Ojibwe aboriginals in Cass Lake/Leech Lake Minnesota Including their History Treaties Essay

I. approachThe Ojibwe (Plural Ojibweg) are passel who be massive to the for the premiere clock Nation and of a big autochthonal American language group. They are on top in terms of preponderance among the jointure American native language tribes. Scholars and Elders of Ojibwe perceive that the group has historical transaction with several other forget me drugs that share more or less language points. The Ojibwe un indite tradition gives sporting to a good deal(prenominal) speculations as it indicates the Ojibwe to be piece of the Three Fires of Anishinabe, along with the Ottawa and the Potawatomi (Turtle Is republic Productions, 2003).In the Ojibwe language, Anishinabe pertains to original slew, original man, or unity of the raft. This is how the Ojibwe lot prefer to be called. The intelligence service Ojibwe is spelled in many an(prenominal) forms, owing to how the Euroepans of other(a) times heard and spelled it. Some of the forms allow Ojibewa, Ojibwe, Otc hipwe, Chippewa, or Chippe focus (Turtle Is arena Productions, 2003). For the purposes of this paper, the term Ojibwe ordain be used.The Gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag, or the hirudinean Lake Indian Reservation, fields the Ojibwe batch in the north-central parts of atomic number 25. check to the census of 2000, it is the largest Indian reservation in the state, with its population amounting to 10,205 in that year ( poriferan Lake Indian Reservation, 2007). The most preponderant community at heart it is the Cass Lake. Ten other communities within the reservation include Bena, Pennington, dent come out, Ball Club, Onigum, Smokey Point, Inger, Squaw Lake, Mission and Oak Point (Indian affairs Council, 2007).How the Ojibwe large number came to live in this demesne of atomic number 25 and how their stage settlement was completed throughout histories of treaties will be the affair of this paper. Contemporary issues that face the Ojibwe community of quick study Lake will in add ition be discussed.II. The phlebotomize Lake Ojibwe and their HistoryAccording to history divided up out through oral tradition, the Ojibwe people primitively lived along the bays of North America, speculated to be every in Hudson Bay or in St. Lawrence gulf. By the 1400s, the climate in the North America became elan c of age(predicate) so that in effect, the first Ojibwe bands decided to playact towards Lake Huron, and later hidether north to wage the shores of Michigan. Their movement continue westward until they reached Lake pucka in the 1500s (Sultzman, 2000).Pushed by war and fur trade, the Ojibwe people do an expansion towards the west, due east and south until they had control all all oer a vast portion of southern Ontario and take down Michigan in 1701, and won over the northern portions of Wisconsin and atomic number 25 in 1737. Movements continued until the Ojibwe people had settlements in so many scene of actions by the 1800s, Minnesota to include. Howeve r, crimsontual coup of the sinlessnesss forced the Ojibwe onto reservation (Sultzman, 2000).Another way to view the Ojibwe migration is to take after what their oral tradition discusses that sensation of their miigis or beamy beings related a prophesy that the Ojibwe people should move further west if they swear to maintain their traditions amidst the arrival of European immigrants. indeed the Ojibwe people do the movements discussed above, some of them finally settling in Minnesota (Ojibwa, 2007).It was on the small is records of treat Lake where the Ojibwe in Minnesota first settled in the 1700s. The area became home to the Pillager Ojibwe and Mississippi bands, still southwest portions of it were interpreted by 1847 treaties to be allotted for the tribes that were moved from Wisconsin. (Ojibwa, 2007). The rest of the parasite Lake Ojibwe lands were relinquished to the United States governing body by the accordance of 1885, leaving the Ojibwe with the establishment o f the 670,000-acre care for Lake Indian Reservation (Oakes, February, 2005).The first treaties that were set in place were commonly termed as Peace and Friendship Treaties. The aim of such treaties is to establish healthy ties among the Ojibwe people and the Europeans. such(prenominal) treaties provided the instalation for resourcefulness sharing to be do mathematical between the aborigines and the settlers (Ojibwa, 2007).The treaties that followed, however, connoteed cessions of lands. These were sensed to suffice as advantageous for the territorial interests of the U.S. However, such cessions were not accompanied by clear terms that were understood whole by the Ojibwe people. The reason butt end this is the different heathen perspectives of the Ojibwe and the administration regarding the land. The government sees the land as a commodity, and something of worth at that. Thus, for them, land could be purchased, entitled for exclusion, and traded without control con dition (Ojibwa, 2007).The Ojibwe people, on the other hand, perceive land to be non-exclusive. For them, land should be shared completely to everyone, in the same way that water, air and lielight should be treated. During the halt of treaty conferences, the Ojibwe did not know anything almost exclusive land ownership or entitlement, moreover of considering land. Thus, modern time legal debates on treaties and of interpreting them usually expound on the disparity among cultural understanding of terms in such treaties. Only with cultural sensitivity and inclusion could obligations and rights based on such treaties could be understood (Ojibwa, 2007).One such treaty where cultural sensitivity could be utilize would be that of 1864. With the intention of transferring other Ojibwe bands in Minnesota to bleed Lake, the 1864 Treaty was make to expand and fortify the reservation. Changes in plans were made however so that in 1967, the neat Earth Reservation was established to house al l of the Ojibwe. 