Sustaining Our Heritage: Caring for the Wetlands of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe

When the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribe selected the boundaries for their reservation in the 1850s, they carefully ensured that the reservation provided all the resources needed to sustain their community—that it was abundant with wild rice, fish, water, medicines, and other resources used for subsistence and in traditional practices. In 1923, despite Tribal objections, the Wisconsin/Minnesota Power and Light Company built the Winter Dam to create the Chippewa Flowage, an artificial lake covering 15,300 acres. This lake drowned not only Lac Courte Oreilles villages like Post, but also all the wetlands that provided for the Tribe’s needs, including wild rice. In the 1980s, the Tribe instituted a management plan to restore resources lost under the Flowage and to adapt to other challenges brought by this man-made water body. Their work is improving and restoring wetland habitat and water quality and helping to provide for the needs of Tribal members.

This video was produced in partnership by the Wisconsin Wetlands Association, Wisconsin Tribal Conservation Advisory Council, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe. Additional financial support was provided by the Brookby Foundation, Forest County Potawatomi Foundation, and Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison.

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Special thanks to the following individuals for their help with this video:

• Rick St. Germaine, Historian, Former Tribal Chairman, Lac Courte Oreilles Tribe
• Melissa Lewis, Niibaa-giizhigookwe, Wetland Specialist, Conservation Department of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe and Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Member, Fish Clan (Bullhead)
• Mark Thayer, Monidoo gabo, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe and Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Member, Bear Clan
• Tom Tainter, Zhimaaganish, Energy Manager of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe and Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Member, Crane Clan
• Charlie Otto Rasmussen, Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission
• Pat Eaton, Lac Courte Oreilles Conservation Department

Special thanks to all of the funders of this many-year initiative: