Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

The Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa are an Ojibwa Native American tribe, with an Indian reservation lying mostly in the Town of Lac du Flambeau in south-western Vilas County, and in the Town of Sherman in south-eastern Iron County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Lac du Flambeau Indian Reservation, located at 45°59′05″N 89°52′38″W, has a land area of 108.065 sq mi (279.887 km²) and a 2000 census resident population of 2,995 persons. Its major settlement is the unincorporated census-designated place of Lac du Flambeau (on Wisconsin State Trunk Highway 47), which had a population of 1,646 persons.

Located at Waaswaagani-zaaga'igan and translated into French as Lac du Flambeau (Torch Lake), the Reservation of the Lac du Flambeau Band, called Waaswaaganing in Ojibwe, was established under the Treaty of 1854.

Reservation

Lac du Flambeau is a land that is covered almost entirely by a forest and many lakes. It wasn't that way in the very late 19th century and early 20th century. White lumber companies cleared the land of its trees which enraged Anishinabe leaders. After the onslaught caused by the logging, new trees were planted. The present forest is a regrowth. Of the lakes within the borders of the Lac du Flambeau Reservation, they include: Big Crooked Lake, Bills Lake, Birch Lake, Black Lake, Bobidosh Lake, Bolton Lake, Broken Bow Lake, Buckskin Lake, Chewelah Lake, Cranberry Lake, Crawling Stone Lake, David Lake, Doud Lake, Eagle Lake, Fat Lake, Fence Lake, Flambeau Lake, Gene Lake, Great Corn Lake, Grey Lake, Gunlock Lake, Haskell Lake, Headflyer Lake, Ike Walton Lake, Jerms Lake, Little Corn Lake, Little Crawling Stone Lake, Little Sand Lake, Little Trout Lake, Long Interlaken Lake, Lower Sugarbush Lake, Lucy Lake, Middle Sugarbush Lake, Mitten Lake, Moss Lake, Moving Cloud Lake, Munnomin Lake, Muskesin Lake, Negani Lake, Placid Twin Lakes, Plummer Lake, Pokegama Lake, Poupart Lake, Reservation Line Lake, Shishebogama Lake, Signal Lake, Snort Lake, Statenaker Lake, Stearns Lake, Sunfish Lake, Tank Lake, Tippecanoe Lake, Toulish Lake, Upper Sugarbush Lake, Warrior Lake, White Sand Lake, Whitefish Lake, Wild Rice Lake, Wishow Lake, Wyandock Lake, and Zee Lake.

There are more lakes as well. On the west, is the Riley Lake Wildlife Management Area, which borders the Reservation and is larger than the Reservation. On the east, the Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest borders the Reservation. The State Forest is three times larger than the Lac du Flambeau Reservation. The Lac du Flambeau government and many of the citizens of the Reservation, own 57,935 acres of the Reservations 86,000 acres. Much of the remaining 28,665 acres, is a part of the Riley Lake Wildlife Management Area. The rest is fee land which is probably owned by non Indians.

Demographics

Lac du Flambeau Reservation has only one real town. That be the cdp of Lac du Flambeau. The cdp of Lac du Flambeau, has a population of 1,969 according to the 2010 census. Native Americans including Hispanics, make up 88% of the cdp's population. Whites make up 10% of the cdp's population. It covers 7.7 sq. mi. There is a town with the name of Lac du Flambeau which covers 127 sq. mi., and includes the cdp of Lac du Flambeau. Whites made up 1,180 of the Reservations population according to the 2000 census. Indians made up 1,778 of the Reservations population in 2000. Many of the lakes within the borders of the Lac du Flambeau Reservation, have housing units located near their shores. That is probably where most of the whites live. Many of them may be nomadic, or own more than one residence. They may spend much of the year away from the Reservation.

History

Indian camp on Flambeau reservation

The ancestors of the Lac du Flambeau Band, the Waaswaaganininiwag (the "Torch Lake Men") constituted the eastern group of the Biitan-akiing-enabijig (Border Sitters), a sub-Nation of the Gichigamiwininiwag (Lake Superior Men). Others members of the eastern Biitan-akiing-enabijig included bands located on Pelican Lake, Lac Vieux Desert, Turtle Portage, Trout Lake and Wisconsin River.

For centuries, Waaswaagani-zaaga'igan served as the trade hub connecting the waterways between Lake Superior (via Montreal River) and Wisconsin River and Flambeau River.

Under the Treaty of La Pointe of 1854 as part of the Lake Superior Chippewa, the bands at Pelican Lake, Turtle Portage, Trout Lake and Wisconsin River were consolidated into the Lac du Flambeau Band and Waaswaaganing was established.

