Achievement Goal: Research an example of a sustainable tribal land and natural resource management operation and identify how this operation helps the tribe and tribal people.

Time: One class period

Core: Science

Background: Many American Indian cultures are based largely on traditions, values, and knowledge derived from a close observation of their ancestral lands. Tribal connections to the land are deep and ancient. Large-scale displacement and dispossession of lands has undermined traditional culture and native spirituality. Success in restoring the native land base and the consolidation of tribal lands will reverse this trend. Today, the resource and land management practices of many tribal communities are revitalizing tribal culture while also strengthening the tribal economy. Improving the economic strength of Indian communities is also essential to address problems of unemployment, social issues, and health problems. Sustainable and socially responsible land management offers hope for many tribes as a way to improve tribal members’ livelihoods.

Menominee Tribal Enterprises (MTE Ltd., Keshena , WI ) is a good example of this sort of land management. MTE’s forest products were certified as sustainably managed in 1992 in recognition of their past performance and commitment to sustained-yield, community-based forestry. Their forestry operations are planned and coordinated at the Menominee Forestry Center and represent the cooperative efforts of three agencies: (1) Menominee Tribal Enterprises, (2) Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and (3) the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

After 140 years of harvesting, about 63% of the productive forest land within the sizable Menominee reservation is thought to be fully stocked today and includes many impressive stands of large white pine, sugar maple and red oak. In October 1995, Menominee foresters organized a tour of the reservation forests and explained their highly successful forest management practices to a number of forest industry people.

In this lesson, students will study Menominee Tribal Enterprises as an example of how tribal nations are practicing sustainable land and natural resource management. After they learn about this tribal initiative, they will imagine how various uses and extraction of natural resources can be done sustainably.

Preparation:

• Set up internet access for students to study the Menominee Tribal Enterprises website.

Student Activity:

• Begin the lesson with a discussion of the meaning of “sustainability” as it applies to natural resource management. Have the students look up the definition of “sustainable” in the dictionary or encyclopedia. Ask the students why such a concept is important for tribes and tribal people.
• Allow the students to study the web sites at resource (1) and (2) and conduct additional research on the Menominee Indian Tribe contained in their web site at (3) below.
• Select a group of four students to conduct a more intensive investigation of the Menominee tribe and their forestry program. This team is to gather additional information on the tribal forestry program and to find out what makes the tribal program so notable in the state of Wisconsin. The students will summarize their findings and write a brief report.
• Select a group of four students to conduct an interview with Menominee Tribal Enterprises. Students are to prepare carefully for the 15 minute telephone interview. Students are to inquire about the standards of care and stewardship the organization has for sustainable land management in their forestry program. The students will summarize their findings and write a brief report.
• Select a group of four students to conduct an interview with a representative of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Students are to prepare carefully for the15 minute telephone interview. Students are to inquire about the standards the organization’s attempts to impose on forestry programs. Have the representative name both good and bad forestry practices that exist in non-Indian forestry enterprises in the state. The students will summarize their findings and write a brief report.
• Send the class to the Menominee tribal web site at (3) and click on Constitution. Note in the Preamble and Article XI the language they use to describe the emphasis the tribe places on the control of land uses, and the protection of those lands.
• Ask the students to discuss whether or not they feel the Menominee tribal culture has anything to do with their careful stewardship of natural gifts. Also have the students discuss whether non-Indian enterprises might have the same land connections that encourage careful land stewardship.
• Assign both groups of four to make oral reports of their findings to the entire class. Encourage them to post lists or other illustrations of forestry practices, both good and bad, for the entire class to see.
• Have the entire class discuss the findings and ask them to debate the merits of having culture-driven land values implemented in American Indian enterprises that harvest the gifts of nature.
• Divide the class into small research groups. Each group will be assigned one of the following areas to brainstorm to develop suggestions for sustainable land uses and management practices that might benefit tribal people. As students have discussions within each group, they should focus on suggestions that will improve or restore the environment and promote “sustainable” land use.
• Forestry
• Mining
• Hunting
• Fishing
• Open Lands
• Tourism & Recreation
• Modern Agriculture
• Traditional Harvesting
• Industrial
• Commercial
• Residential
• Public Uses
• Utilities
• Each group will present their ideas to the class. Each student should take part in the presentation and have at least one suggestion to present. The presentations will be in the form of a brief proposal.
• The teacher will mediate in-class discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of each proposal.

Evaluation:

• Evaluate the students’ Internet research capability and preparation for the telephone interviews.
• Assess the manner in which information is presented to the entire class and how the students’ respond, think critically, and communicate their ides about sustainable land management in the discussion.
• Assess whether the students are thinking critically and creatively about sustainable land management on Indian reservations.

Resources:

• Article: “Edge of the Woods, Forestry for the Seventh Generation”, Forestry Department, Menominee Tribal Enterprises , http://www.menominee.edu/mte/MTE%20CURRENT/articles.htm
• Article: “Menominee Tribal Enterprises: A Success Story”, http://www.geocities.com/soarring/wings/Wings18/Article10.htm
• The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, http://www.menominee.nsn.us