Marge Anderson, chief executive of the Mille Lacs Ojibwe Band, comments on treaty rights. She says her nation has waited a long time for the word "sovereign" to gain meaning.
In 1998, Native Americans will take up to forty thousand pounds of walleye on one of the state's most popular fisheries, Lake Mille Lacs. It's the first time Indian tribes will be able to take significant numbers of fish under the terms of a restored 1837 treaty.
This audio was part of Mainstreet Radio’s look at treaty rights and other issues of native sovereignty.
Transcripts
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MARGE ANDERSON: My people have lived in this region surrounding Mille Lacs Lake since the mid-1700s, more than 30 years before the United States was a nation and 100 years before Minnesota was a state. My ancestors supported themselves by hunting, fishing, and gathering in this area. It was a simple existence. Through treaties, my people signed away much of our land in return for protection by the federal government. Unfortunately, over the years, the federal government failed to fulfill its obligations under these treaties.
By the end of the 19th century, only a few hundred band members remained on remnants of our reservation in Mille Lacs. Our religion was banned. Teaching of our language and culture was forbidden. And we could no longer make a living by our traditional means. But somehow, we managed to retain our strength as a sovereign nation. We never gave up hope. And one day, our dreams came true.
In the early 1990s, we opened Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley. And since then, casino revenues have allowed us to rebuild our reservation with new schools, new homes, new community centers, and a new health care clinic that serves both Indian and non-Indians. We've also been able to strengthen our cultural identity, become more economically self-sufficient, and increase the prosperity of our entire region.
Today, we are still struggling to protect our rights and resources, exercising our rights. Treaty rights is one of the utmost importance to our people. These rights tie us to our land and our resources, as well as to our ancestors' traditional ways.
But our treaty rights aren't just symbolic. We rely on them for our survival. As you may know, many of my people suffer from diabetes and other health problems. To curb these problems, our diets must be improved by eating more natural food, such as fish and rice.
What's always been most important to our people is living peacefully with our neighbors and ensuring that our children grow up knowledgeable and proud of their Ojibwe culture, as well as confident in their abilities to succeed in today's world. As you can see, we are very excited about our future. Yet we strive every day to make sure our centuries-old traditions remain alive. We welcome the opportunity to share our story with others and greatly appreciate people's interest in our history and our contemporary issues.