  The lack of health care facilities and proper education, resulted in an increase in diseases.29 In addition, the BIA voted the shares of those they deemed incompetent based on English proficiency or refusal to conform to American ideals. MEI voting trust leaders voted their preference for minors who could not vote. Not to mention, there was little Menominee representation on the voting trust. This caused Menominee leaders to speed into action; as a result, Determination of Rights and Unity for Menominee Shareholders (DRUMS) was born in 1970.

DRUMS, started by Menominee member Ada Deer, was an activist group that championed for Menominee rights and fought to remove termination policies. Deer attended the University of Wisconsin, becoming the first Menominee member to earn a bachelor’s degree. Later in her career, she served as the Secretary of the Interior under the Clinton administration. DRUMS demonstrations were highly effective and eventually garnered local support from Wisconsin governor, Patrick Lucy. In addition, they encouraged the need to establish a financial structure for the tribe. From an activist standpoint, DRUMS planned public protests where they marched 221 miles to their state capitol to show their disapproval of the Legacy Lake project.30  They worked to educate the tribe about the its relationship with MEI and the voting trust. They convinced tribal members to allow DRUMS to serve as proxies and vote their shares in the trust. The goal here was to increase the number of Menominee members on the voting trust. This plan was successful and a special election which resulted in Ada Deer as the head of the voting trust. At this time, the goal of MEI shifted to ending termination. All the while, Ada Deer spoke to legislators about ending termination in Washington, DC. Deer was told that it would take about twenty years for the law to reversed, but luckily, termination ended in 1971 which activated the restoration process.

Once the Menominee Restoration Act was passed in 1973, the tribe began trying to restore their tribal identity and status. The first thing on the agenda was to dismantle the MEI and institute the Menominee Restoration Committee (MRC). There were 45 candidates on the ballot to lead the MRC, and though there was reluctance surrounding choosing a woman, Ada Deer was chosen as the chair. Immediately, the MRC was tasked with creating a constitution and bylaws for the tribe. In addition, they reinstated the tribal roll and restored all the rights and privileges of the tribe and its members. They fought to restore tribal sovereignty when handling legal and criminal issues instead of the state. Tribal members complained of racial prejudice and police brutality from local law enforcement. Tribal concerns toward law enforcement was heightened in February 1976 when Sheriff Fish shot and killed two tribal members, who he claimed they tried to arrest peacefully. This incident fueled tribal members to protest and petition Governor Lucey to suspend Fish and turn tribal jurisdiction back over to the United Sates. The tribe was able to prosecute the way they saw fit within a month. Once the governing documents were created, then ratified and approved in 1976, Deer stepped down as the chair of the MRC. A special election was instituted and by 1979, a nine member legislative body was established with Gordon Dickie Jr as the first chair of the Menominee tribe.

Restoration policies ushered in a resurgence in tribal economy, language and education. The Menominee got to work rebuilding infrastructure on tribal lands which resulted in the creation of an elderly housing facility in 1980, an elementary school in Neopit and a sixth-through-twelfth-grade facility in Keshena and a million-dollar renovation to their tribal clinic. In addition, gaming facilities were introduced causing a 16% decrease to the unemployment rate. The Menominee language and Culture Code was created to revitalize the Menominee language in schools and the College of the Menominee Nation was established in 1993 and accredited in 1998. These efforts demonstrate concerted efforts by tribal members to retain their sovereign status and make sound decisions to establish the longevity of the tribe. Finally, in 1998 the tribe sued the United States government for the damaging effects they incurred as a result of termination policies. The government, under the Clinton administration issued $17 million to the Menominee in reparations.

Despite the growth and positive occurrences, the Menominee endured racial tension from US citizens in neighboring towns. In the 1980s, local fisherman harassed Menominee spear fishermen as local news irresponsibly misreported on Menominee fishing rights. Fisherman created racially inappropriate signs and threw rocks at tribesmen. While the Menominee fished for survival, locals fished for sport yet they were enraged that the tribesmen could spear fish in the off seasons. They feared Menominee would get all of the fish. However, studies showed tribesmen actually brought home less fish than the locals and their practices were strategically planned to mostly catch male fish so that female fish were still able to lay eggs.31 The state of Wisconsin tried to limit the Menominee fishing rights, but the tribe successfully sued referencing the rights established in their treaty. When the state tried to push back that though their treaties did not explicitly grant fishing as one of their rights, the Supreme Court found that it was an implied right as the actual treaty states they their land is to be “held as Indian lands are held,” ultimately leading to a Menominee victory.32 Again in 1995, Menominee won a case enforcing their treaty rights. US District Judge Barbara Crab argued that Menominee treaty rights were given up when they ceded land to government as the treaty read that tribal members “…can hunt and fish on ceded land until ceded land was surveyed and offered for sale by the president.”33The tribe argued that at the time of the treaty, there were no Menominee words to express the terms survey or offer for sale, thus their ancestors understood it to mean that they were allowed to hunt and fish whenever necessary; ultimately, the Menominee won this case as well.

In an effort to reduce racial tensions and ensure that Wisconsin was no longer considered the “Mississippi of the North,” the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction enacted Act 31 which mandates the teaching of history, culture and sovereignty of American Indian tribes in Wisconsin.34 Act 31 has its loopholes, but is another testament of the sovereignty of and strides made by the Menominee tribe to ensure that the rights they were guaranteed are enacted properly. The success of the Menominee tribe’s plight to self-determination is highlighted by their casino, bingo and hotel complex that allowed them to build tribal schools, and even the College of the Menominee Nation and is known as one of the most beautiful forests on earth. Today, tribal members are working to revitalize the Menominee language as it is seen as an extremely endangered language, like many Native languages in the United States.

Ultimately, I want my students to explore the intricacies of Menominee culture and survival because it is a true and little known story of what can happen when people come together to stand against injustices.

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