A look at the Ojibwe (Chippewa) Indians Life for Wisconsin Indians in the 19th & 20th Centuries A look at the Ojibwe (Chippewa) Indians

Ojibwe Bands in Wisconsin Red Cliff Lac Courte Oreilles Bad River Lac du Flambeau Mole Lake St. Croix All 6 of these Wisconsin tribes are part of the Lake Superior Bands of Ojibwe Indians.

Wisconsin Indian reservations as they sit today

How do the Ojibwe come to be on the reservations? Series of treaties cedes land to government Definition: to relinquish (hand over) lands in your possession

1837 “Pine Tree Treaty” Results: ~1/2 of WI ceded Why: Govt. wants pine in north woods Terms: Govt. pays Indians - $19,000 Indians retain “traditional” rights to lands Problems Division of $ Understanding meaning of languages

View from Lake Superior shoreline 1842 “Copper Treaty” Cession of lands for mining around Lake Superior Indians need money… agree Treaty hints at removal View from Lake Superior shoreline

Indians React Ojibwe send delegation to D.C. Issues to discuss Leader: Chief Buffalo Interpreter Benjamin Armstrong Issues to discuss Removal order Wrongs done to Indians “traditional rights” agreed upon in ceded areas

“Symbolic Petition of the Chippewa Chiefs, 1849” Delegation to Washington carried this pictograph with them indicating their wants. The animals represent the various Lake Superior clans traveling along Lake Superior. Their unity of purpose is depicted by the lines linking together Their hears and eyes to a chain of wild rice lakes in ceded territory south of Lake Superior.

Indian pictograph that was sent to Washington to show the president how the Indians felt about him and what they were willing to do.

Result of trip: 1854 Treaty at La Pointe Terms of Treaty Refuse to cede more land until reservations in WI established Takes 20 yrs for land to be chosen & given Allotment of individual Indian lands Individual Indians earn titles to land Indians forced to sell lands… don’t understand TAXES

Life on the Reservations 1922 Lac du Flambeau Indian Industrial Survey

What is the 1922 Industrial Survey? Government wanted to know how Indians on the reservations were doing Sent workers out to visit Indians to find out Document is housed in the Regional National Archives in Chicago

Assignment With a partner read your section of the 1922 survey and in your journals complete the following three parts: 1.What did you learn about the Lac du Flambeau Indians living on the reservation during this time? - be specific with your observations & be sure to look at various aspects of their lives… what can you learn about them

Assignment continued 2. What questions do you have when looking at this document? What would you like to learn more about? 3. Make a comparison of life for the Indians on the reservations and life for white people not part of the reservations that we have learned about. Create a Venn diagram to complete your comparison of the different cultures

1922 Industrial Survey Discussion What did you learn about life on the reservations during the 1920s? What questions did you have while reading this survey? What did you find particularly interesting about the survey? Do you think that the surveyors held any bias while completing the survey of the Indians? If so explain.

The Depression and Indian New Deal What are the conditions in Indian reservations at this time? Government commissions a study to find out: The Problem of Indian Administration, 1928 (the Meriam Report) Actions after study: Revised Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Reorganization Act

Assignment Read the segment of the Meriam Report that is handed out and answer the six worksheet questions

Meriam Report: “The Work of the Government in Behalf of the Indians” “The work of the government directed toward the education and advancement of the Indian himself… is largely ineffective.”

Some Findings on Government Management (Meriam Report) Poorly trained educators for school & life Lack of $ = poor health care system Education in boarding schools most common Poor diets, crowded living quarters Under-trained teachers Inflexibility of curriculum – expect same from all students (even those who don’t speak English) Little Economic development on reservations Little agricultural training Few jobs on/off reservation 1. Lack of well trained professionals and lack of good broad educational programs. Education includes school training for children but also activities for the training of adults to aid them in adjusting themselves to the dominant social and economic life which confronts them. The educational program should include education in economic production & in living standards necessary for the maintenance of health and decency. Lack of adequate funding has lead to a poor public health administration and medical relief work for Indians. The number of doctors, nurses, and dentists is insufficient. These health professionals can make more money in other areas of government work or the private sector. This lack of trained personal has lead the Indians to allow under-trained or poorly trained health professionals to treat their communities. Hospitals, sanatoria and sanatoriums are under equipped and under staffed. There also seems to be a lack of preventative health care among the Indians as little has been done to combat the two major health problems of TB and Trachoma. Although the general policy of the Indian service has been directed away from the boarding school for Indian children and toward the public schools and Indian day schools it is still the fact that the boarding school, either reservation or non-reservation, is the dominant characteristic of the school system maintained by the national government for its Indian ward. The survey staff found that the provisions for the care of the Indian children in boarding schools are grossly inadequate. Many of the children are below normal health. The diet is deficient in quantity, quality, and variety. Major diseases also spread because of the poor diet and crowded living conditions (TB & Trachoma). Lack of properly trained leadership on reservations. With the idea of making the Indians into farmers, there has been little training of the Indians and therefore little success in becoming farmers.

