March continues for Menominee independence

Menominee Indian High School students brave cold weather to remember Restoration Day
By: 
Lee Pulaski
City Editor

Walking in the footsteps of those who came before took on a significant meaning Dec. 21 for more than 100 Menominee Indian High School students marching in honor of Restoration Day.

Restoration Day is a very important day for the Menominee people, as it marks the day that President Richard Nixon signed the bill that made the tribe a federally recognized sovereign entity once again after the U.S. government took those rights away in 1954, an attempt at cultural assimilation. It restored tribal supervision over members and property, as well as services granted to Native American tribes.

Dawn Wilber, a Menominee culture and language teacher at the high school, noted that before the tribe was recognized again, the Menominee people marched from the reservation to Madison to make their case.

“This is a representation of that,” Wilber said of the 2022 march.

Besides the march, the students also got the opportunity to learn about key moments in the tribe’s history that day, according to Wilber. One classroom had a presentation on both restoration and the Menominee Termination Act of 1954, along with the details of when the Menominee Warrior Society took over the Novitiate in 1975 and more.

“We also had some traditional games that the kids were playing,” Wilber said. “We have a snow snake outside. We had a moccasin game in the library, and then we had the Indigenous Games from North America in the gym.”

Wilber noted the march was originally supposed to be longer, but the subzero temperatures prompted staff to make the walk shorter to protect student health.

“We’re already thinking, what can we do next year?” Wilber said.

Wilber said showing these lessons through demonstration and presentation is vital to help students maintain their identity as Menominee.

“Our children, our students need to learn about their identity and who they are, the importance of being Menominee and how special it is to be a Menominee and to give them their own history on this day,” she said.

Benjamin Grignon, director for Kaehkenawapahtaeq Charter School, said he sees the observance of Restoration Day as the Menominee tribe’s Independence Day.

“This is about renewal, having our students understand what our people went through to reclaim our status as Menominee people,” Grignon said. “All of the factions that happened in the past — the DRUMS (Determination of Rights and Unity for Menominee Stockholders), and MEI (Menominee Enterprises Inc.), the Menominee Warrior Society — it took our whole nation together to bring this idea of being a tribe in the eyes of the government back.”

Grignon said the march and celebration remembers what the Menominee people did in the past while also taking note of who they are now.

“Being the elements, being humbled by nature, I think that it’s important for us to go through a little bit of a struggle in order to do the celebration,” Grignon said.

Myklo Guzman, a sophomore at the school, was asked to carry the eagle staff during the march, which he described as “really cool.”

“I care about it because it makes me remember what they went through, what they had to go through,” Guzman said.

When asked about his feelings if the federal government ever tried to take away the Menominee’s sovereign rights, Guzman was not willing to let such a thing happen.

“I would be mad, because we’ve already been here, so we shouldn’t have to show that we are here,” Guzman said. “We’ve been here already.”


lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com