Latest news with #St.CroixChippewaIndiansofWisconsin
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Wisconsin's tribal nations state their priorities for 2025
This report is in collaboration with ICT's partners at PBS Wisconsin. Erica AyisiPBS Wisconsin + ICT MADISON, Wisconsin — Tribal sovereignty, education, environmental threats and public health were just some of the issues raised in the annual State of the Tribes address on March 18 at the Wisconsin State speech to the full Wisconsin Legislature was given on behalf of the state's 11 federally recognized tribes by Chairman Thomas Fowler of the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin. 'My grandparents, great-grandparents and ancestors knew that a positive relationship between tribes and the state and federal governments could only strengthen our communities,' Fowler told address brought into sharp focus the concerns of life and land, health, and the future for tribes across Wisconsin, reminding the audience that fully realizing tribal sovereignty and self-governance is possible by working with governments and administrations. Tribal nations seek common-sense policy reforms that strengthen our ability to govern, and protect our own people, and preserve our own cultures, and control our own lands and resources within our own boundaries,' he said, 'because tribes are not children of the government.'Here are some highlights of the speech. EducationAmong the federal government's treaty and trust responsibilities to tribes are education said Native students on tribal lands have unique challenges, and asked for more support for the state's two reservation-based colleges, the College of Menominee Nation and the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe schools offer options for students, such as those from his tribe, for higher education, he said.'St. Croix is in an educational desert, and our kids won't all find success moving so far from home, away from their support systems and culture,' Fowler said. Fowler also urged passage of bills in the Assembly and state Senate that would permit Native students to wear traditional regalia with feathers and beads during public school ceremonies.'We ask that this body supports legislation that serves our students like AB 98/SB 85, so that school boards and charter schools don't prohibit American Indian students from wearing traditional regalia at a graduation ceremony,' Fowler Danforth, a member of the Oneida Nation who attended the State of the Tribes address, applauded the legislation, saying it's time for Wisconsin to follow the lead of other states.'Many are the first ones graduating from high school in their family, so wearing the traditional regalia really honors that tradition of accomplishment,' she said. Environmental issuesOn the environment, Fowler called for a unified voice between the state and the tribes over the transport of oil and gas through their lands.'Tribes have never been silent on their concern of the environmental hazards that come with pipelines,' he said. 'Our lands and waterways are at risk, putting our food, water, medicine, cultural practices, at risk.'Fowler also spoke to environmental protection, including the need to address climate Hill, Oneida, who also watched the speech from the chambers, said the message was impactful.'Climate change is real. We're seeing the effects,' Hill said. 'Maple season is in full effect right now, and the sap is running slow … because we haven't had a real hard winter hit us for some time. The wildlife and trees all depend on the environment.' Mental health servicesFowler's address also touched on many difficult issues, including opioid addiction in Wisconsin's Native communities. As one prescription, he called for the legalization of medical marijuana.'We need medical marijuana for chronic pain management, epilepsy, post-traumatic stress and addiction,' said Fowler. 'Addiction has left no family untouched in Indian Country.'For her part, Danforth said such legislation should proceed with caution.'I really encourage them to think about our kids when they're looking at legislation and legalizing cannabis in our state, and how they're protecting our children from abusing and using and having access to cannabis,' she said. Missing and murdered peopleFowler called Missing and Murdered Indigenous People a public health crisis.'This is too common for our people and it must stop,' he DeLong, vice president of the Ho-Chunk Nation, echoed the call and beseeched the state task force on the missing and murdered to focus its attention.'There are so many disproportionate numbers to our missing and murdered Indigenous relatives, and that task force needs to be prioritized with funding,' DeLong said. Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICT's free newsletter.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
At State of the Tribes, a celebration of heritage and calls to action