Indian Boarding School – Tomah, WI Date: 1912 Date: 1910 http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7248/7595464924_6e01762ded_o.jpg

Life on the Reservations Lac du Flambeau family – notice what’s in the background. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Chippewa_men_Bad_River.jpg

Discussion… speculation!! How do you think the Great Depression affects Indians on the reservations? Why do you think life on the reservations was so poor at this time?

“Indian New Deal” 1924 – Indians received full citizenship John Collier – commissioner of Indian affairs (appointed by FDR) Indian Reorganization Act 1934 Moves away from assimilation toward Indian autonomy Helps restore some reservation lands to tribal ownership Indian New Deal 1924 – receive full citizenship by law 1933 – FDR appoints John Collier as commissioner of Indian affairs Collier helps create Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 This act marks an extreme change in government policy Moves away from assimilation and toward Indian autonomy also helps to restore some reservation lands to tribal ownership

John Collier – Commissioner of Indian Affairs http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Elmer_Thomas,_Claude_M._Hirst,_and_John_Collier.jpg

“Indian New Deal” continued… Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (IRA) Mandates changes in 3 areas Economic – Indian lands would belong to entire tribe… prevents lands from being sold off Cultural - # of boarding schools cut & children allowed to attend reservation school Political – tribes given permission to elect tribal councils to rule their reservations 1. Economic – Lands belong to an entire tribe. This provision strengthened Indian land claims by prohibiting the government form taking over unclaimed reservation lands and selling them to people other than Indians. 2. Cultural – The number of Indian boarding schools is finally reduced and now Indian children can attend schools on their home reservations instead of being shipped out to these boarding schools.

Mixed Reactions to IRA: 174 tribes accept / 78 tribes reject Like Regained lost reservation lands Moved forward in education / cultural preservation More control over affairs Dislike Indians disliked changes of govt. structure Underestimates diversity of tribes white men still telling Indians what’s best for them

End of Indian Reorganization Act… WWII

WWII – Iconic Images Turn to page 788 in your text. Class reading & discussion of questions

A Closer Look at Ira Hayes Pima Indian (Arizona) Chief told him to be a “honorable warrior” Joined Marines – parachutist “Chief Falling Cloud” – respected marine Became part of Iwo Jima battle & helped raise flag Play Johnny Cash’s “Ballad of Ira Hayes”

The Picture Changed His Life… Traveled country as hero Struggled w/ “hero” status After publicity tour returned to his reservation Wants anonymity… people write hundreds of letters / stop by to see him Uses alcohol to ease pain Dies of exposure at age of 33 3 of 6 flag raiser were killed shortly after Hayes goes home a hero but struggles w/ the concept… At the White House, President Truman told Ira, "You are an American hero." But Ira didn't feel pride. As he later lamented, "How could I feel like a hero when only five men in my platoon of 45 survived, when only 27 men in my company of 250 managed to escape death or injury?" Couldn’t understand why people insisted he was a hero when he “hadn’t done very much” – plus b/c of the positive publicity the photo had for military he couldn’t say anything Eventually even stated he wished he hadn’t been one of the men in the photo Becomes an alcoholic & gets into trouble, arrested Says he’s “cracked” just thinking about all of his buddies that never made it back home Never married… buried at Arlington Cemetery a “hero to everyone except himself”

How involved were Indians in WWII? No group that participated in World War II made a greater per capita contribution, and no group was changed more by the war. 44,000 Indians saw service / 350,000 Indians in U.S. (Roughly 12% of the Indian Pop.) This represented 1/3 of all able-bodied Indian men from 18 to 50 years of age How involved were Indians (as a whole) in WWII? Is the story of Ira Hayes one that we learn just because he was on a famous picture? - Yes & No: Yes specifically we look at Ira Hayes because of this picture and his recognized status as a “hero” but there is also a larger story here we should recognize – the role of Indians in WWII and it’s effect on them.

