At right: Michigan Department of Natural Resources officers work to pull fishing nets placed by members of the Mackinac Tribe of Odawa and Ojibwa Indians Thursday, May 7, near the Green Island boat launch in Moran Township. Dave Hanson and Barry Adams of the Mackinac Tribe were issued citations by the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians Police for placing the nets without valid licenses. The Mackinac Tribe members set the nets to confront treaty fishing rights issues. Tickets issued by Sault Tribe Law Enforcement were the outcome when members of the Mackinac Tribe tested the waters on the issue of treaty commercial fishing rights near St. Ignace late last week.

Carrying licenses issued by the Mackinac Tribe, Barry Adams and Dave Hanson of the Mackinac Tribe of Odawa and Ojibwa Indians

received citations from the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa

Indians Law Enforcement Thursday, May 7, for placing commercial fishing nets in Lake Michigan without valid fishing licenses. In issuing the civil infraction tickets, Sault Tribe Law Enforcement worked in conjunction with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which pulled the nets out of the water near Green Island minutes after they were placed.

Chief Robert Marchand (left) of Sault Tribal Police issues Dave Hanson of the Mackinac Tribe of Odawa and Ojibwa Indians a ticket for placing a commercial fishing net near Green Island without a valid license Thursday, May 7. Mr. Hanson and Barry Adams placed nets in the water between the island and the mainland to assert the Mackinac Tribe's fishing rights. (Photograph by Jerry Dutcher) Placing the fishing nets was a move by the Mackinac Tribe to gain state and federal recognition as a "signatory tribe" to the Treaty of Washington signed in 1836. The fishermen's plans were announced to the media and supporters Monday, May 4, and more than 20 Mackinac Tribe members watched from Boulevard Drive as nets were placed and citations were issued.

The tribe is working to schedule a meeting with representatives from the Department of the Interior to gain federal recognition and separate itself from the Sault tribe to establish its own tribal government and identity.

Sault Tribal Police Chief Robert Marchand, who was at the boat launch in Moran Township near Green Island Thursday, said tribal police officers were there to "make sure everybody's following the rules and regulations of the Sault Tribe."

Darryl Brown of the Mackinac Tribe, one of the organizers of the net setting, spoke for Mr. Adams and Mr. Hanson and said they do not plan to pay the tickets.

"We're not worried about that," he said. "We contacted our attorneys on it and were advised not to take any action on it. We're formulating our appeal to the [U.S.] Department of the Interior."

Lieutenant John Cischke of the DNR post in Newberry confirmed that a DNR boat was waiting on the opposite side of Green Island for several hours for the Mackinac Tribe members to place their nets. He said the DNR only pulled the nets at the request of Sault Tribe Law Enforcement and has no further involvement at this time.

"Those people were card carrying members of the Sault tribe. By them being card members, it was turned over to the Sault tribe," he said.

Members of the Mackinac Tribe applied to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for commercial fishing licenses Tuesday, April 28, but were denied because the federal government does not recognize the tribe. The Mackinac Tribe subsequently issued its own commercial fishing licenses to Messrs. Adams and Hanson.

Gerald Parish, superintendent of the BIA office in Sault Ste. Marie, told The St. Ignace News he offered to assist the tribe members in appealing their denied license request. He said he does not have the authority to grant permits to non-federally recognized tribes.

Mr. Brown said the offer of appeals assistance is a step in the right direction to open discussions to gain federal recognition.

"Once we've asserted our rights, there's a lot of other rights that will follow," he said. "There are lots of people who are waiting for this day."

The move mirrors the 1971 setting of nets by Albert "Big Abe" LeBlanc, a member of the Bay Mills Indian Community, in support of treaty fishing rights for tribal members. It was challenged by the state, which charged Mr. LeBlanc had violated state law. While his legal case was ongoing, in 1973, the federal government brought suit against the state on behalf of the Bay Mills Indian Community, joined by the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, in a case focused on the existence of fishing rights under the 1836 Treaty of Washington. Sault tribe members who are licensed commercial fishermen today ply their trade under these treaty rights, also granted to four other tribes recognized in the 1836 settlement, the Bay Mills Indian Community, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, the Little River Band of Odawa Indians, and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.