Remembering Chief Buffalo and the 1854 Treaty
Join us for Treaty Days in La Pointe this week [[link removed]]

Boozhoo [FirstName],

This week we remember Chief Buffalo of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa [[link removed]] who literally shaped the map of Wisconsin.

168 years ago, the 1854 Treaty of La Pointe [[link removed]] was signed by the United States and the Ojibwe (or Chippewa) people, which established reservations in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan – creating a permanent homeland for the Ojibwe people.

At the time, Chief Buffalo was fed up with what was happening to his people, not only in Red Cliff, but throughout the Great Lakes region. President Andrew Jackson had signed the Indian Removal Act, an executive order to remove Native people from the Great Lakes Region to make way for westward expansion.

After so much death, sickness, and starvation, the people naturally refused to move and Chief Buffalo decided he must end Indian removal once and for all.

The chief was well over 90 years old when he climbed into a birchbark canoe with his interpreter, Benjamin Armstrong, to travel to Washington D.C. and speak with President Millard Fillmore – along with several other band chiefs.

When he eventually arrived in Washington months later, he and the other chiefs negotiated with Pres. Fillmore until he agreed to rescind the removal order and sign the 1854 Treaty. This marked the end of federal efforts to remove tribes onto lands west of the Mississippi River and ensured the Ojibwe people would never have to leave their homelands.

Chief Buffalo died a year after the 1854 treaty was signed, but his life’s work will never be forgotten.

If you need a reason to drive Wisconsin's scenic tour during the fall colors, join me and our Regional Tribal Organizer Laura Miranda [[link removed]] of the Bad River Tribe this week for the 1854 Treaty Day Commemoration [[link removed]]. Events will be happening from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 in La Pointe, Wisconsin on Madeline Island.

Donate to Native Vote [[link removed]]

Miigwech,
Dee Sweet
Native Vote Manager
Wisconsin Conservation Voices

P.S. Want to get more involved in our work? Email me about volunteer opportunities at [email protected] or donate [[link removed]] to support Wisconsin Native Vote’s efforts to get out the Native vote this fall.

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