1873 and 1874 executive orders reduced the lands of the parasite Lake Reservation (Indian personal business Council, 2007).Tax forfeitures, allotments, and seizures for government forests and parks later reduced the be land until only approximately tailfin to six percent of the original area was left to the Ojibwe people (Giese, 1997). The severe diminution of Ojibwe lands was the gravest that any tribe in Minnesota has experienced. This was made worse by the change magnitude valuation for the lakes and forests of the reservation as whites increasingly settled in Minnesota. It was only in recent years that the pattern of land loss was inverted (Oakes, February, 2005).III. Further Treaties and relevant Events in parazoan Lake Ojibwe HistoryIn 1881, the United States Army Corps of Engineers began to build dams at lake outlets including that of Cass and poriferan Lake to provide a st qualified water authority for Minneapolis. In the course of such activities, water levels rose wine seven feet such that Ojibwe homes, rice beds, feed and burial thou were destroyed (Oakes, February, 2005).Meanwhile, the Dawes symbolise of 1887, along with the Nelson Act of 1889, made it possible for individual Ojibweg to be allotted and sell parts of reservations lands to settlers, railroads, and timber companies. Because of land sales, fraud, and appraise forfeitures, more Ojibweg lost their lands through these Acts (Oakes, February, 2005).By 1898, the bloodsucker Lake Ojibwes anger over their loss of land and reckless log activities in the area reached boiling point, resulting in gun burn off exchange that lasted for three age and seven deaths among federal official soldiers. The battle was save as the last between American soldiers and American-Indian natives. In gratitude to the stoppage of what could be a full-blast Ojibwe revolt, the government forgave the involved Ojibweg. In 1908, the anguish of aggressive logging activities in the expanse pushed the United States government to form the Chippewa field of study Forest (Oakes, February, 2005).It was in 1912 when a white family started the pioneer fishing resort on Cass Lake. From there, several people followed suit until tourism became the reservations second major industry, though it was not the natives who drew much of the profit. On the other hand, 1925 proverb to the diminish of timber supply in Cass Lake and the make up of the smashing logging boom (Oakes, February, 2005).In 1933, the outpour of white settlers in the reservation finish as the US Government let down Office in the area closed. until now to date, white settlers in the area go forward to be more than half (Oakes, February, 2005).1937 proverb to the Leech Lake Ojibwe adopting its first ever constitution. heavy activities of the tribe developed as 1972 saw to the Ojibwe band settling a example for the reaffirmation of their right to hunt, fish, and gather within the bounds of the reservatio n beyond what is modulate by the state. This was the first of its kind and affirms the motor of the Ojibwe people to keep their traditions alive, beyond the restrictions of the government (Oakes, February, 2005).The year 1975 was witness to the growing close of the Ojibwe people to fight for their rights as a people when 75 Ojibwe students walked out of their classes in protest against racism, cultural insensitivity, and discrimination in Cass Lake Junior-Senior High School. In response to this, the Ojibwe people started the culture-based school, Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig, for their youth (Oakes, February, 2005). To date, the school is showing great progress.Meanwhile, the Ojibwe started operating casinos in 1983 after the curb of the federal courts stated that Indian tribes essential(prenominal) be given the liberty to gamble, as respect to their culture. In 1998, the Ojibwe created its own patrol force through a federal grant, by which it started to administer its own urbane rules (Oakes, February, 2005).It was in 2002, however, that a major find in the political arena happened when Elaine Fleming became the first Ojibwe to be elected as city manager by the residents of Cass Lake (Oakes, February, 2005).IV. The Leech Lake Ojibwe TodayToday, the Leech lake Ojibwe culture waits vibrant and developing. The Ojibwe in the reservation continue attending jiingotamog gatherings for their ghostly customs, and the niimiidimaa for their social customs. Traditional methods of hunting, harvesting, and making euphonys and staff of life are still being maintained. Ojibwe people still participate in sun dance ceremonies. Even the sacred scrolls of old are being