1854 Treaty Authority News

Lake Sturgeon are unique, ancient fish inhabiting the Great Lakes and tributaries. A culturally significant being to the Ojibwe, Lake Sturgeon are a harbinger of spring. Historically abundant populations were nearly eliminated by the early 1900's due to over harvest, water pollution, and habitat loss. Improved water quality by the 1980's allowed state, tribal and federal authorities to reintroduce Lake Sturgeon by stocking hatchery raised fish. Today some watersheds, such as the St. Louis River Estuary, show signs of naturally reproducing populations. Watch the program recording here: https://youtu.be/0VzoAoEawnQ 

Seeking more resources about Lake Sturgeon? Check these out:

· Lake Sturgeon StoryMap

· Lake Sturgeon Kahoot!

· Great Lakes Aquarium Run for Your Lifecycle lesson plan

· Great Lakes Aquarium Becoming Scientists: Synthesizing and Communication (Fish CSI) lesson plan

· St. Louis River Alliance flyer: Lake Sturgeon in the St. Louis River 

· Menominee Sturgeon Release Feast and Powwow (Menominee are linguistically related to Ojibwe-Algonquin): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr-ajGIpSzY

· Gun Lake Release-Michigan Pottawatomi (another Algonquin tribe): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRP4li1q88s

· Children’s book: Nanaboozhoo and the Sturgeon

· Ojibwe Clans Project (youth):  https://intersectingart.umn.edu/?lesson/44

In the migration of the Anishinaabeg to the Western Lake Superior area, it was prophesied that they would reach their final stopping point when they found “the food that grows on water”. Manoomin (wild rice) is a culturally significant resource and important food source that is critical to Ojibwe identity, historically and presently. Darren Vogt, Resource Management Division Director at the 1854 Treaty Authority, will discuss the biology and conservation of this treaty-reserved food staple, as well as the successes of the organization’s longest monitoring program. Traditional harvest of manoomin occurs each season in the 1854 Ceded Territory; and the process of harvesting and finishing wild rice will also be highlighted in this talk. Watch the program recording here: https://youtu.be/WIqDAd9c4vA

Seeking more resources on Wild Rice? We recommend these: 

• 1854 Wild Rice brochure: Manoomin …from lake to table…
•  Book: Wild Rice and the Ojibway People
• Book: My Grandfathers Knocking Sticks
• Youth activity book: Wild Rice coloring and activity book
• “Taking Care of Wild Rice” (short film)
• nooshkaachinaagan cut out
• MNOPEDIA: Wild Rice and the Ojibwe (*extensive resource list at the bottom)
• Great Lakes Aquarium: Wild Rice Detective lesson plan
• Wild Rice Kahoot!
• Publication: The Economic Benefits of Wild Rice in Minnesota
• Publication: The Effects of Wild Rice Water Quality Rule Changes on Tribal Health

Are you sugarng this year? If so, consider helping us out: 

In the Ojibwe world-view, natural resources ARE cultural resources. Seasonal subsistence migration and treaty harvest was and is a way to stay healthy: physically, socially, and spiritually. However, warmer winters, increasing extreme precipitation events, more occurrences of drought, and earlier ice out dates across the 1854 Ceded Territory already are affecting flora and fauna that are imperative to the culture, history, well-being, and life-ways of the Anishinaabeg. 1854 Treaty Authority Climate staff, Hilarie Sorensen and Tyler Kaspar, share some of the documented changes in weather patterns in the region. They will discuss the various monitoring projects that 1854 facilitates to watch over these changes, such as measuring ice thickness and snowpack, recording inland lake temperature and dissolved oxygen levels, and the timing of phenological events like wild rice growth, annual sugar maple sap run, and amphibian spring calling. Watch the recorded program here: https://youtu.be/GqdVL4qoMi4 

Seeking more resources about climate change or subsistence seasonal rounds? Check these out: 

• SLCHS Learning Guide: Ojibwe Seasonal Rounds
• Book: Cecilia; The Trials of an Amazing Ojibwe Woman 1834-1892
• “Iskigamizigedaa!” (Let’s Boil Maple Sap) (youth coloring storybook)
• Sugarbush 101 (short film)
• Makak and Zhiishiigwaans cut outs
• 1854 Ceded Territory Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan
• “Dibaginjigaadeg Anishinaabe Ezhitwaad” (A Tribal Climate Adaptation Menu) 

Prairie Island Indian Community has an Environmental Technician position vacancy. Applications are due March 19.

Students can intern with the BIA, Tribe or a Tribal related program: Student Trainee (Pathways) GS-0399-2/3/4

To widen the pathways for careers pertaining to the Stewardship of Trust assets and tribal resources.

Minnesota moose range lies almost entirely within the 1854 Ceded Territory. The area moose population used to be as large as 10,000 animals, however numbers have dropped dramatically within the last two decades. The harvest of one moose provides for more than just one family; a whole community can be sustained through sharing. 1854 Wildlife Biologist, Morgan Swingen, sheds some light on the current threats to moose and discusses the various monitoring programs that 1854 Treaty Authority participates in, such as annual aerial moose surveys, moose habitat restoration and browse assessments, and white tail deer parasite monitoring. Watch the recorded program here: https://youtu.be/fuWQP9Fha5s

Haskell Environmental Research Studies announces (HERS) Institute’s summer internship program. The HERS program is aimed at preparing American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian undergraduate students for graduate study by assisting them to create a research project related to climate and environmental change in Indigenous communities. Native students eligible to enroll in tribal colleges are encouraged to apply. HERS 2021 applications are now open. All application materials are due March 5, 2021. Students can learn more and apply to the HERS 2021 summer internship program here: http://hersinstitute.org/apply.html 

See the PROGRAM FLYER

Connections to other beings, which includes landscape, is integral to Ojibwe lifeways. In a 4-part program series, the St. Louis County Historical Society and the 1854 Treaty Authority invite you to connect with science and Native heritage, virtually! We are honored to host elders and community members to share experiences and/or stories, and 1854 biologists describe what is being done to protect culturally significant species. Click on the flyer below to learn more.

1854 Treaty Authority Enforcement Division is hiring a Conservation Officer. This position is to be stationed in the Southern areas of th 1854 Ceded Territory. Application deadline is February 19th, 2021.

Read the FULL VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT HERE. 

Find the 1854 Application for Employment HERE.

***ATTENTION: We have updated our Instagram username to make it easier to find us!

1854treatyauthority

1854 kicks off an Outdoor Scavenger Hunt on Instagram, today- Monday, February 1st. Join us for a chance to win a survival backpack at the end of the year!

• Follow wazhushkoons on Instagram 
• Starting February 1st, 2021, 1854 will post a seasonal, photo-cropped “clue”. You have one week to get outside, capture a snapshot and message us an image of the object along with the hashtag #noojitoon 
• If you figure out the clue and message us before the week is up and the answer is revealed, you get 2 entries into the prize draw-ing. If you message us after we provide the answer, you get 1 entry into the prize drawing.
• 1854 will post a new clue every 2 weeks. At the end of the year, we will draw a WINNER to take home a survival backpack equipped with all the goods to keep you going strong on all your outdoor adventures!
• By submitting Instagram photos to the 1854 Outdoor Scavenger Hunt, you agree that your submission may be posted on the 1854 Treaty Authority Instagram page, newsletter and/or website, and that your submission is original content created by you that does not violate any third party rights. 

1854 Treaty Authority's Biboon (winter) newsletter is NOW AVAILABLE

It features updates about the office access during the COVID-19 pandemic, extension of the 1854 ID card amendment, and some feedback on the results of our 2020 Band Member Survey. Pick up some reminders before you head out to ice fish, and find out how 1854 Climate staff are tracking ice thickness and snowpack as it affects treaty harvested species. We invite you to connect with the us through teachings and experience: tune in for virtual presentations with 1854 biologists, and join in the fun of an outdoor Instagram scavenger hunt!

Register here: https://umn-private.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0ocu6qqjwoG9Do-2tKkzsZP5YanwWs4COS

Setting unattended lines while ice fishing? You must notify 1854 that you are doing so. Log in on our unattended lines notification QuickLink on the 1854 website homepage, call the office, or notify one of the CO's. Rules and regulations are spelled out in the 1854 Treaty Authority Conservation Code (page 50). 

Cultural Significance, History and Current Status 

Experience the StoryMap HERE!

Zoom with us at:

https://umn-private.zoom.us/j/92477316894?pwd=YXNPMDNiQVhIU3dFdStrSCtvd1cvQT09

Funding through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) has supported many projects including lake sturgeon assessments in Lake Superior and the St. Louis River estuary... (read more)

Don't forget to review the 1854 Conservation Code (page 59) before heading out to harvest conifer boughs this holiday season...