Voigt decision (1983): Wisconsin's denial of 1837/1842 treaty rights

What happened

The 1837 Treaty of St. Peters ceded Ojibwe land in what is now Wisconsin and Minnesota, but guaranteed "the privilege of hunting, fishing, and gathering the wild rice" on the ceded lands. The Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) says its member bands signed the 1836, 1837, 1842 and 1854 treaties, and that the ceded territory lies within the boundaries those treaties describe. Those treaties, GLIFWC says, detail harvest activities and recognize the bands' right to regulate off-reservation harvests.

The Supreme Court's 1999 Mille Lacs opinion describes the Wisconsin story. It cites the Seventh Circuit decision, Lac Courte Oreilles Band v. Voigt, 700 F.2d 341 (1983), as holding that the Chippewa retained those same rights on the ceded land in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court declined to review the case that year. This is context, not a record of a specific violation. GLIFWC says the Voigt decision "led to the formal establishment" of the Commission's structure, mission and membership.

GLIFWC's account of the "Fishing Protest Era" says inland treaty fishing in Wisconsin was first implemented in 1985. It says protest groups organized anti-Indian protests at boat landings, that in 1991 a federal judge issued an injunction against interference with spearfishing, and that three years later the judge ruled that racism motivated the protest group's activities. A 1991 joint report concluded treaty fishing did not harm the resource.

Good to know. Here the court upheld the treaty rights.

Summarized with AI assistance from 3 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error