Sarah+and+Kayla+War+Treaties

=  ﻿ Menominee Indians: Wars and Treaties  =

Kayla Obremski and Sarah Ledvina

 Background Information
The Menominee Indians are an indigenous Native American tribe located “at the mouth of the Menominee River,” about where the twin cities of Marinette, Wisconsin and Menominee, Michigan, now stand on the western shores of Green Bay,” according to Felix M Keesing in his book, __The Menominee Indians of Wisconsin__(6). The Menominee were the first Algonquian speaking tribe to settle in Wisconsin. In her article “Menominee,” Verna S. Fowler suggests that the Winnebago arrived in Wisconsin and somewhere around 800 A.D. (Fowler). Because the Menominee tribe is said to be the oldest tribe in the area, that would suggest that the Menominee have been in Wisconsin longer than 1,200 years. Little is known about their pre-European contact years, but historians have managed to piece together fragments of their history. According to Robert E. Bieder in his book __Native American Communities in Wisconsin 1600-1960__, they cultivated corn and engaged in seasonal hunting and gathering, much like their close neighbors the Sauk, Fox, Mascouka, Kickapoo, Ottawa, Ojibwa, Potawatomi, Winnebago, and Santee. Village life in the Menominee tribe revolved around the extended family, with everyone sharing workloads, property, and economic benefits with everyone contributing economically (26). Family structure also revolved around the aspects of clans. Each individual of a family belonged to a clan with each family claiming decent from one of 22 clans. In Menominee society gender foles were relatively well defined with men doing the hunting and fishing, construction of canoes, tools and weapons, and defending the community. Women on the other hand, cooked, kept the lodge clean, raised the children, planted and cared for crops, and did much of the gathering during the summer. As mentioned earlier, men engaged in hunting which was done during early summer, and only as needed. Deer, moose, and long treks for buffalo were some of the hunting expeditions that men took part in (27). One of the main legends surrounding the Menominee the was that “wherever the Menominee enter a region, the wild rice spreads ahead, whenever they leave the wild rice passes” (qtd. in Bieder). This gave the Menominee the name Wild Rice people. Perhaps the most important aspect of Menominee culture would be their political structure. Also mentioned by Bieder, the Menominee tribe was divided into two groups, with either group identifying with the earth of the sky. Additionally each group had its own chief. “…the head of the Bear Clan…became the peace, or head, chief. The head of the Thunder, or Eagle clan…became the war chief” (23-24). This division of clan determined which chief ruled when. When there was war, the chief of the Thunder clan was the head chief and during times of peace, the Bear clan chief ruled. Who became the chief of either clan was determined by ancestry and family lines. The endeavors of the tribe during wartime and the ensuing times of peace when treaties were made will be the main focus of this project. Little is known about the wars of the Menominee before European contact. Major conflicts involving the Menominee did not begin until several decades after the French explorer Jean Nicolet made contact with them in 1634. Since this initial contact the wars that the Menominee have become embroiled in, with one exception, has originated from European conflicts of resulted in European intervention. According to Patricia K. Ourada in her book, __The Menominee Indians A History__, the main goal of the French was to exploit the land in regards to the fur trade, which was what brought Jean Nicolet to Wisconsin in 1634 (13). The next major European contact the Menominee had was with Nicolas Perrot in 1667. Perrot first made contact with the Potawatomi, who were engaged in a dispute with the Menominee: The Menominees, while hunting, had killed a Potawatomi warrior….In retaliation the Potawatomi tomahawked a Menominee brave found among the Winnebago….the Potawatomi implored Perrot to help them secure peace….At the village Perrot addressed an assembly of the people, expressing God’s anger at them for being at war with the Potawatomi’s….He warned them that in the past they had been evenly matched with their enemies, but the French had now promised the Potawatomi “articles suited for war.” He threatened “would you abandon your families to the mercy of their [fire] arms, and be at war with them against the will of the French?” The father of the murdered Menominee accepted Perrot’s gifts and pledged support to the French. (15-16) And so began the Menominee involvement with European and French affairs.

Methodology
The parameters of our research are to describe the historical and cultural significance of the wars fought and treaties made by the Menominee Indians. The significance of these wars and treaties will also be explored to find out the present-day influences of them.

