Wisconsin...cheese country. Farms, forests, lakes and rivers...A breath of fresh air for this country girl after spending several days in Chicago on business. By renting a car and driving half a day, I arrived in the small town of Kenesha, the seat of the Menominee tribal council. The name "Menominee" comes from the Ojibwe name manoominii, meaning "wild rice people", as wild rice is one of their most important traditional staples. Since the beginning of time, the Menominee people have made the Green Bay area and Upper Michigan their homelands. What is most surprising are the few artifacts on display at various local museums that give a sense of how these people lived in pre-history eras up to the current time. I checked out the Neville Museum in Green Bay and the Milwaukee Public museum...finding some items that showcase Menominee life but not as much as I would have hoped. What artifacts that were available for display such as some baskets, blunt arrows and games were scattered among other tribes that reside in Wisconsin. I mean, these people were here on their homelands during the Clovis Era which is 13,000 years old! Where are the ancient artifacts of pottery, stone tools, traditional trade routes and ancient village sites? All I can guess is that this small nation wants it to be that way. Keeping their inherited traditions and ancestral knowledge for the new generations to come.
HISTORY:
After selling their lands to the U.S. government through seven treaties from 1821 to 1848, they were moved to their present reservation. Although their customs are quite similar to those of the Chippewa (Ojibwa), their language has a closer affinity to those of the Fox and Kickapoo tribes.
An Eastern Woodlands tribe, the Menominee belong to the Algonquian language branch of North America. They were known as "folles avoines" (wild or foolish oats) by the early French. The Menominees formerly subsisted on a wide variety of plants and animals, with wild rice and sturgeon being two of the most important foods; feasts are still held annually at which each of these is served. The five principal Menominee clans are the Bear, the Eagle, the Wolf, the Crane, and the Moose.
CULTURE:
Menominee mythology is rich with ethical meaning and interrelated in complex ways with the sacred literature of Native American people.
The Menominee believed that the earth was separating the upper and lower worlds. The upper world represented good and the lower world represented evil. These two worlds were divided into several layers, the furthest being the most powerful. The sun was at the highest level in the upper world, followed by the Thunderbird and the Morning Star; the Golden Eagles (symbols of war); and other birds led by the Bald Eagle. The first level below the earth in the lower world was occupied by the Horned Serpent. The next level was the home of the White Deer, which contributed to the origins of the Medicine Dance. The next level was the Underwater Panther. The lowest level was ruled by the Great White Bear.
The Menominee used dreaming as a way of connecting with a guardian spirit in order to gain power. During puberty, both boys and girls would fast for days, living in a small isolated wigwam. Shamans would then interpret their dreams of spirits in animal form and would inform the youngster what responsibilities he or she owed to the guardian spirit.
TODAY:
The Menominee have a community college called the College of the Menominee Nation.
The tribe also owns and operates a Las Vegas style casino, bingo and hotel that has been in operation since June 5, 1987. Approximately 79 percent of the Menominee Casino-Bingo-Hotel's 500 employees are of Native American descent or are spouses of Native Americans.
Forestry is a big industry on the Menominee reservation along with a sawmill.
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