Treaty Rights
Many of the 200 treaties signed by the US government and Indian Nations guaranteed Indians perpetual rights to their land and resources both on reservations and in the territories ceded to the United States Government. Tribal Nations across the US have continually been forced to re-affirm those treaty rights in the courts, in order to protect and have access to food and other sacred resources. During the 1980's in Northern Wisconsin, treaty rights to spearfish became a focus of conflict and resulted in a federal case affirming spearfishing and other food gathering rights in Ojibwe ceded territory in Wisconsin. The spearfishing controversy was also the beginning of new alliances between Indian and non-Indian people with a common interest in respecting and preserving the land and Wisconsin's natural resources.