Being signatories to the Treaty of St. Peters of 1837, and the Treaties of La Pointe of 1842 and 1854, Lac du Flambeau Band enjoys traditional hunting, fishing and gathering practices guaranteed in these treaties.

William W. Warren wrote in his 19th century book "History of the Ojibway People" that they were living in the north of Wisconsin before 1492. From just south of Lake Superior, they forced their way south into north central Wisconsin. They settled at Wa-swa-gan-ni Za-ga-i-gan. To other Anishinabe people, they become known as Wa-swa-gan-na-bek which you already know means Torch Lake Men. Nabe is also another Anishinabe word for male and man in the musical Anishinabe Language. Those Anishinabe people who lived at Lac Courte Oreilles became known as the Oh-da-wa-na-bek which means merchant men or trade men. Most of the Anishinabe people who lived at Oh-da-wa Za-ga-i-gan, were from the merchant totem of the Anishinabe Nation. The location was obviously an important location for trading. That changed after the whites invaded.

After the whites invaded, Anishinabe leaders increased the number of their soldiers in far western Wisconsin, to prepare for an exodus to the west. They were motivated to expand towards the west by the Seven Fires Prophecy, which was taken seriously. In fact, after the whites invaded eastern North America, any Anishinabe leader who did not take the predictions seriously, was very likely forced out of power. While the Anishinabe Nation increased the number of their soldiers in the Wisconsin region, they also sent their soldiers as far east as Maine and as far south as Florida, to defend Indian land from the whites.

An extremely dangerous time period followed after the whites invaded. Anishinabe soldiers were prone to react with great rage against any people who stood in their way, for they knew what their future foretold. Any Indian Nations who sided with the whites were dealt with very harshly. And while the Anishinabe soldiers were at war against the invading whites, which was almost constantly, they took out their great rage on the whites when they had the chance. Throughout the 17th and 18th century, Anishinabe soldiers were sent in all directions to fight the whites and their Indian allies and to clear paths for other Anishinabe people to migrate to.

The last great attempt by the Lake Superior Anishinabek to retain their land, was the War of 1812. After losing the conflict, many of the Wisconsin Anishinabek commenced an exodus towards the west. Many fled to the Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma region. They still live in that region at the present time.

After the Lac du Flambeau Reservation was established, a period of peace followed. In 1889, the United States broke treaty promises and passed the Nelson Act. They wanted to relocate all Anishinabe people from Michigan, Wisconsin, and all Minnesota Chippewa Reservations excepting the Red Lake Reservation and White Earth Reservation, to the White Earth Reservation. It did not go well! In 1898, the United States passed the 1898 Nelson Act which is also known as the 1898 Bankrupcy Act. That was what ended the attempt by the United States to relocate the Anishinabe people from Michigan, Wisconsin, and all Minnesota Indian Reservations, to the White Earth Reservation.

In October of 1898, chief Bugonaygeshig led an Anishinabe Rebellion on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation of Minnesota. Though only one battle was fought (Battle of Sugar Point), it was obviously significant. In 1899, a delegation of Pillager leaders from the Leech Lake Reservation, made a visit to Washington D.C., to hold negotiations with representatives of the United States. We can trace back to the time when the Lac du Flambeau and the other Wisconsin Reservations were saved, to the visit the Leech Lake Pillager leaders made to Washington D.C., in 1899.

Today

Lac du Flambeau is the location of sacred Strawberry Island "the place of the little people," which is recognized by the National Register of Historical Places. This island is the place where the last battle between the Sioux and the Ojibwe was fought in 1745. In 1966, the island was identified through an archaeological survey as a place with artifacts and remains dating back to 200 BC.

The tribe operates the Lake of the Torches casino. The Casino did not perform as expected and the Tribe encountered repayment difficulties with the creditors it engaged to help finance the casino. A dispute with the Casino's creditors ensued and in and in 2011 the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit rendered a decision which primarily centered around the Casino's management contract because it contained provisions that permitted lenders to influence the management of a tribal casino without National Indian Gaming Commission approval. The Seventh Circuit decision requested additional guidance regarding the "rules of the road" for tribal casino financings from the United States Congress and /or the National Indian Gaming Commission.

References

• Lac du Flambeau Reservation, Wisconsin United States Census Bureau
• Troubled Domestic Sovereign Debt: What Every Commercial Professional Should Know
• Lake of Torches Appellate Decision: "Management Contracts" Are Still a Burning Issue in Tribal Gaming Financings

External links

• Tribal website
• Unofficial Lac du Flambeau Tribal website
• Lac du Flambeau Chamber of Commerce
• George W. Brown, Jr. Ojibwe Museum and Cultural Center
• Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission