|
The Wisconsin Walleye War became the name for late-20th century events of civil protest in Wisconsin in protest of Ojibwe hunting and fishing rights. In a 1983 case, the tribes challenged state efforts to regulate their hunting and fishing off the reservations, based on their rights in the treaties of St. Peters (1837) and La Pointe (1842). On August 21, 1987, the U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb ruled that six Ojibwe (Chippewa) tribal governments had the right under these treaties for hunting and fishing throughout their former territory. Protests erupted in Wisconsin among Environmentalist, conservationist & sports fishermen opposed to tribal members spearfishing walleye during spawning season. Protests continued into 1991 against the Ojibwe exercising their treaty rights through the walleye spawning seasons. Actions on several fronts gradually led to sport fishermen daily bag limits being reduced to 2 fish, if any on some lakes, where only one fish may be over 14 inches. DNR shocking has notice a large reduction in walleye females of breeding age, up to 70% in some lakes. Mostly only female fish are speared while spawning eggs since male fish come later to "milk' the eggs after the females have dispersed & spearing has ended. Only sportmen's tax dollars goes to fund fish hatcheries to replace depleted stock due to spearing. There are no recorded numbers of walleyes or muskies reported to the DNR from the tribes spearing during spawning season. In addition to coverage by the regional and national press, the events were chronicled in a ''Mother Jones'' 1991 article,〔Vold, M. 1991 "A people's birthright: Not for sale." ''Mother Jones'' 16 (1): 42〕 books published on this topic in 1994 and 2002, and a documentary film, ''Lighting the Seventh Fire'' (1995). ==Background of court cases== During the 1970s, American Indian activism increased on a number of fronts, in terms of land claims, treaty rights and sovereignty to exercise traditional practices. This particular conflict started in the 1970s, when two members of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of the Ojibwe Nation crossed a reservation boundary that divided Big Round Lake, cut a hole in the ice, and harvested fish with spears, contrary to Wisconsin state laws. In a class taught by attorney Larry Leventhal, the members had learned their band held by treaty an unresolved claim to off-reservation hunting and fishing rights in the northern part of the state. The members were arrested and a Sawyer County judge convicted them under state law of poaching, as they were fishing out of season. The Lac Courte Oreilles band joined the legal fight on behalf of the two tribal members, contending that they had the right to fish off the reservation without restrictions because of mid-19th century treaties made by the bands with the US government; at the time, the bands ceded hundreds of thousands of acres of land to the US. The case was heard in US District Court as it related to treaty rights. This court upheld the band's treaty right to traditional hunting and fishing throughout its former territories, without regulation by the state. The state appealed, and the Seventh Court of Appeals' decision also upheld the rights of the Ojibwe. The state appealed again, but the United States Supreme Court declined to hear the state's argument to reverse the lower court decision. After the highest court refused to reverse, five other Chippewa bands joined the Lac Courte Oreilles' legal action. The Seventh Circuit sent the case back to U.S. District Court with instructions for the court to determine the scope of the treaty rights and to resolve conflicts related to regulation of off-reservation resources. On August 21, 1987, the U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb ruled that six Ojibwe (Chippewa) tribal governments had the right under these federal treaties for hunting and fishing throughout their former territories. In settling questions about regulation of off-reservation hunting and fishing, Judge Crabb ruled the state could intervene to protect natural resources, but that tribes had the right first to establish their own regulatory system. This could prevail if they showed the court their system was as protective of the resource as was the state's system. After detailed scientific testimony, Crabb approved a natural resource code adopted by the six tribal governments, which allowed members to harvest walleye and other fish using traditional methods during the spawning season, when lakes are closed to state-licensed anglers. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wisconsin Walleye War」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|