kept inexpliccapable for future interpretation (Ojibwa, 2007).Ojibwe people also maintain their traditional burial methods of make Spirit houses over burial mounds and markers made of wood with the deads doodem written on it. These special burial effort check been viewed with much value that they hold in be come endangered to thieves. The Native American Graves apology and Repatriation Act was made to respond to such issues and expect benefited the deliverance of the Ojibwes burial traditions (Ojibwa, 2007).The Leech Lake Ojibwe band has also been pioneering in securing their rights to fish, hunt, and plant angered rice practices which are embedded in their culture as a people (Indian Affairs Council, 2007). Another aspect that determines the nutrition of the Leech Lake Ojibwes cultural truth is its continuation of its traditional extraction of medicine and food from plants, as well as other such activities bound by tradition (US environsal Protection Agency, 2007).Meanwhile, the Leech Lake Ojibwe had organized community councils with the intent of ventilating system their political concerns. They take a leak also seen to it that they have their own means to health services, education, fire protection, and such community necessities. The band even started a burial insurance political platform in 1995 (Indian Affairs Council, 2007).As for the State, it pays the Leech lake Ojibwe tribe for controlling its use of resources within the reservation. Furthermore, the Ojibwe also deputizes the conservation officers of the State so that their own tribal natural resource codes will be enforced (Indian Affairs Council, 2007).Because the Ojibwe band was permitted to operate casinos, such casinos have made the band Cass Countys biggest employer (Indian Affairs Council, 2007). Through an Ojibwe currently residing in Oregon, the Leech Lake Ojibwe also markets their very own products of feral rice and locally-made craft baskets internationally (Giese, 1997).Today, the Leech Lake Ojibwe tribe decided that the reservation must keep its existence in grade with the treaties and executive orders upon which it was founded. This is because even with the said treaties and orders at place, they could still exist as a people within the bounds of their cultures, traditions, an d beliefs (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2007).For one, the tribe still holds its fundamental and natural sovereign power over the reservation and its people. Further, the tribe also holds power over the activities of outsiders in the reservation, for as long as such activities affect or threaten to affect the eudaimonia, political integrity, heath, and stinting security of the Leech Lake Ojibwe (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2007).The Ojibwe people, with the treaties in place, are also able to maintain regulatory authority over the water resources of the reservation. This is because having the inherent rights to the reservations waters, their intent is to ascertain that their water resources would remain viable for generations to come, the reservation being their immutable home. The Ojibwe people of Leech Lake also serve for the protection and preservation of its waters since with this comes the forward motion of the tribes historic and ghostlike values. By doing s o, they are also able to maintain a suitable environment for the reservations wildlife, something which has been embedded in the values of the Ojibwe as a people (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2007).However, though the Ojibwe people of Leech Lake have been perceived to have maintained their culture and traditions, a worrying fact looms over the band. The number of youths in the reservation who have been involved in drugs, alcohol, violence, and imprisonment is appalling. Murders have been common in the area. Statistics indicate that the Leech Lake Reservation is one of the worst places for children in all of Minnesota (Oakes, April, 2004).A 1999 government research found Cass County to be the poorest in terms of childrens safety and health. It was also determined in 2002 to have the most children who live in foster and care homes. Majority of these cases entail Ojibwe children who were abandoned by their parents or taken forcibly away from them on grounds of neglect, delinque ncy, or even abuse. The main cast off behind this seems to be alcoholism, which plague the Ojibwe people of whatever age and gender. Parents leave their children behind on accounts of being rummy, or wrapped because of some crime they did while drunk (Oakes, April, 2004).Thus, death looms eight years originally over the lives of the Ojibwe in the Leech Lake reservation (Oakes, April, 2004). And this fact is something to be bothered about, curiously when considering the current status and welfare of the Leech Lake Ojibwe people. It is a threat that must be dealt with, if the centuries of battling with treaties, fighting for their rights, and maintaining their cultures and traditions will not be put into waste.The Ojibwe of Leech Lake are a beautiful people who have a great history behind them, and a great culture and tradition with them. It hence matters, more than the treaties, to make efforts to keep their welfare and their people alive, because if not, we know that something great will die.