Fieldwork
** Wars of the Menominee ** __**Sturgeon War **__

As a result of the Iroquois War, hundreds of Algonquian speaking Native Americans flooded into Menominee territory. This war began when the Menominee blocked the river so the sturgeon could not flow up stream to the Chippewa, who were residing upstream from the Menominee. When the Chippewa requested that the river be reopened, the Menominee chief killed one of the men by sticking a sharpened animal bone through his head. The Algonquian tribes came to the defense of the Menominee (Ourada, 11-12) The Sturgeon War is the one war that is known of the Menominee that had no European influence. By winning this war the Menominee have been able to retain their territory, at least on this occasion, and to remain guardians of Spirit Rock, one of the few remaining links to their ancient past (Ourada, 12)

__**Fox Wars 1712 **__

The Fox Indians declared their alliance to the British and Iroquois and vowed to destroy Fort Detroit and any French man who guarded it. On the way to the fort the Fox slaughtered a village of Illinois Indians. Sieur du Buisson, commandant at Fort Detroit, having heard of the massacre summoned the aid of the Menominee among various other Indian tribes (Ourada, 24). The Menominee and the other tribes arrived at the fort on May 13, 1712 and mercilessly fought the Fox and their allies. Twice the Fox asked for peace and twice they were refused during the siege. Finally, the Fox attempted to escape at night but were slaughtered. This defeat caused the British to give up all hope of getting established at Fort Detroit (Ourada, 24). Enraged at their severe defeat the Fox regrouped and fortified Butte des Morts on the Fox River. The Fox again engaged in battle with the French, after approaching the Sac, Winnebago, and Menominee Indians to request an alliance. While the Menominee refused, they probably would have been better off had they joined the Fox because on August 15, 1728 the Menominee village was attacked by the French in an effort anger the Fox with whom they thought the Menominee were allied. Later in 1730, the Winnebagos and four Menominee Indian braves engaged the Fox in battle. When it came time to peace settlements the four Menominee were traded to the Fox as a peace offering. Two were bound and two were beheaded. The Menominee tribe, concerned when the four braves did not return sent scouts out to the Winnebago village. They then sought the help of a loyal Frenchman, Marin, who with five French soldiers and 34 Menominee braves to help the Winnebago village. They fought for three days before the Fox asked for peace talks. Two days later the Fox successfully fled the fort. This final encounter with the Menominee marked the beginning of the end of the Fox Wars (Ourada, 27-29).

__**French and Indian War **__

This conflict began in 1754 between the French and their Indian allies and the British. The Menominee became involved with this conflict around 1755, when some of their warriors responded to the call for troops at Green Bay (Ourada, 33-34). From there the Menominee were led to Fort Duquesne where they attacked the British General Edward Braddock and his army. The British were quickly overwhelmed and defeated. The following summer the Menominee followed Coulon de Villiers and went to Presque Isle on Lake Erie. From there the French and all of their Native allies were supposed to go to Montreal but all except the Menominee refused because of the fear of small pox (Ourada, 34). “The Menominees professed a loyalty to the French that surpassed that of any other [Indian] nation in the west, and expressed their willingness to strike the English” (Ourada, 35). The Menominee were so loyal to the French at this point that when several Frenchmen were murdered by members of their tribe, those members were actually turned over to the French by the Menominee to be punished (Ourada, 51). Throughout the French and Indian War the Menominee remained loyal to the French who continually showered them with the spoils of war to keep them interested. When the French empire finally fell in 1763, the Menominee remained, albeit drastically changed from their encounters with the French. The Menominee had been introduced to a new form of religion through the Jesuit priests, causing them to give up their ancient religious practices. Because of French contact, the Menominee economics changed from a purely subsistence based system to one that revolved around the fur trade. Finally, as a result of French contact, the Menominee lost dozens of young lives due to the wars they became involved with through their loyalty to the French (Ourada, 41).

__**American Revolution **__

After the French defeat in the French and Indian war the Menominee were free to return to their villages and continue as they had before the war. However, before long the English were sailing their rivers and roaming their lands in search of furs and people to trade with. One British man in particular, Charles Langlade, established a trading post at Green Bay which put him and various other Englishmen and Frenchmen at close proximity to the Menominee. Fortunately, good terms had been established between the Menominee and the British after the war, also such settlers [i.e. Langlade] by “their steadfast behavior and fair treatment kept the Menominee Indians and their neighbors loyal to the British service” (Ourada, 47). When Langlade was summoned to active duty at the beginning of the Revolution, he went with the support of the Menominee tribe, and on “June 4, 1777, Langlade, Chief Carron, and 60 Menominee warriors reported at Michilimackinac en route to Montreal” (Ourada, 47). Even after the British lost the war the Menominee continued to support them, as long as they continued to pay the highest price. In her book, Patricia K. Ourada also mentions that “the Indians would respond favorably to whichever white men could best satisfy their insatiable desire for trade goods, canoes, guns and rum” (Ourada, 51). The American Revolution and Menominee involvement ensured that the British would remain invested in the Menominee tribe. The one thing the British did not want happening was the powerful Indian tribes’ (including the Menominee) allying themselves with the Americans.

