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| Two Ojibwe observe Sandy Lake's 150th anniversary. Photo: Jim Gill |
Wisconsin's Tribal Cultures
Bobbie Malone and Zoltán Grossman
The authors have collaborated on several works related to mapping Wisconsin's
history. Historian Bobbie Malone directs the SHSW's school outreach efforts.
Zoltán Grossman is vice-president of the Wisconsin Cartographers
Guild and editor of Wisconsin's Past and Present: a Historical Atlas.
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Wisconsin: A junction for
many Native peoples
Due to its rich resources and its location on important waterways, the
land that is now Wisconsin has been a junction for many different Native
peoples since the pre-contact era. Today Wisconsin has more reservations
than any other state east of the Mississippi River. The Ojibwe (Chippewa),
Menominee, Potawatomi and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) ceded lands to the U.S.
government that formed the land base for Wisconsin. These tribes were
determined to stay in the state. In the 1820s, the Oneida and Mohican
(Stockbridge-Munsee) were resettled from New York State. Wisconsin's Native
peoples have diverse cultures and histories and truly represent distinct
"nations within a nation." Their former lands make up present-day Wisconsin,
and tribes still possess land of their own. Other tribes, such as the
Dakota (Sioux) and Sauk and Meskwaki (Sauk and Fox), also lived in Wisconsin
at one time.
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| 1825 Wisconsin Treaty Lands, marked with Black Hawk's route View larger PDF |
| Source: Mapping Wisconsin History: Teacher’s Guide and Student Materials. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 2000. |
Treaty negotiations
Beginning in the early nineteenth century, the U.S. concluded treaties
with Wisconsin's Indian nations in order to acquire the specific resources
of the ceded lands. These resources include timber, prairie (for farmland),
and minerals. The U.S. government wanted Ho-Chunk lands for lead and farmland;
Ojibwe lands for timber and copper; Dakota lands for timber; Menominee
lands for timber and farmland; and Potawatomi lands for farmland and natural
harbors.
The treaty negotiations were made between government officials and Native Americans who had little knowledge of the English language as well as different concepts of land ownership. Tribal peoples often believed they were only signing away access to the specific natural resource, not the land itself. Treaties were backed by Article Six of the U.S. Constitution.
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Native American Removal
View larger PDF |
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Source: Mapping Wisconsin History: Teacher’s
Guide and Student Materials. Madison: State Historical Society
of Wisconsin, 2000. 33.
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Forcible removal
Similar to what occurred with the famous "Trail of Tears" from
the 1820s to the 1870s, the U.S. government forcibly removed many Indians
west of the Mississippi River to make way for settlers. Led by Black Hawk,
one group of Sauk Indians fought removal west of the Mississippi River
and fled present-day Iowa. They moved through parts of present-day Illinois,
and then, in order to escape from pursuing troops, looped back through
Wisconsin and attempted to cross the Mississippi River. At the mouth of
the Bad Axe River, soldiers killed many of Black Hawk's people.
Not all experiences were like those of Black Hawk and his people. Some tribal members loved Wisconsin so much that they hid out in the woods to avoid forced removal. Others walked back home after being removed. Some of the Ho-Chunk and Potawatomi were expelled; they were moved to various reservations over a period of years.
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| Indian Lands Today View larger PDF |
| Source: Mapping Wisconsin History: Teacher’s Guide and Student Materials. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 2000. 35. |
Indian lands today
Eventually some groups relocated to Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma, while
others returned to Wisconsin. The Potawatomi reservation in Forest County
was founded by the tribe far north of their original homeland (though
a small Potawatomi parcel has been established in Milwaukee), while the
Ho-Chunk have retained small plots of land that have never had reservation
status.
Wisconsin's Ojibwe bands were removed briefly but returned home from Minnesota after suffering many deaths. The Ojibwe now have six reservations in the northern part of the state. In a series of treaties, the Ojibwe had to fight many court battles to retain the right to hunt, fish, and gather plants on their ceded lands that lay outside the reservations. The Menominee refused to move and their reservation remains the state's largest, though it represents only a fraction of their original lands. The four tribes' determination against these forced removals enabled them to continue living in Wisconsin.
