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Northland professor talks tribal sovereignty and treaty rights at national conference

December 18, 2012

Chantal Norrgard, assistant professor of Native American Studies at Northland College, will present her research on Ojibwe treaty rights before the 127th Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association (AHA). Norrgard will sit on a panel discussion examining American Indian actions as exercises in sovereignty. The meeting will be held in New Orleans, La., from Jan. 3-6, 2013.

Norrgard's research revolves around labor and treaty rights struggles among the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. The Northland professor will present on her paper, "Perspectives from the Bad River W.P.A.: Ojibwe Labor and Treaty Rights Struggles in the Early Twentieth Century." Norrgard reviewed more than 300 essays written by 10 tribal members who recorded oral histories, as well as stories about their lives and culture, while they worked for the federal relief program during the Great Depression.

"The State of Wisconsin was interested in promoting conservation from a tourism and recreational standpoint in order to bring in more revenue during the early 20th century. A lot of the essays recount details of how the state developed regulations that restricted natives in their ability to hunt, fish and gather," says Norrgard. "The state claimed that Native people were under its jurisdiction and essentially ignored their treaty rights, arresting Native people for hunting and fishing on ceded territories."

Norrgard said the panel discussion will explore how sovereignty relates to the political and economic position of indigenous peoples. She points to the parallels in her research regarding recent interactions between state and tribal governments.

"One of the interesting contrasts is that in the past the conservation policy was the vehicle widely used to target Ojibwes exercising their treaty rights," says Norrgard. "Today, I see a lot of conservationists working with Ojibwe and Anishinaabe people due to the factthat they're both opposed to the same developments that will affect the environment though relations with the state government remain complex."

Norrgard is writing a book exploring a similar topic under advance contract with the University of North Carolina Press. Information about her paper and the AHA meeting can be found online at www.historians.org.