__**War of 1812 **__

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 110%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">In 1811The American Nicolas Boilvin was transferred to Prairie du Chien as the Indian agent for the area in an attempt to sway the local Indians to the American cause. Up until this point the British had been monopolizing Menominee interests and attention: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 110%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">War was threatening between the United States and Great Britain, and the British traders, led by Robert Dickson, were busily infiltrating the area of the Upper Lakes with presents for the Indians in far greater quantities then the American post at Prairie du Chien could provide. Agent [Nicolas] Boilvin reported having stopped Menominee…from visiting the English at Detroit by giving them rum, tobacco, and ammunition. In the hope of enlisting the support of the western Indians for the expected war, Boilvin urged the chiefs to accompany him to Washington to cement the new American relationship. As soon as this matter came to Robert Dickson’s attention he urged the chiefs to disregard the American efforts at friendship and to remain loyal to the cause of their Father, the British king. Dickson’s sincerity and past friendliness easily swayed the Indians of Green Bay to remain loyal to the British cause. (Ourada, 56) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 110%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Remaining highly loyal to the familiar British, the Menominee Indians contributed warriors to Dickson’s campaign to Mackinac. According to James P. Collins in his article “Native Americans in the Antebellum U.S. Military,” more than 1,000 Native Americans served during the War of 1812, with a significant portion of those Native Americans being Menominee (Collins,47). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 110%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">An attack was made on the weakly defended Fort Mackinac, and the fort was surrendered on July 17, 1812 without a single shot being fired (Ourada, 57). From this defeat a special group of Menominee were trusted by the British to go to Amherstburg and defeat American troops at the Canard River. These successive victories resulted in the Native Americans allying themselves with one another against the United States, the Menominee were allied with the Sacs, Winnebago, Chippewa, and Ottawas. These allies proceeded to decimate American strongholds in the west, taking Fort Dearborn on August 13, 1812 and getting General William Hall to surrender the next day. When the Americans tried to leave the Fort “an army of five hundred Indians, including Menominee, fell upon the Americans and destroyed them” (Ourada, 58). They were rewarded by Dickson for their efforts, who sent supplies they needed for the winter. The final chapter of Menominee involvement in the War of 1812 came in August 1814 when they joined Dickson in attack against the Americans on Mackinac Island (Ourada, 59). As a result of this war the British were removed from the Great Lakes area, leaving room for the Americans. Due to the centuries of contact with whites, the Menominee, like the other Indian tribes who had engaged in the war, were entirely dependent on white goods, particularly rum and manufactured supplies. This dependence forced them to begin relations with the United States against whom they had so vehemently fought during the American Revolution and the War of 1812. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 110%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">Once again the Menominees had wholeheartedly supported their white friends only to see them removed from their midst and their replacement by strangers…. After one hundred and twenty-nine years of loyalty to the French and a half century relationship with the English…. It had resulted in the loss of many brave warriors and it had left the Menominees with only paper certificates and worthless medals to attest to their sincere and courageous friendship to the sovereigns across the sea. (Ourada, 60)

__**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Black Hawk War 1832 **__

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 110%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The Menominee became involved with the Black Hawk War when several of their tribesmen including a “war chief, three headmen, four warriors, six women, and eleven children” were massacred by Sac and Fox Indians at Prairie du Chien. In order to quiet the Menominee and prevent them from adding to the War the Americans gave them guns and supplies and promised that the murders would be surrendered to appease them (Ourada, 90). The Black Hawk War began when Black Hawk, a Sauk chief fought to retain his ancestral land which the United States was planning to take away with the Treaty of 1804. Shortly after the Massacre, the Menominee were employed by the US army to prevent Black Hawk from reaching the Milwaukee River if he decided to go that way (Ourada, 91). The Menominee were then ordered to pursue Black Hawk’s war party and on July 30, 1832 the US Army defeated a force of Black Hawk’s braves. The Menominee then returned to Prairie du Chien to help Chief Wabashaw and his Sioux Warriors take down the Fox and Sac Indians. However, despite their efforts in the war the Menominee were still required to give up their lands in the Treaty of 1831. When this treaty was immediately rejected by the Menominee, the Treaty of 1832 was written, and it only allowed for 500,000 acres for the Menominee of their land. The fact that the Menominee, even though they fought on the side of the Americans during this war, still lost a significant portion of their ancestral land, shows that the Americans only saw them as a convenience to exploit or take advantage of when necessary.