Navajo code talkers in the Pacific - USMC Indians in WWII Pearl Harbor awakens “warrior spirit” among Indians Many volunteer Indian Nations declare war on Axis powers Indians distinguish themselves as warriors Navajo “code talkers” allow U.S. to send messages that would never be broken by Japanese Indian men look at wars (WWI & WWII) as a way to prove themselves as warriors. In Indian tribes being a warrior really defined a young man’s status Indians also look at this as an economic opportunity – both in the service and working in the factories at home for the war effort A 1942 survey indicated that 40 percent more Native Americans voluntarily enlisted than had been drafted. Because Indian tribes were considered sovereign nations they declared war on Germany and the Axis powers b/c of that According to the Selective Service in 1942, at least 99 percent of all eligible Indians, healthy males aged 21 to 44, had registered for the draft. If you’ve seen the movie “Wind Talkers” w/ Nick Cage you should understand that the personal body guards assigned to the code talkers were not supposed to kill them before falling into the hands of the Japanese, but to protect them from their own… Many soldiers hadn’t seen Indians before and there could be some mistakes about what a “Jap” looked like or to make sure prejudice didn’t get in the way of letting the code talkers do their work. Also you should realize that the Navajo language wasn’t the first Indian language used in war… WWI they used the Chactow language for code (Michigan & Wisconsin Indians were involved in this unit during WWI) Even the Germans were aware of this… between WWI & WWII they sent Germans posing to be anthropologist to Indian reservations in the U.S. so that they could learn the language and culture of the Indians so when war broke again they’d be prepared. Navajo code talkers in the Pacific - USMC

Indians in WWII Not all served in the military… many were in the factories ~40,000 Indians work in factories Purchase war bonds Donated money to Red Cross Women learn new roles – on & off reservations

WWII Impact on Indians Causes Indians to move to cities Exposes Indians to white man’s world… + Learn about education, health care, economic possibilities, many opportunities Don’t want to lose tribal identity & custom… work to further promote their interests ** Begin to work within both worlds

Navajo Code Activity GOOD LUCK!! Complete the Navajo Code Activity Sheet GOOD LUCK!!

Ojibwe Treaty Rights… Today The Wisconsin Spearfishing Controversy

What was the issue? During the 1980s many Ojibwe Indians decided to use their off-reservation hunting rights as given to them by mid-19th Century treaties Some non-Indians felt that this would lead to the closing of certain bodies of water to sport fishers who wanted to fish walleye and eventually hurt tourism in Northern Wisconsin

This is an example of the spear used by today’s Indians Spear fishing takes place at night w/ use of a light Boat landings become prime spot for protests… they become increasingly violent This is an example of the spear used by today’s Indians Traditional spearfishing took place at night with the use of a spear and fire

Spear This! http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_NSAQjsCzwcE/TORi68M3CWI/AAAAAAAABSs/g7dHveKUIZE/s1600/SaveAWalleye.gif http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum/artifacts/archives/concrete_walleye_2.jpg http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum/artifacts/archives/002146.asp Notice anything out of place???

The State Acts Gov. Thompson – wants an injunction to stop Ojibwe from spearfishing to prevent more violence Judge rules that Ojibwe broke no laws and therefore should not be punished… more severe punishments were applied to militant protesters Judge does require Ojibwe to limit & monitor fish harvested

This is an example of an Ojibwe spearfishing permit. The Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) was created to regulate and restock the lakes – both on and off the reservation. This is an example of an Ojibwe spearfishing permit. Indians go to the game warden (GLIFWC) and get permission to fish each day they want to fish. They will also be directed to a specific lake and are required to keep specific records as to what they catch.

How are things today? Peace has returned to the Northwoods, but what are today’s issues? Read the assigned article for tomorrow: From Enemies to Allies: Native Americans and whites transformed violent treaty conflicts into a powerful environmental movement in Wisconsin.