engage in acts that would otherwise be crimes.
>> All right, Professor Schweber, thanks for your
time today. >> Another battle between
property owners in the Lac du Flambeau band of Lake
Superior Chippewa is in court. The tribe recently
declared non-Native peoples could not fish for walleye
and muskie in lakes within tribal territory. And
they're now facing a federal lawsuit. “Here&
Now” reporter Erica Ayisi traveled to the Northwoods
to hear how tribal members feel about their
sovereignty being challenged in court. This
report is in collaboration with Eich T, formerly
Indian Country, today. >> I feel strongly that
everyone needs to take care of what we have on earth.
That means our water, our land, and everyone's
well-being. >> Bagwajikwe Madosh is a
citizen of the Lac du Flambeau band of Lake
Superior Chippewa Indians, and she says she believes
in preserving Ojibwe traditions, which the Lac
du Flambeau tribe is defending in federal court.
>> Let us do what we know best replenish our lakes,
keep our grounds clean, our forests long.
>> Interlaken Lake is one of 19 lakes within the Lac
du Flambeau Reservation that a federal judge
temporarily blocked the tribe from, banning
nonmembers from fishing walleye and muskellunge in
fish. >> We replenish the fish,
we replenish, we take. >> DOGE says their fish
hatchery helps to maintain their stock, but says
there's concern about the fish population.
>> It's not what you use it and then go on with life
without knowing what's going to come next.
>> The state of Wisconsin sued the tribe for blocking
nonmembers from fishing in certain lakes. Tribal
President John Johnson said the fish population is
declining but needed to feed their 4000 tribal
members. change, a lot of it's
logging structure, infrastructure, everything
that goes on in our territory. We're here to
protect it. >> Madhosh says. There's
overfishing on their lakes and rivers.
>> We need to all limit what we take, you know, and
many people are taking what many people can have as
well. >> Flambeau Lake is also
mentioned in the lawsuit against the tribe.
>> Walz, which is Lake of the Flaming Torches.
>> Adrian King grew up here and has seen new neighbors
over the years. >> A lot of these are
non-native houses, as far as I know.
>> He says he supports the tribe in responding to a
second federal lawsuit involving the tribe, this
one filed by the White Sand Lake Association, a group
of non-Native homeowners who are suing the tribe for
access to use a boat launch on a private property on
the shoreline of White Sand Lake that's within the
reservation. >> At least, are
experimenting, are flexing their sovereignty a little
bit more. >> The tribe says the lake
is threatened by documented environmental concerns,
including the presence of Eurasian watermilfoil, an
invasive species under Wisconsin law, saying it
threatens their cultural resources along the
shoreline. >> However, the information
and data came from whether it was our own or the
state's, we, we. We pay attention to that.
>> According to the lawsuit, the association is asking
the Federal court to decide whether a tribal government
may regulate the activities of nonmembers on a fee.
Simple, privately owned land and navigable waters
in the state of Wisconsin. Tory Dolan, assistant
professor of law at the University of Wisconsin and
citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, says
the United States recognizes Indian tribes as
sovereign nations who have the right to govern
themselves, their members, and their territories.
>> It means that they're exercising their ability to
have a say over what happens in their territory
and in their community. >> When we talk about, they
can govern themselves. What does that mean for the
communities that are around them?
>> Generally, just being in tribal territory, you are
going to interact with tribal law in some capacity.
>> Dolan says the Lac du Flambeau reservation is
checkerboarded with non-tribal members
purchasing property there because of the Dawes Act or
General Allotment Act of 1887.
>> Congress created the Dawes Act, which authorized
Indian agents to go into tribal communities, parcel
out the communal land, sell the surplus.
>> In a different federal case. Last year, a judge
sided with non-tribal homeowners in a dispute
over access to four tribal roads that led to private
properties on the Lac du Flambeau reservation.
>> The Bureau of Indian Affairs approved these
easements, and once they expired, the tribe sought
to assert their property rights by closing these
roads. was motivated by a belief
that Native American Indians would die out,
assimilate or be indistinguishable from
non-Indian populations. >> That's why we have so
many legal and political issues today, because they
really didn't expect tribes and tribal people to endure.
>> Dolan says. She believes it's important.
>> Their ability to enforce their own laws means their
ability to continue to exist as a people, to
continue to exist in their territory and to protect
the area. >> King says. In times like
these, the different tribes in Wisconsin come together.
>> They feel a part of the tribe or a tribe, and they
want to do their part to protect it.
>> We as a people want to keep our earth as clean as
possible. >> Meadows says the pending
federal lawsuits involving the Lac du Flambeau are
about keeping their tribal sovereignty.
>> That's the main one that we need to keep for
ourselves. >> And maintaining their
culture. >> And for our children for
times coming in. times coming in.