__**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Termination and the Political War to Retain Tribal Land **__

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 110%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">In the early 1950s Congress made the decision to terminate the Menominee Indian reservation, the first of many reservations to lose their treaty rights under this policy (Termination, 67). According to the article “Termination and the Menominee Nation of Wisconsin,” the Menominee at this time were are the most self-sufficient Native American tribes, but even they would not continue to function with the termination of federal funds in 1961 (Termination, 67). In order to come up with the funds to keep the tribe running set up Menominee Enterprises, Inc. to manage the tribe’s assets that the federal government used to manage. Each Menominee had a share of Menominee Enterprises, Inc. and according to James Ridgeway in his article “The Lost Indians” each bond had a $3,000 face value. Additionally, “100 shares of stock entitling them to vote for a board of trustees, who would then appoint a board of directors who would run the company. This plan, although it seemed like it was going to enable the Menominee to go on without federal support, actually gave the board of trustees an exclusive amount of power that they rarely used to help the Menominee tribe. Tax rates soared, unemployment was at an all-time high for the Menominee. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 110%;">The battle for the Menominee began when Menominee Enterprises “contracted with a land developer to subside lakefront property for sale to vacationers so that the tax base could be broadened” (Termination, 67). This was met with vehement opposition from the Menominee living in the area. In response to this issue, the Determination of Rights and Unity for Menominee Shareholder (DRUMS), which according to Nicolas C. Peroff in his book __Menominee DRUMS: Tribal Termination and Restoration 1954-1974__ “resented the first effective political opposition to elite corporate and county leaders” (Peroff, 175). Additionally, the book __Freedom With Reservation__ mentions that the purpose of DRUMS was to take on the corporate leadership that assumed power (Freedom, 68). Through legal battles and the overwhelming support from the Menominee, DRUMS succeeded through a series of legal battles at ending termination. This is the one war that the Menominee fought for themselves with no other outside influences. They fought for their way of life and the satisfaction and happiness of their people and eleven years after the reservation was terminated, it was reinstated in 1972 according to Richard Loudbear in his article “Indian Country Politics: Theories of Operation and a Strategy for the Nonviolent Seizure of Political Power” (Loudbear).

** Treaties from 1634 to the Present ** A treaty made between the French and the Menominee Indians in 1695 would begin the extensive progression of treaties that were to follow the tribe throughout the remainder of their existence. This was the first treaty made by the Menominee with their new white neighbors and would be marked as the point at which life for the Menominee would change forever.

__**Treaties and Alliances with the French**__

The first treaty between the Menominee Indians and the French took place in 1695 and was a treaty of alliance and friendship between the two. At this time the French had begun to fight the Iroquois and due to trade with the French, the Menominee were willing to align themselves with the French. They did not fight the Iroquois, but this would begin their friendship with the most dominant nation in the area. The Menominee continued in friendship with the French until sometime after the Seven Years War when the British became more dominant in the region. The significance of The Menominee and French partnership in both war and trade was that it cemented the Menominee's place as traders and greatly changed their culture as a result (Beck, Seige, 49).

__**Treaties and the British**__

In 1778 a general peace treaty was signed with the United States after the British loss in the Revolutionary War. A more official treaty was signed by the British in 1794 called Jay's Treaty. This is when the British officially agreed that the United States was a new nation. This did not mean the leaving of the British from the area, however, and the Menominee continued trading with them (Beck, Seige, 77).

During the war of 1812 the Menominee had sided with the British who ultimately came out the losers of the war. In the Treaty of Ghent the British agreed to Wisconsin. This made Wisconsin a part of the Northwest Territory. The ultimate result of this treaty was that the Menominee lost the friendship and trading that had come with the British and now had to deal with the American government (Beck, Seige, 80 ).

__**Treaties with the United States**__

March 30th 1817 started the very long string of treaties between the Menominee and the USA that would forever impact the tribe. The treaty of 1817 was one of peace and friendship between the tribe and the US government, but the many treaties that were to follow would not show any sort of friendship between the two groups (Beck, Seige, 87).

The Treaty of 1820 was the first treaty signed by the Menominee Indians to cede land to the United States. It was not, however, signed by official representatives of the tribe or by any of the chiefs of the bands. It unofficially negotiated the sale of 25 to 30 square miles of land near Green Bay (Beck, Seige, 89).

