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December 17th, 2013
Iron County Board of Supervisors
Iron County Courthouse
300 Taconite St.
Hurley, WI 54534
Iron County Board of Supervisors:
The Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa would like to formally express our objection with any attempt made by Iron County to evict or relocate the Lac Courte Oreilles Harvest Education and Learning Project Camp.
The Lac Courte Oreilles Harvest Education and Learning Camp is currently located on lands that are open to the public due to it being enrolled in the Wisconsin Managed Forest Law. More importantly, treaties signed in 1836, 1837, 1842, and 1854, hunting, fishing, and gathering rights were reserved by the Tribes themselves, in the areas ceded to the United States. The land currently in question falls within the ceded territory of the 1842 Treaty between the Lake Superior Chippewa and the United States of America. The Lac Courte Oreilles Harvest Education and Learning Project Camp is an exercise of the treaty rights and to serve an eviction notice to this group of individuals is not only a disregard, but a violation of the treaty rights under the 1842 Treaty and will be interpreted as such by tribal members of other Lake Superior Chippewa tribes such as the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
Lastly, efforts for these rights to be recognized and reaffirmed have been the subject of numerous court cases over the past forty years. The proposed actions by the Iron County Board to close the camp would likely trigger similar actions.
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Rose Gurnoe-Soulier, Chairperson
Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
88385 Pike Road, Highway 13
Bayfield, WI 54814