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Strategic plan targets invasive species
The Superior Daily Telegram (11/17)
Douglas County’s Land Conservation Committee is forwarding a plan to the county board that takes aim at invasive species.
Mich. Clean Marina Program: Public-private partners work together to improve water quality
Grand Rapids Environmental News Examiner (11/9)
Partners from the public and private sector in Michigan are working together in a voluntary program to improve the quality of the Great Lakes.
Researchers seek funding for wind test site in Lake Michigan
Grand Rapids Environmental News Examiner (11/7)
In a recent article in The Muskegon Chronicle, it was reported that researchers at Grand Valley State University’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center (MAREC) cited a lack of year-around data (on wind platform testing) needed by prospective development companies.
COMMENTARY: Senate needs to pass clean energy act to help Michigan
The Grand Rapids Press (10/26)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was absolutely correct with his recent proclamation about the current condition of the Great Lakes State: "The State of Michigan," Reid declared from the Senate Floor, with a copy Time Magazine in his hand, "is in trouble."
First Nation women 'walk the environmental talk'
WeNews (10/23)
Tomorrow's global day of climate activism aims for media and political attention. First Nation women have another way. Since 2003, they've walked the shoreline of a Great Lake or major river, meditating on the needs of an unborn generation.
City making big push for water school
The Business Journal (10/23)
The push is on to convince the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee that the best location for its new School of Freshwater Sciences is near the university’s existing Great Lakes Water Institute on East Greenfield Avenue.
What's going on in your neighborhood this month? Meet other people and learn together at recreational and educational events! Our new dynamic calendar is updated daily with current educational events.
8 | Tribes and First Nations today
The lasting influence of Native American tribes and First Nations is evident by looking at any present-day map of North America. You'll see thousands of cities, rivers and lakes that bear the names of the continent's original settlers. The Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin's Menomonee Falls, and the city of Ottawa, Ontario, the capital of Canada, are just a few.Today, dispersed on reservations throughout the region, the surviving descendants of the Great Lakes tribes keep the values and traditions of Native American culture alive. Through pow wows, art fairs and other cultural events, tribes are connecting with their ancestry and exposing present generations to their traditional dance, music and belief system.
Related map: Native American U.S. State Populations (1990 Census)
Many tribes are undertaking ambitious natural resource programs to protect and restore their environment. On fishery issues, tribes and First Nations cooperate closely with researchers, and federal and state/provincial resource managers. For example, through an agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community in northern Michigan operates a fish health isolation facility, which is playing a key role in efforts to restore the lake trout fishery in the Great Lakes. In exchange, the USFWS provides yearling trout from the hatchery to Keweenaw Bay and the community's reservation waters.
Fishing remains a great source of income for many tribes, especially those who make their home in the western half of the Great Lakes basin. Native Peoples' rights to the fish and other natural resources in the region have been protected by various federal treaties and state/provincial agreements. Tribal fishing rights are maintained and managed through groups such as the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commisson, based in Odanah, Wis., and the Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority, based in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.
Casino gambling opportunities are also growing among tribes in the Great Lakes region. In 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized Native Peoples' rights to run gaming operations when it ruled that states had no authority to regulate gaming on Indian land if such gaming is permitted outside the reservation for any other purpose. Congress established the legal basis for this right when it passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) in 1988. The IGRA appears to be working to the benefit of Native Peoples in several states, most notably Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. The revenues generated are helping tribes and surrounding communities become economically self-sufficient, and enhance their education and health care systems.
Photos: Tribal fisherman and fishing through the ice on Lake Superior, both courtesy Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission; gaming, courtesy Kewadin Casinos, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.
