Treaty Days Celebration Held at Madeline Island

Tribal Leaders representing LCO

The Treaty Days Celebration was held at Madeline Island over the weekend of October 1, hosted by the Red Cliff Band of Ojibwe. The celebration marks the day in 1854, when Wisconsin Ojibwe met in La Pointe on Madeline Island to sign a treaty with the United States. They ceded much of northern Wisconsin in exchange for goods, services, usage rights, and permanent reservation homelands.

Several Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Governing Board members, Michelle Beaudin, Glenda Barber, Gary “Little Guy” Clause, and Tweed Shuman all attended the festivities on Friday, Sept. 30.

The day was filled with honoring the ancestors, interpretations of the 1854 Treaty from the perspective of the translation of the language agreed to by the Ojibwe, gathering with Elected tribal leaders and the Governor of WI, the presentation of the dugout canoes and a celebration and market for indigenous artists.

Two dugout canoes were crafted on the Island this summer by many Ojibwe and friends and, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society, it is believed they are the first to be made on the island since treaty making time. It took several weeks and many hands to create them.

According to Michelle Beaudin, “Tribal leaders got some one on one time with the Governor who respects the tribes and acknowledges our sovereignty and parties in our treaty day ceremonies! Tribes gave him gifts in gratitude of the work he has done for and with tribes of Wisconsin!”

photos by Keri Pickett, WI Historical Society and Michelle Beaudin.