The Treaties of 1821 and 1822 were also unofficial in nature as they were signed without the authority of the tribe. These treaties ceded millions of acres of land for a total of $3,000 in goods. This land was supposed to be used for the New York tribes who were being relocated. Again, these treaties were not official because they were not signed by leaders of the tribe. To the credit of the United States, they realized the invalidity of these treaties and attempted to find a legal way to obtain the land from the Menominee (Beck, Seige, 93).

In 1827 there was another treaty that attempted to set boundaries between the Menominee and the Ho Chunk, sell the land wanted for the eastern tribes, and also to sell additional land to the Americans. The results of this treaty were only the sale of some land to the Americans; both of the other goals were considered to be unneeded by the Menominee (Beck, Seige, 99).

The Treaty of 1831 eventually settled the problem between the Menominee and the New York tribes with the Menominee allowing them to settle on their land (Beck, Seige, 107).

In 1836 they sold about half to one third of their land to the United States government. They were to receive annuity payments from the government, but because a corrupt agent, did not receive them when they were supposed to (Beck, Seige, 148).

The year 1848 marked a momentous occasion in Menominee history. This was the year that they signed a treaty that ceded the rest of their land in Wisconsin. In return, the Menominee would receive $350,000 and 600,000 acres in the Crow Wing territory in Minnesota. It was, however, stipulated that the tribe may look over the new land to see if it would be fit for them to live on. After a trip to the Crow Wing territory, they decided that it would not due and that they would remain in Wisconsin. The Menominee had sold their land, however, and had no true claim to their old homeland (Beck, Seige,165).

In 1854 the Menominee were awarded a total of 12 townships, 10 of which would become part of the present-day reservation. They were considered a government protected agency and did not own the land that they resided on. During this time the tribe again began to flourish under government protection (Beck, Seige, 189).

1856 would mark the last succession of land by the Menominee. They would give up two of their townships or one sixth of the reservation to the US. This land was used in turn to house the Stockbridge-Munsee (Beck, Seige, 196).

__**Termination**__

The bill that enacted the termination of the Menominee passed in 1954 and was formally put into place in 1961. This eliminated the Menominee Indian reservation and essentially attempted to integrate them into the rest of society. They were forced to close their free clinic and use the medical facilities located in nearby Shawano. The Menominee also had to abandon the old ways of netting fish and adhere to DNR rules. All of these things caused the tribe great hardship financially, medically, and even culturally. After realizing just what a mistake termination had been, the US government under Nixon reinstated the tribe and their reservation to avoid any further problems. They were restored to tribal status on December 22nd 1973 (Beck, Struggle, 129).

Analysis/Conclusion
To learn more about the effects of Termination on the Menominee Indians, please visit the following link and watch an informational interview on the subject. []

All of this information leads to the conclusion that the wars and treaties made by the Menominee Indians greatly affected the tribe as a whole. They were very affected economically, but the culture was also greatly impacted by their dealings with the white man and the many governments associated with them. In the end, the Menominee Indian tribe was forever changed by the alliances and treaties that they made.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 110%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Although the Menominee appeared to be a peaceful people, they found themselves involved with their fair share of conflicts over their almost four hundred years of recorded history. The early wars were characterized by alliances between the Menominee and their French or British allies. Usually these alliances were formed through the fur trade or the trade of other manufactured goods that the Menominee needed, and they chose allies based on who they felt could best provide them with these goods. In the French and Indian War the Menominee allied themselves with the French because they had had contact and friendship with them since 1634. The British could have just as easily provided the Menominee with the supplies they desired but they had an incredibly deep seated loyalty to the French. However, when the French were defeated by the British, the Menominee were quick to establish a positive relationship with them, because they were the only reliable source of the supplies that the Menominee needed. Finally when the British were defeated, the Menominee had to abandon European alliances and accept the new and unpredictable American presence. The lack of treaties during early Menominee history can be easily explained by the fact that the Menominee were satisfied with simple gifts such as ammunition, rum, and necessary supplies. Additionally, Menominee land was not in high demand at this time, unlike in later wars such as the Black Hawk War. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 110%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Probably the Menominee’s most difficult “battle” would be the termination of their reservation in 1961. When the reservation was terminated, the Menominee had no one but themselves to fall back upon. The creation of the chapter of DRUMS was what got them through those years that they were being slighted by the national government. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 110%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Whether the Menominee were helping the British, English, or themselves, they often fought hard, but even when they succeeded they often end up paying the price with the losers of the conflict.