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Ojibwe Treaty Rights

Treaty rights are rights retained in treaties negotiated between sovereigns. In the case of the Ojibwe in northern Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, their headmen retained or kept the rights to hunt, fish and gather on lands they ceded to the U.S. government

 

Treaty rights are not some unique or “special” right that courts have granted certain tribes; rather they are legal usufructuary rights retained by tribes at the time the treaties were signed. Treaty rights are also tribal, not individual rights. They are held and regulated by the treaty signatory tribes.

  • Do all Indians have treaty rights?
    No, only those who are members of tribes that were signatory to a treaty in which those rights were reserved.
  • Are the treaty harvests regulated?
    All off-reservation treaty seasons are regulated through tribally-adopted codes. Harvest seasons and quotas are established and enforced. Quotas are frequently determined in meetings between state and tribal biologists who share their assessment data and through scientific models determine quotas for a variety of species. GLIFWC’s Enforcement staff patrol ceded territories during open seasons. Violators are cited into tribal courts.
  • Can the Ojibwe take as much fish and game as they want?
    Some people believe that the treaty rights are unlimited in scope. This is not true. In Wisconsin, the Ojibwe, under a series of court rulings in the Voigt case, exercise off-reservation treaty rights limited by quotas, seasons and tribally-adopted regulations. In Minnesota, tribal harvest is also subject to the specifications of adopted court stipulations which limit treaty quotas, set seasons, and place other restrictions on the treaty harvest. Management plans for both the fishery and wildlife harvests are negotiated every five years. These plans provide the structure for a limited treaty harvest and safeguard the resources
  • Why do old 19th Century treaties apply today?
    Agreements between governments such as treaties are not invalidated by age, nor are other types of contracts made between individuals. The U.S. Constitution states that “treaties are the supreme law of the land,” consequently, they should be honored. Changes to the agreements can be negotiated if both parties consent. In terms of the Ojibwe treaty rights being practiced today, recent federal court decisions define the scope and regulation of treaty rights, making them compatible with modern day circumstances.
  • Shouldn’t the Indians use methods and equipment used at the time the treaties were signed?
    Nothing in the treaties states that the Ojibwe could not use modern methods or equipment to hunt, fish and gather, and federal courts have found that the Ojibwe may use modern methods of harvest when exercising their treaty rights. The bottom line is that effective management with harvest quotas protects the resource from overharvest no matter the method or the gear.
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