Emma Lastine
Discussion Leader
Chippewa and Ottawa Treaty Rights
Abstract
Long before the arrival of white men, Indians were able to freely hunt, fish, and gather as the pleased. As the Untied States became colonized, those rights were slowly taken away. In the mid to late 1900’s, Michigan Indians set out to assert themselves, seeking “recognition of their rights at the residents of the continent before the arrival of white men.” In 1965, William Jondreau, a Chippewa from L’Anse took Michigan Indian fishing treaty rights to the courts. In this court case, Jondreau stated that he was not subject to state laws, but was able to have the right to fish under the Treaty of September 30, 1854. Although he won his case, the implications of the win remained unclear. Latter on in the People v. LeBlanc, the court ruled “present day descendants of historical Chippewa and Ottawa Bands still had fishing rights stemming form the Treaty of Washington that their ancestors signed in 1836.” However the state could limit these rights if they proved to be endangering the resource. For many years, between 1973 and 1985, it remained unclear what rules defined the fishery. Although for may of those years, Michigan Officials clamed to have rights to the fishery and that Indian fisherman were “rapping” the lakes of fish. As Indians believed themselves to be separate from state fishing laws, they used their own regulations and started fishing. They were met with much criticism from local residents, and often arrested and had their equipment confiscated.
State Officials argued that Indian gillnetting often went unregulated. However, the tribes have controlled the great lakes fishery with rules very similar to state regulations for years. But there have been many problems with getting tribal fishermen to comply with tribal regulations. There is little incentive for fishermen to follow regulations because it would limit there income. Many have found ways to bend the rules by way of fishing at night or with unmarked nets amongst other things. Conflicts between Indians and non-Indians have arisen due to this, specifically sports fishermen. They felt that “the Indians threatened their fish and economic interests.”
Throughout the mid 1970’s Indians fished all over the Great Lakes region. Once an area was fished out or catches diminished, they moved into virgin waters and were met with outrage and legal action from sports fishermen. Judge Charles Foster issued a restraining order which forbid the Indians from using gillnets in Grand Traverse Bay. Michigan DNR officials argued that the Indian’s gillnets would do away with the tourism in Grand Traverse Bay, enough so to ruin sport fishing there. In a sport fishing magazine, Ben East wrote an article criticizing the courts for a hodgepodge of rulings and that the Indians were talking all of their fish. In similar articles written by Glen Sheppard, he often, between the lines, encouraged violence. In fact in one of the articles, he published a fictional description of the murder of Judge Fox, whom gave the fisheries back to the Indians. His articles inspired many vigilantes to destroy boats and equipment of the Indians, and in some cases Indians fishing at night were being shot at. In the end treaty fishing offered an outlet for prejudices. Sportsmen viewed Indians as greedy and anti-environmentalists. Where ever there was a big sports fishery, anti-Indian sentiments flared.
Date created: June, 2002
Last modified: April, 2008
Copyright ©2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
George R. Spangler