Treaty v. Law: A Commentary on Treaty Rights, Conservation Regulations, and Their Collision

Abstract

This paper includes a discussion of American Indians as the original conservationists in the United States, a history lesson in Wisconsin treaties and conservation laws, and a case study of the murder of Chief Joe White, a Wisconsin Ojibwe Indian. Joe White was killed hunting out of season in northern Wisconsin; however, due to reserved rights from treaties, White had a right to hunt where he did. This paper will argue that American Indians face stereotypes, namely that they are a wholly nature loving ethnicity. This paper will discuss American Indians as equally destructive to the land as their white counterparts. However, it will detail that although they used the land to their own benefit; they also faced struggles in regards to maintaining their rights to natural resources, and ultimately suffered at the hands of a federal government during an era of treaty making. Amidst the negative there exists a positive: American Indians in the Midwest have become excellent stewards of land.