Sadness About Wisconsin Point

I was wondering if anyone had any information on the following:

My uncle, Bob Miller, has been an advocate for protection of the Indian burial ground located at the end of Wisconsin Point and has been working on this project for over ten years. My ancestors are buried out there and the foundation from my great grandmother’s childhood home still remains. We are descendants of Chief Osagie who owned the land before selling it to Wisconsin (he’s my greatx5 grandfather). Many of us go out there to perform ceremony and the land is held sacred by all local Anishinaabe people.

I was heartbroken when my uncle called me last night to tell me that he had gone out there for a ceremonial purpose to find trees being cut down and land being bulldozed. There are large piles of left over trees and sticks that we worry some delinquents might set on fire. I have a couple of questions for the readers of PDD:

1. I know this was the piece of land Fond du Lac hoped to purchase … has this become final?

2. Does anyone know why this kind of activity is going on?

3. Who do I contact to find out why it’s going on?

I just wanted to make people aware that this is happening. It’s a tragedy to me as this land has been so disrespected in the past and for it to be happening again makes me lose hope. As a fellow native friend of mine said “it’s time to paint up” and I want to know who to give what for.

11 Comments

FranceneStarr

about 11 years ago

I am sorry to hear this. I am not native, but have felt the pain of land I love being disrespected. I hope you find out what is happening.

Dorkus

about 11 years ago

I have no contacts or insight into who may be a good source of information on the matter, but I understand how sacred that land is and I am sure someone here will know who to get in touch with. 

Though the article you listed does have a contact listed: "Steve Kuchera can be reached at (218) 279-5503, toll free at (800) 456-8282, or by e-mail at [email protected]."

He might be a valuable source of information on the matter.

awf

about 11 years ago

If this is where I think it is, it might be related to habitat restoration for terns and piping plover.  If that's the case (and that would be areas on the bay side near the water), the St Louis River Alliance might have some info.

DaVe

about 11 years ago

Or you could call the Superior Public Works Dept. and ask if they know what's up. I asked a Superior city councilor about it. He had seen the trees that were cut down, but didn't know anything about it. He hadn't seen the bulldozing. Good luck.

cb1037

about 11 years ago

The Wisconsin Point management plan can be found at the bottom of this Northwest Regional Planning Commission page.

It is a comprehensive planning document and doesn't have any information about current projects on the point. It does state that the FDL band is negotiating to purchase some land from the federal government, but the federally owned portion is just a small lot at the very end.

I noticed that Karen Diver was on the committee, but did not sign off on the final plan.

The piping plover habitat project is taking place closer to Dutchman's Creek. It is located in the Wisconsin Point management area, but not on the actual point itself. The trees are being removed because they provide cover for predators of the plover.

If any activity is taking place on the point itself, the City of Superior parks department would probably be the people to talk to.

Rae

about 11 years ago

Great info cb1037!

lauriejo57

about 11 years ago

Call (or Email) the City of Superior!  If you make enough noise you'll get plenty of supporters to help save that point.....

waveslave

about 11 years ago

To my knowledge, the piping plover restoration is being done only in the Wisconsin DNR wildlife refuge, which is on the bay side across the road from the Indian Burial Grounds.

cb1037

about 11 years ago

The DNR is doing some work in their fenced in refuge, but the St. Louis River Alliance is doing work on Shafer beach which is between the end of Lake Shore Rd and Dutchman's Creek (end of Moccasin Mike Rd.) The work is being done on Douglas County property in that area.

touchtheearth

about 11 years ago

The land at the very end of the point -- where the buildings are -- are what's being purchased by Fond du Lac. The paperwork has been in process with the feds for a very long time (approximately 10 years?) and has not yet been finalized. I was told they're literally just waiting for one signature. However, this land does not include the area where the cemetery/sacred site is.

The person with the city of Superior that you should contact is Mary Morgan, head of Parks and Recreation.

Tina Slis

about 10 years ago

Hello, this is the first time seeing this article!  This is Tina Slis - a cousin and grand-daughter as well from Joseph Osaugie.  Are you on our facebook Page?  I would like to know what is going on there as well.  Did you get any answers so far?

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