Tribal members chant and drum in a ceremony in the Wisconsin Capitol rotunda Tuesday before the State of the Tribes address in the Wisconsin Assembly chamber. (Photo by Erik Gunn/Wisconsin Examiner) Pride of heritage, 'uneasiness surrounding the recent changes at the federal government level,' praise for Gov. Tony Evers and an appeal to adopt provisions in his budget directed toward Wisconsin's 11 tribal nations were among the themes of the State of the Tribes address in the Capitol Tuesday. 'Our government-to-government relationship is forever transforming the work we do together. It contributes to shape our communities for everyone's benefit,' said Thomas Fowler, chair of the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, this year's speaker for the annual event. Fowler's 50-minute speech celebrated the treaties going back nearly 200 years that, he said, established Wisconsin's 'reservations and territories in exchange for thousands of miles of our historical homelands and began the trust relationship between the federal government and tribes today.' He highlighted the tribal nations' initiatives and independence, but also their distinctive relationship with the United States. 'Tribal nations each have their own governments, languages, stories, traditions, values, beliefs and ceremonies,' Fowler said. 'We operate our own health care facilities, law enforcement agencies, educational systems, social services and more. Our tribal people are both citizens of the United States and members of their own sovereign nations, and we are very proud of this.' But he also spoke to historic injustices, the work needed to right past wrongs and the continuing education required to understand indigenous identity. Fowler praised Wisconsin's Department of Administration — the executive branch agency that most directly deals with Wisconsin's tribal nations — for its description of that identity. 'Tribal members are not racial minorities. We are citizens of our own tribal nations,' he said. 'Gov. Evers has repeatedly acknowledged the importance of respecting tribal nation sovereignty and has committed to empowering tribes to manage their own affairs and resources,' Fowler said. Fowler called on lawmakers to enact a series of bills, including legislation granting tribes a larger role in licensing teachers and legislation requiring school districts to report the number and ages of children enrolled who have tribal affiliations — the latter of which passed the Assembly later Tuesday. He also urged them to advocate for passage of a federal act calling for a truth and healing commission on boarding schools where Indian children, taken from their families, endured abuse for decades, their cultural heritage denied, and where many died. The act, which passed the U.S. Senate at the end of last year but 'continues to sit' in the U.S. House of Representatives, 'seeks to uncover the U.S. government's role in Indian boarding school systems,' Fowler said. 'The tragedy of boarding schools requires remembrance, so that the spirits of our ancestors are not lost or forgotten.' That history has contributed many ills, he said, including family separations, drugs and violence within communities, disruption of Native American parenting and damage to the health of families. Tribal communities such as the Ojibwe are also looking to revitalize their cultural connections, he said, including recovering their native languages. 'I encourage all of us in this room to push further in our communities, to move into a place of normalized use of our language amongst community members,' Fowler said. He also made a direct pitch for Wisconsin to legalize medical cannabis — a plant cultivated by indigenous peoples as an herbal medicine, treating pain, inflammation and 'addressing spiritual maladies.' Medical cannabis also holds the promise of 'moving people off highly addictive drugs, drugs which are killing our people,' he added. Fowler spoke as well of missing and murdered indigenous women, a phenomenon 'too common for our people' but still inadequately acknowledged. 'We need more state and federal resources,' he said. 'We need adequate funding allocated to serve our understaffed police departments, more cohesive law enforcement training, strengthened alert systems, increased funding for tribal programs that provide shelter and increased mental health resources.' Fowler urged lawmakers to do more to address water quality in the state, stiffening regulations on agricultural chemical runoff as well as threats from pollution, climate change and habitat loss. He called the December spill of 69,000 gallons of oil from Enbridge Line 6 'disheartening,' endangering the land, waterways, food, medicine and cultural practices. 'Our partnership with the state and the protection of our and stewardship of our lands has never been more important,' Fowler said. 'The challenges are too vast to tackle alone. We must unify to secure the highest level of environmental protection possible.' Fowler saved his last words for the scores of tribal members who watched from the back of the Assembly chamber and the galleries above it. 'We are not broken,' he told them. 'We are strong and we will continue to rise.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
