Official guide to Native American communities in Wisconsin C o n t e n t s 2 Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa 5 Forest County Potawatomi Tribe 8 Ho-Chunk Nation 11 Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Native Wisconsin serves as the official guide to Native American Lake Superior Chippewa Preserving our past. Sharing our future. Communities in Wisconsin. The publication has been produced and 14 Lac du Flambeau Band of printed with funding provided in part by the Wisconsin Department of Lake Superior Chippewa Tourism and Native American Tourism of Wisconsin (NATOW). The cooperative effort is spearheaded by the NATOW Advisory Board that 17 Tips for Visiting Indian consists of representatives from all the Wisconsin Tribes. Country/Annual Events Hello! NATOW was launched as a state wide initiative in 1994 by GLITC. 18 Annual Events The focus of this project is to promote tourism featuring Native American heritage and culture. NATOW holds an annual Tourism Conference, Welcome to Wisconsin’s Native American communities. Wisconsin is home to the largest 27 Menominee Nation look for details on the website. GLITC, founded in 1965 as a non-profit corporation, serves as a consortium of Wisconsin tribes. 30 Oneida Nation number of Native American tribes east of the Mississippi River. The reservations of NATOW has grown significantly over these last few years. All 33 Red Cliff Band of efforts are coordinated by their own Tourism Development Director, these eleven sovereign nations occupy more than one half million acres of Wisconsin’s Lake Superior Chippewa and the executive board members report directly to the GLITC Board of Directors. It is this collaborative spirit that drives the initiatives most beautiful and unique landscapes: pristine lakes, rivers and streams, towering 36 Sokaogon (Mole Lake) Band of forward on a continual basis. Lake Superior Chippewa Please visit the NATOW website for listings of current events, forests and ancient wild rice beds, each teaming with an abundance of wildlife. 39 St. Croix Band of pow-wows, cultural places, gaming properties and experience all that Lake Superior Chippewa our native communities have to offer. 42 Stockbridge – Munsee www.natow.org Tribal art, traditions and culture are significant parts of both Indian and non-Indian Band of the Mohicans communities in the State, making Wisconsin a remarkable place to explore the history 45 Indian Summer Festival Native American Tourism of Wisconsin N8502 Mohheconnuck Rd. of Native American people. 48 Back Cover – Map of Wisconsin PO Box 70 Indian Reservations Bowler, WI 54416 [email protected] [email protected] Cover image by Charly Makray – Rice Design, layout - Platypus Advertising + Design Visitors to reservations are asked to respect the Mole Lake Tiny Tot Princess – natural and cultural resources. Please refrain from Gabrielle Ackley littering or damaging property. Some areas are considered sacred and are not open to the public. Contact tribal offices for more information. 1 NATIVE Wisconsin | 2010 b a d r i v e r e l d e r l y C e n T e r In August 2009 tribal elders of the Bad River Tribe celebrated the opening of their new D i D Y o u K n o W ? Tribal Elder Center. The new center is 4,200 square feet and can accommodate 180 elders. This facility was designed and constructed using many green practices in an effort to reduce the tribal carbon foot print. Some of the practices include using low emitting paint, with the sacred Manomin, which has low voc adhesives and sealants as well as The Bad River Tribe operates the sustained the tribal members through the certified wood and bamboo interior floors Raymond “Snooty” Couture hardest of times. which is a rapidly renewing material. The Fish Hatchery that stocks center includes a commercial grade kitchen There are 7,567 enrolled tribal reservation waters annually with Bad River which is necessary for the preparation of members of the Bad River Band with an average 12 million walleye 6,526 members residing off the reservation, the daily meal that is served to our elders banD of lakE Superior Chippewa including areas just outside the reservation through the Meals on Wheels program. In fry and 250,000 fingerlings. boundaries. 