August 28
Arlene Smart
Bruce Malouf

August 29
Sandra Rameriez
Robert Blanchard
Francis LaGrew

August 30
Donald Smart

August 31
Gerald Gordon

On August 21, 2019, the Bad River Natural Resources Department and technical experts discovered over 48 feet of exposed pipeline on Enbridge line 5 at the Denomie Creek site identified as slope #18. Various interactions with storm events combined with the natural unpredictability of the land and water have naturally eroded embankments throughout the area.


Tribal staff and technical experts are currently on site analyzing the threat and have been directed to prepare for emergency management response. Over the last few years, Bad River NRD has been communicating to Enbridge that these right-of-ways need to be continually and routinely monitored and brushed because of the natural changes of the landscape and threats the pipeline poses. Slope #18 represents an area that Enbridge has not presently brushed and maintained on the surface.

In a letter dated August 21, 2019, from Chairman Michael Wiggins, Jr., to Enbridge President Guy Jarvis, Wiggins states, "I do not need to tell you that the discovery of this exposed and unsupported stretch of pipeline is a highly significant and alarming development." Chairman Wiggins acknowledged two steps considered by the Band to be essential to addressing the situation:

1. The Band requested the cessation of oil flow through the reservation.
    
2. The Band requested that Enbridge respond and participate in the further investigation of the situation.

The Band filed suit in the Western District of Wisconsin Federal Court on July 23, 2019, asserting invaluable resources at stake and that certain areas were at risk for pipeline exposure.

With over 7,000 members, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians is located on an 125,000-acre reservation in an area within Ashland and Iron Counties on the south shore of Gichi-Gami (Lake Superior). The Ojibwe people have a long and rich heritage throughout the Great Lakes region prior to European contact and through to today. Treaties signed by 11 Ojibwe Tribes ceded millions of acres throughout the region, including what is currently the upper one third of the State of Wisconsin, but retained the rights to hunt, fish, and gather in the ceded territories, both on and off of their reservation land.

By Patty Loew

Why do spear fishers listen for frogs chirping? How do you know if you've trapped a muskrat? Why should you knock rice in a straight line?

Teens who participated in this year's Tribal Youth Media ( TYM) workshops know the answers to these questions. Frogs chirp when the lakes reach 48 degrees and male walleye begin to spawn. You plant a flag in the muskrat house and when it dips, you know you've trapped a muskrat. You knock rice in a straight line so you know which areas have been harvested. 

Under a National Park Service grant, teens have been interviewing Bad River Elders and others about Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). The grant, directed by Bad River Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO) Edith Leoso with media help from Tribal Member Patty Loew, seeks to gather TEK from Elders about seasonal activities like berry picking, spearfishing, ricing, trapping and smoking fish, among other traditional practices.

Two other communities, Red Cliff and Lac du Flambeau, are partnering with Bad River on the project. The video interviews will be archived separately and each community's THPO will decide what is appropriate to share with the National Park Service. Park officials say they plan to use the material for technical reports and management plans for the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.


On July 31st. TYM teens, Isabel Kraft and Alyssa DeNasha, traveled to Sandy Lake with Loew to document this year's commemoration of the 1850 event. The two 14-year-olds interviewed participants who shared the history of the tragedy, in which the U.S. government moved the annual treaty payment location from Madeline Island to Sandy Lake, Minnesota, in an attempt to remove the Ojibwe from their homelands. Hundreds of Tribal people died of exposure, starvation, and disease.

This is the 12th year Patty has offered the month-long the Tribal Youth Media workshops at Bad River, where participants learn videography, music composition, editing, photography and web design. 

Patty is a journalism professor and Director of the Native American and Indigenous Research Center at Northwestern University (NU). "Whether it's a pipeline, factory farm, or mining threat, it seems like our natural and cultural resources are always under siege," she said. "What we're trying to do is help create the next generation of storytellers and land stewards."

Patty said that she could not have offered the media training without the help of her colleague Fawn Youngbear-Tibbets (White Earth Ojibwe) and research assistant Isabel St. Arnold (Keweenaw Bay), a sophomore at Northwestern. For the past two years, NU has provided financial support to offer the free workshops.

The Bad River Tribe's cell phone policy offers general guidelines for using personal and company cell phones during work hours.

The purpose of this policy is to help us all get the most out of the advantages cell phones offer the Tribe while minimizing distractions, accidents, and frustrations improper cell phone use can cause.

Cell phones should not be allowed to distract employees from business tasks. They should not be used for surfing the internet or gaming during work hours. Cell phones should never be used while driving, operating equipment, or in any situation where they can cause accidents.

View the Draft Policy

Last week, Wisconsin WIC celebrated the services offered to families during Enrollment Week (August 19-23, 2019).

The purpose of the WIC Program (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) is to promote and maintain the health and well-being of pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women, infants and children.

WIC provides nutrition education, breastfeeding education and support, supplemental nutritious foods, and referrals to other health and nutrition services.

During Enrollment Week, WIC Projects across the state highlighted the amazing benefits of the WIC Program including the use of WIC foods, and acknowledging community partners and congratulating caregivers.

Program services are available to Wisconsin residents who are pregnant, breastfeeding or have had a baby in the past six months. Along with women, infants and children up to age five are served through WIC. Fathers, grandparents or foster parents may enroll their children in WIC.

Many working families qualify for WIC. Participants need to have income that is equal or less than WIC income guidelines, and have a nutrition or health need identified through an assessment. The program uses the same income guidelines as the free and reduced-price school lunches. A family may be eligible for WIC if they participate in Kinship Care, W-2, FoodShare, BadgerCare, or Food Distribution on Indian Reservations.

WIC has 68 project locations across the state including services at all 11 federally recognized Tribes. Families may learn more about WIC assistance by contacting the WIC office at 715-682-7133, ext. 4343.

Health & Wellness AODA Program Cultural Events

View Application

The fall 2019 round of applications for the Northern Wisconsin Outdoor Experiential Education Scholarship is now open.

This scholarship is designed to help youth (and adults!) of the Chequamegon Bay area participate in outdoor educational programs through programs like Outward Bound, Wilderness Inquiry or Northland College.

The deadline to apply is October 1, 2019.

 

View the Brochure

Visit these sites for current employment opportunities:

Bad River Lodge and Casino

Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission

Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College

Job Center of Wisconsin

Northwest Wisconsin Concentrated Employment Program (CEP)

2020 Census Jobs