Since the Ojibwe bands of people arrived in the north woods of Minnesota in the early 1700s, fishing has been a way of life for them. Despite treaties with the United States government in 1837 and 1855 in which the Ojibwe ceded their land, they contend that they retained the right to hunt and fish off reservation throughout much of northern Minnesota and claim that regulations by the Department of Natural Resources, or DNR, impinge upon those rights.
History
The Ojibwe people, renamed the Minnesota Chippewa by the government in 1905, live among 1,300 lakes and 925 miles of streams teeming with fish, particularly a healthy harvest of walleye fish. A landmark 1998 United States Supreme Court victory awarded the Mille Lacs Ojibwe tribe the right to hunt and fish according to treaty parameters and empowered them to determine harvests in conjunction with the Minnesota DNR. Increasingly, other Ojibwe tribes would like to enact similar autonomy.
Tribal Regulation
The Leech Lake and White Earth Ojibwe Indian bands seek to override state laws which limit their hunting and fishing and which regulate their harvest allocation. Additionally, as the Mille Lacs have done, these two tribes would like to maintain their own conservation codes for such traditional activities as spear and net fishing. Net fishing is controversial because of the potential to deplete the burgeoning walleye populations. However, the Mille Lacs abide by DNR regulations for netting, which require the fish of a catch to be counted, measured and weighed.
Harvest Allocation
A primary point of the disagreement over fishing rights between the DNR and the Ojibwe is the allocation of fish they may rightfully harvest from the waters of northern Minnesota. As of 2010, members of the Treaty Fisheries Committee recommend safe harvest levels in conjunction with representatives of the DNR. Those tribes still regulated by the DNR would like similar representation. In 2009, the allocation for the Chippewa bands governed by the 1837 Treaty was 126,500 pounds and, yet, their total harvest was 101,220 pounds. Both sides of the argument point to the success of previous and ongoing conservation efforts, which have stimulated a robust walleye population.
Precedent
As of 2010, eight Chippewa bands have 1837 treaty fishing rights. Previous court cases in the 1980s that returned specific rights to some tribes included those Ojibwe in Minnesota's Arrowhead region. Leech Lake tribal members, who number around 10,000 living on and around the reservation, along with the White Earth tribe, seek to reassert rights they claim never should have been withdrawn.
Ongoing Discussion
Both the Ojibwe tribes and the DNR authorities agree that continued dissension over the perceived and actual claims to fishing territory and quantities become costly for both sides. Leech Lake and White Earth members held a protest in 2010 in which they fished on the shores of Lake Bemidji one day before walleye season officially opened. Leech Lake tribal attorney Frank Bibeau maintains that they are hopeful for a peaceful resolution before the 2011 walleye season opens.
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