1,041 members live on the their new center, elders gather daily for lunch reservation, which is not to be confused and socialize during their many planned The reservation’s Kakagon River activities throughout the month. with the total number of people living and Bad River sloughs constitute within the boundaries of the reservation; the only remaining extensive as there are non-member spouses living coastal wild rice marsh in the with their tribal member families on the reservation, as well as other non-members Great Lakes Region. residing on private properties within reservation boundaries. The Bad River is one of only Ojibwemowin (Ojibwe language) is three rivers in the u.S. that has The Bad River Band of the Lake Su- on Madeline Island. During the treaty era, still spoken amongst the tribal membership. a self-sustaining population perior Chippewa Tribe is a Band of the The Ojibwe language is taught in homes the island was the central meeting place of lake sturgeon. Ojibwe Nation who migrated from the of the Anishinabe Ojibwe leadership to and in classes on and off the reservation, bad River Tribal GovernmenT east to the “place where food grows on contemplate and discuss, in a spiritually including lessons to children ages 3 and 4 water,” which is in reference to Manomin oriented manner, the impacts of signing at the Bad River Tribal Head Start, and to For several years the (wild rice), a gift from the Creator. The treaties with the United States. The students at nearby Ashland High School. primary employer name of the Band, “Bad River,” comes sacredness of the island remains deeply The Bad River Band of Lake Superior in Ashland County Tfrom the English version of the river that rooted in the Ojibwe people today. Chippewa currently owns and operates has been the Bad runs through the center of the reservation Shortly after the signing of the 1854 several businesses such as the Bad River River Tribe through its from South to North, known as “Mashkii Treaty, a majority of land on the Bad Lodge & Casino located on Hwy. 2 in Indian gaming and Ziibing” (Mush-kee Zee-bing). Some River reservation was placed in allotment Odanah. Nearby is the Moccasin Trail tribal government Center featuring a convenience store, believe that the word, Mashkii, comes or tribal trust status with the U.S. Federal operations. Originally The Bad River natural Resources from, Mashkiikii (mush key-key), which government. The Bad River Reservation gas station, post office, and IGA grocery Chief Blackbird 1833-1920, the Tribe was governed also known as “Chi-gaa-kii Department is pursing a translates to swamp or marsh. Yet others contains the oldest land allotments of store. Moccasin Trail is named in honor by a Council of Chiefs -iins” Shown wearing a nomination for the kakagon believe it comes from Mishkwa (mish all the reservations in the United States, of Chief Ogimaans a.k.a. George Presidential medal. consisting of hereditary T r i b a l S T a ts qua), which is red, referring to the color of occurring 30 years prior to the General Messenger, last of the Traditional (Photo by D. L. Gill -1899) and appointed chiefs and Bad River Sloughs complex Bad River’s water. It is uncertain as to how Allotment Act of 1887, also known as Bad River Chiefs who blazed the trail for and the head to be considered a wetland of the French translated it to mean “Bad” the Dawes Act. Today, Tribal lands and Main Street, formerly called “Moccasin men from each clan. Spiritual methods of international importance. and is still a topic of conversation amongst environment are carefully managed by Trail,” in the nearby town of Ashland. governance were used and each meeting was our members today. Before it was known the Bad River Tribal Natural Resources opened with prayer. The current system of Reservation size: 125,000+ acres The Bad River Giitiganing as Bad River it was Gete-Gitigaaning (Big Department to retain the health and governance was established under the Indian Tribal members: 7,567 Garden), and also, Anishinabe Odetowin, natural beauty of the environment for the Re-organization Act. The Bad River Tribe Garden Project educates tribal Tribal members living on the meaning, “The Place with the People of enjoyment and subsistence hunting, fishing instituted its Tribal Constitution and By-Laws members on growing both flower reservation: 1,041 Good Heart.” and gathering of the tribal membership. that incorporated a new governing authority and vegetable gardens. The signing of the Treaty of La Pointe Many tribal members harvest Manomin on the reservation, which is the Bad River Tribal on September 30, 1854 established the Council. The Tribal Council consists of seven from the Kakagon Sloughs within the The first Wisconsin woman Bad River Reservation. The reservation reservation, also known as the “Everglades elected officials serving two-year staggered to cast a ballot for president is is located in northern Wisconsin with its of the North.” The sloughs encompass terms: Tribal Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, northern boundary along the south shore a 16,000 acre marsh estuary a Tribal Treasurer, two Senior Council Members and thought to have been an Ojibwe of Lake Superior. There are 124,654 acres Traditional Cultural Property and cultural one Junior Council Member. The Tribal matriarch Flying Cloud, who voted of land within the exterior boundaries of landscape. The Kakagon Sloughs is Council Chairman also serves as the in Odanah on nov.