A GATH ERIN G BASKISSUEET2 FROM THE I-COLLECTIVE A MULTI-MEDIA COOK BOOK
Walleye and the Fight for Food Sovereignty
“Spear an Indian, Save a Walleye” was a rallying cry, one of hate speech to its core, during the Walleye Wars of the Great Lakes region from 1985 to 1991. Many say this sentiment has yet to be laid to rest and one that began long before. Through the lens of this recipe we will be looking at the historical battle to maintain the fishing treaty rights of 11 Ojibwe Tribes in the Great Lakes region, the resulting fallout, and what Indigenous resilience looks like. With the treaties of St. Peters (1837) and La Pointe (1842) the tribes had secured their right to hunt, fish, and gather on all ceded territory but in 1886 the state of Wisconsin, in direct violation of federal treaty rights, began applying state laws to the Tribes and created what is effectively now called a hunting season. Following
that up in 1908 with the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling it had total control over Indigenous fishing and hunting rights, a move that saw no pushback from the federal level for around another 66 years. We know that the 18th and early 19th centuries were the apocalypse for many of our ancestors, 529 years to date, but the movement towards the eradication of Indigeneity was, and still is, very much in motion. By the 1950’s things had built up to the point that the Bad River Tribe had essentially declared a Cold War against the Division of Natural Resources that culminated in the confiscation of fishing spears, nets, rifles, fish, wild rice, game, and the incarceration of those that chose to continue fighting for their treaty
rights. In 1974 the brothers Fred and Mike Tribble of Lac Courte Oreilles were assigned to study their treaty rights in an Indian Law class in 1974 led them to a passage that stated they had the right to hunt and fish in ceded territory. Upon asking their professor what they could do about it he said they would need a “test case”, meaning they would need to get arrested exercising the treaty right which they did and were found guilty. Along with the 1974 Boldt decision in Washington State upholding Indigenous fishing rights and the subsequent appeals in the LCO/ Tribble case that led to them winning the case in 1983 would lead to yet another assault; The Walleye Wars. In recounting stories from his childhood, and the Walley Wars, Ernie Stevens III (Oneida) shared a few stories that are so
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reflective of our current atmosphere in the so called U.S. that they need to be retold. He recalled for us two separate accounts of vehicles attempting to run over those standing up for their rights and one actually running over the foot of a little girl that an adult was attempting to rescue. We see this tactic being used by extremists in the news regularly, most notably the death of Heather Heyer and the injurying of 38 others, by white supremecist James Alex Fields during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville but in 2020 it was reported that there were “72 incidents of cars driving into protesters across 52 different cities'' and Oklahoma and Iowa have recently passed laws that grant immunity to drivers who strike or injure protesters with their vehicles. Concurrent with that was the dehumanization of Indigenous peoples. From burning flags with Natives on them, to mannequins dressed
in regalia hanging from trees, armed white men/women, and the many signs calling for the outright murder of the Land and Water Defenders of their time we can see reflections of today mirrored in this ugly history. This all culminated with a lawsuit filed against the sheriff and “counter protesters'' for violation of civil rights for racial reasons which effectively took it out of local hands and into federal jurisdiction and ultimately put an end to the protests. Speaking to resilience, and one of the things that was born from this, is the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commision. Tasked with protecting the reservation ecosystems they have become leaders in the caretaking of the land and water but also of cultural preservation and bringing together of the Tribes. Similarly in the Red Lake tribal community of northern Minnesota the Red Lake Walleye Recovery Program has been a flagship for sustainability and food sovereignty in the region. In conversations
with Kevin Hart (Red Lake) I heard similar tales of racism during the Walleye War period but our conversation soon drifted to the population collapse of the fish in the mid-90’s due to overharvesting and the moratorium enacted to stop commercial fishing until the walleye population was recovered, which was enacted in 1997 and ended 2006. To date, the recovery has been remarkable with an estimated population of 90 million walleye. Another story he shared that bears telling is that of the cultural hero Nanabozho and his encounter with the american folk hero Paul Bunyon. The way he told it was that Paul Bunyon had come up to Red Lake looking for white pines to harvest and bumped into Nanabozho. After being asked to leave Paul Bunyan and Nanabozho got into a fight resulting in Nanabozho pulling out a “Red Lake Blackjack”, a Walleye, and smacking him across the face with it, sending him on his way, and telling him to go cut wood some other place. This happening was celebrated by the creation of a hand painted 30’x40’ sign depicting the incident that was placed right at the reservation line, along with postcards dating back to the late 1960’s, where it stayed until bordertown racists cut it down in the middle of the night in the (80’s?) but has recently found some artistic resurgence in the community and hopeful will see a resurrection of this iconography. We can see through the historical lens the amount of resilience our Indigenous relatives in the Great Lakes region have, and the struggles they've had to contend with to maintain their relationship to the water and land but, while all of this beauty exists, and they are frontrunners
in ecological sustainability, the reality is that these things are far from over. With harassment and shots fired at traditional harvesters as recently as May of 2020 with the outcome of James Kelsey, 62, pleading no contest to using a gun while intoxicated and receiving a $343.50 fine, 80 hours of community service, having to write an apology letter to the victims that must include an acknowledgement of the treaty rights of Indigenous peoples, and a ban from entering Lac Flambeau tribal lands along with a recent thread. Meanwhile on a now deleted Wisconsin Outdoorsman Facebook page post it is stated, “Is there a bag limit on Indians?”, “I’m all for spearing Native Americans!”, and “Is it legal to spear Indians?”, and as of July 7, 2021 the people of First Nations Treaty 8 territory in British Columbia they are battling for their 1899 treaty rights regarding hunting and fishing. As you can see we have a long way to go.
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Tre’Shaun Neadeau Makwa/Bear Clan
An experienced fisherman at the ag He discovered his love or fishing be Tre is excited to go walleye, perch, n
ge of 16. efore the age of 5. No matter if it’s -30 below or 90+ degrees, northern, crappie and his favorite bass fishing.
Corn meal and seed crusted Walleye
INGREDIENTS: 4 FISH FILLETS 1 CUP UNSALTED, TOASTED PEPITAS 1 CUP UNSALTED, TOASTED SUNFLOWER SEEDS 2 CUPS CORN MEAL 1/8 CUP SUMAC 2 TBSP SALT SUNFLOWER OIL
PREPARATION: 1 IF DESIRED, REMOVE SKIN AND BONES FROM FISH.
2 PLACE PEPITAS AND SUNFLOWER SEEDS IN FOOD PROCESSOR AND PULSE UNTIL SEEDS ARE COURSE.
3 PLACE SEEDS IN BOWL AND MIX WITH CORN MEAL, SALT AND SUMAC.
COOK: PREHEAT A FRYING PAN TO MEDIUM HEAT. PLACE SEED AND CORN MEAL IN A CONTAINER THAT HAS A FLAT BOTTOM. IN ANOTHER CONTAINER WITH A FLAT BOTTOM, POUR A GENEROUS AMOUNT OF SUNFLOWER OIL. COAT FISH WITH OIL AND THEN WITH THE FISH DREDGE ON BOTH SIDES. ADD A LITTLE SUNFLOWER OIL TO PREHEAT PAN. CAREFULLY LAY DOWN FISH FILLETS IN PAN AND SEAR, TURN AND SEAR OTHER SIDE. COOK UNTIL FISH MEAT IS NOT TRANSLUCENT. OVERCOOKING WILL RESULT IN DRY FISH
Vern DeFoe
Anishinaabe
I’m Anishinaabe from Red Cliff Wisconsin and I belong to the bear clan. I work for NATIFS and my current position is Culinary Program Specialist. Ive been cooking for a living for over 20 years in some shape or form. Currently my main focus is to learn from and to teach other natives about anything food related. I believe that our foods are another part of our culture that is very important in revitalizing and empowering indigenous people. This recipe is simple, healthy and tastes good. All of the ingredients are also indigenous to the Anishanaabe area. Corn is one of the most important and versatile foods for indigenous people throughout most of North and South America for thousands of years. Seeds are mostly saved for replanting but they’re also delicious and healthy. They also give a nice texture to fish. Sumac has a citrus like flavor that pairs well with fish and also looks nice.
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I use regular crackers. Crush them up until they’re almost a fine powder. Dip them in eggs, put them in the crackers, and deep fry. Don’t take long.
-Kevin Hart
GRATITUDES: CONTRIBUTORS Tessa Sayers Vern Defoe Kevin Hart Tashia Hart
Ernie Stevens Tre’Shaun Neadeau Vince Johnson
A GATHERING BASKET STAFF M. Karlos Baca Britt Reed Trennie Collins Quentin Glabus Kristina Stanley
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