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Ottawa National Forest Campgrounds and Treaty Rights
Release Date:
Contact(s): Charly Loper
The Ojibwe people have long lived in and around the present-day Ottawa National Forest. The United States government bought land from the Ojibwe people in the 1842 Treaty. This Treaty from 1842 is a legally binding agreement between the United States and several Tribes. As part of the Treaty, the Ojibwe people retained the right to hunt, fish, and gather on the lands for their future generations. These retained rights are called Treaty Rights or usufructuary right which means the right to use property. Other common usufructuary rights in America include mineral rights or logging rights. A person may sell property to another person but retain mineral rights and could drill or mine materials underground. Likewise, the Ojibwe people sold their land to the United States but they retained the property rights to hunt, fish, gather, and otherwise occupy these lands.
One common use of the Treaty Rights is camping at Ottawa National Forest campgrounds. Members of the following tribes can use campgrounds, fee-waived, on the Ottawa National Forest: Bay Mills Indian Community, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, and Lac Vieux Desert Band of Chippewa in Michigan; the Sokaogon/Mole Lake, Lac du Flambeau, Lac Courte Oreilles, St. Croix, Bad River, and Red Cliff Bands in Wisconsin; and the Fond du Lac and Mille Lacs Bands in Minnesota.
Learn more on the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission website.
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