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Zoltan Grossman, University
of Wisconsin – Eau Claire
"Removal Reversed: Native/non-Native joint management of reclaimed
lands"
Some Native American nations have in recent years reclaimed parcels
of their ancestral territories, on treaty-ceded lands outside their
reservations. Although some parcels have been purchased with new gaming
revenues, other parcels have been returned to tribal jurisdiction through
the federal trust responsibility mechanism. In some notable cases, the
tribes jointly manage these parcels with state and federal agencies,
or local non-Indian governments. The Ho-Chunk Nation (formerly the Wisconsin
Winnebago tribe) is reasserting control over parcels of land in southern
Wisconsin from which tribal members had been forcibly removed in the
19th century. Local non-Indian farmers had also been removed from these
sites in the 20th century, for the construction of the Badger Munitions
project and a Kickapoo River dam project. Joint management of these
former project sites divides land ownership between tribal and non-tribal
governments. Yet the governments share a single management board, and
an integrated land-use plan they developed to protect both natural and
cultural resources. The establishment of this "shared space"
seeks to alleviate interethnic conflict, correct past government injustices
committed against both Native and non-Native land-based people, and
provides a common source of place identity. The difficult process of
determining the management structure revolves around defining who is
a local “insider,” and developing common goals for environmental,
economic and cultural sustainability on the site. Successful joint land
management would provide a precedent for the Crandon mine site next
to the Mole Lake Reservation in northern Wisconsin, and other former
project sites in North America.
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