Today, commercial and subsistence fishing
are as important to tribal members as they ever
were. Although gear, vessels and technology
have changed, tribal members' desire to maintain their culture while conserving the resource
has not.
Before European Settlement
Fishing and the use of gill nets for food
and trade was important to the Great Lakes
tribes before and after European settlement.
Prior to European contact in the 1600s, Great
Lakes Indians had developed a life patterned
around lakeside fishing villages with small gar-
dens of corn, squash and beans, supplementing their fish and vegetables with hunting. Fish
was an important primary food source and
some used the leftovers for fertilizing crops
while whitefish bladders could be used to tan
animal hides. The Great Lakes Indians'primary
catch was whitefish and lake trout.
According to archeologists,Native
Americans have been fishing the Great Lakes
for centuries. In the beginning of the Christian
Era, cooperating families began gathering in
seasonal fishing villages. By the Late
Woodland Era, which began around 800 A.D.,
an adaptation to fishing village life had evolved
that archeologists call the "Inland Shores
Fishery. "Natives used gill nets to harvest
whitefish and lake trout in many of the traditional areas still fished today.
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Europeans Trade with Great Lakes Indians,
Sign Treaty
As Europeans settled, Indians were fishing not only for subsistence (for food) but commercially, selling fish to the Europeans.
As more Europeans settled, their need for fish that
tribal fishers could provide increased.By the
1830s, Indians were working for American fur
companies who developed their own fisheries,
using gill nets and other gear.
In a push for land and statehood for the
Michigan territories, the United States signed a
treaty with regional Ottawa and Chippewa
Indians in March 1836. The tribes retained the
right to fish and hunt in the ceded territory and
bordering waters. Michigan gained statehood in
1837.
Great Lakes Fishery Grows, then Declines
The Great Lakes commercial fishery
grew dramatically around the turn of the centu-
ry. Immigrant fishers using steam powered tugs
and net lifters began harvesting millions of fish
from the Great Lakes.
The Michigan Supreme Court declared in
1930 that Indians had no special fishing and
hunting rights. Many Indian fishers purchased
state licenses to continue fishing.
During the 1950s, the sea lamprey
entered the Great Lakes from the Atlantic
Ocean and contributed to the decline of the
Great Lakes Fishery.
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The Struggle for Treaty Rights
In the mid-1960s, the State of Michigan
began limiting entry into the commercial fishery. Its purpose was to protect a growing
recreational fishery Albert "Big Abe" LeBlanc of
the Bay Mills Indian Community challenged the
state's right to restrict tribal commercial fishing
by setting nets in Lake Superior's Whitefish
Bay in 1971.
Due to his challenge, in 1976 the
Michigan Supreme Court reversed its 1930 ruling. It determined the 1836 and 1855 treaties
did retain some Indian fishing rights free from
state regulation.
U.S. District Court Judge Noel Fox's
1979 decision concluded that Bay Mills Indian
Community and Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of
Chippewa Indians have treaty rights that
include the right to fish in 1836 Treaty-ceded
territory of Lakes Huron, Michigan and
Superior that may not be regulated or restrict-
ed by the state. Grand Traverse Band of
Ottawa and Chippewa Indians was later
included as a party to the Court's decision.
In 1981, the U.S.Court of Appeals
upheld the Fox Decision and the U.S.
Supreme Court denied review.
The Consent Order of 1985
Because of the Fox decision and subsequent court rulings clarifying Indian treaty
rights, the tribes established COTFMA to regulate the tribal fishery. In 1998, the COTFMA
tribes were joined by the Manistee-based Little
River Band of Ottawa Indians, which was federally recognized in 1994.
Although the tribes retained the right to
fish in the Great Lakes, conflicts among tribal
fishers, state licensed commercial fishers, and
sport fishing groups continued. In 1985, the
tribes, the state, the U.S. Department of the
Interior and various sport fishing organizations
entered negotiations. The U.S. District Court
ordered a 15-year agreement called the
"Consent Order" into effect in 1985.
The Order, which expired in 2000, allocated fishery resources between user groups.
Its purpose was to reduce social conflict while
conserving and enhancing valuable fish
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stocks. It also established a mechanism to
resolve disputes by the formation of an
Executive Council made up of COTFMA member tribes' chairmen and state and federal representatives.
When the mechanism failed, the
U.S. District Court stepped in to resolve the
conflict.
The 2000 Consent Decree
The 1985 Consent Order expired May
2000. After two years of negotiations, the
Consent Decree under which 1836 tribes in
Michigan regulate their treaty fishery was
signed Aug. 8, 2000.
The new agreement is the product of
significant changes that occurred over the 15
year duration of the 1985 Consent Order. Two
additional tribes, Little Traverse Bay Band and
Little River Band, had gained federal recognition. The five tribes had developed an effective
tribal system of regulation, conservation and
enforcement, becoming involved in every
aspect of the fishery. Perhaps most importantly, fish populations had changed and moved
over time.
The 2000 Consent Decree establishes
an Executive Council with biological and law
enforcement standing committees. Comprised
of tribal, state and federal biologists, the
Technical Fishery Committee (TFC)operates
by consensus with more structure and well
defined roles than its predecessor, the
Technical Fishery Review Committee. The
Decree also established a citizen Advisory
Group to provide insight and feedback on law
enforcement problems, issues, and concerns
related to the agreement.
The Decree drops the zonal approach
used in the 1985 Consent Order to allocate
the resource. Although 1836 waters are still
placed on a grid system, the fishery is man-
aged by species. The TFC is responsible for
gathering data and establishing total harvest
limits. Tribal, state and federal biologists will
work intensively to help with the implementation of the biologically-driven 2000 Consent
Decree.
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Lake trout rehabilitation is at the heart
of the Decree. Biologists think that by reducing factors affecting mortality - such as fishing and sea lamprey predation - natural
reproduction in Lakes Huron and Michigan
could be achieved. To that end, the Decree
reclassifies deferred areas as primary lake
trout rehabilitation zones. To help achieve
rehabilitation goals in each management unit,
these zones are generally subject to target
annual mortality rates and safe harvest levels.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
continues its active role in the 1836 treaty
fishery by providing technical assistance to
the tribes, helping collect data the tribes need
to regulate the fishery, and collaborating on
lake trout rehabilitation.
COTFMA becomes CORA
Effective January 2001, the inter-tribal regulatory body Chippewa Ottawa Treaty Fishery
Management Authority (COTFMA) officially
changed over to the Chippewa Ottawa
Resource Authority (CORA), gathering all
1836 treaty fishing tribes under its wing and
taking on a larger scope in regulation. CORA
member tribes are (in alphabetical order) :
Bay Mills Indian Community, Brimley, Mich.
Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Suttons Bay, Mich.
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Manistee, Mich.
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Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians, Petoskey, Mich.
Sault Ste.Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.
Like COTFMA, the CORA governing body is comprised of the member-tribe chairmen
and the natural resource entity chairmen of
each tribe.
Under the CORA charter, two new committees were established - the Great Lakes
Resource Committee (GLRC) and the Inland
Lands and Waters Resources Committee
(ILWRC). The GLRC serves as the inter-tribal
management body for the treaty fishery in
1836 treaty waters (similar to COTFMA ’s former role), invested with broad powers to carry
out its charge, while ILWRC oversees inland
resource matters.
The 1836 treaty fishery continues to be one
of the most regulated fisheries in the Great
Lakes, subject to inter-tribal regulations now
under CORA, tribal regulations, Food and
Drug Administration HACCP seafood safety
regulations, and U.S. Coast Guard maritime
safety regulations.
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