Tribal members take long, cold walk to mark anniversary of restoration

KESHENA -- In an effort to remember and reflect upon the goals of their elders, 70 students, staff and Menominee tribal members walked a 6.5 mile route in the frigid single-digit temperatures Wednesday to mark Restoration Day.

The walk, the vision of students and teachers at Menominee Indian High School, was held to pay tribute to the Menominee who walked from Keshena to Madison in October 1971 to get the attention of government after the tribe had been terminated.

Students, staff and community members walked in memory of the original walkers and their family members. Wednesday marked the anniversary the Menominee Restoration Act was signed into law by President Nixon -- Dec. 22, 1973.

"It was cold, but it was important because I was walking from my grandmother, she was one of the women who participated in 1971. She talked to me about how much it meant to the tribe then," said sophomore Dan Blackowl, who carried the eagle feather staff as the walk from Middle Village to Keshena ended at the high school. "It's an honor, usually just the elders get to carry it."

Menominee language and culture teacher John Teller said that the students were the best to lead this effort.

"They were at the front, carrying the flag and eagle staff, and the banner. We wanted them to lead the memorial walk. You traditionally pick the best to lead, and we wanted the younger ones to lead," he said.

The land that now comprises the Menominee Indian Reservation, which is a portion of their original land holdings, was accepted in the Treaty of 1854 as a "permanent home."

During the 1940s the Tribe won a court case against the government in the amount of $7,650 for mismanagement of the Menominee forest. Officials in Washington D.C. then singled out the Menominee tribe as a prime candidate for a new congressional experiment called Termination. On June 17, 1954 the Tribe was completely terminated.

In 1970, a group of tribal members formed a grassroots organization called Determination of Rights and Unity of the Menominee Shareholders (D.R.U.M.S.) set out to seek restoration of the tribe's status. In 1971 DRUMS leaders Jim White and Lloyd Powless conceived a 220-mile march from Keshena to Madison to dramatize the tribe's problems to the people of Wisconsin and to seek the help of Gov. Pat Lucey.

Tribal members take long, cold walk to mark anniversary of restoration

KESHENA -- In an effort to remember and reflect upon the goals of their elders, 70 students, staff and Menominee tribal members walked a 6.5 mile route in the frigid single-digit temperatures Wednesday to mark Restoration Day.

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