Since time immemorial, Indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes have honored agreements with the land, waters, plants, animals, and each other, ensuring balance and care for all life. The Anishinaabe people are part of the Three Fires Confederacy – Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi. Anishinaabe teachings passed from one generation to the next, speak of a First Treaty with Gichi Manidoo (the Creator), which obligates all of creation to care for one another an ever deepening, far reaching network of kinship. 

RECIPROCITY – mutual exchange of dependence, action, or influence; mutual exchange of privileges. 

DEBA’OOKII – s/he has enough to give away, has enough for everyone 

A treaty is a formal agreement between two or more sovereign nations. Treaties between Tribal Nations and the U.S. are the supreme law of the land as outlined in the United States Constitution Article VI Clause 2. 

In the U.S., treaties between Indigenous tribes and the federal government were meant to establish peace and define land boundaries, but often resulted in disruption of traditional lifeways and forced assimilation. Treaties that impact Anishinaabe people living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan include the Treaty of 1836, the Treaty of 1842, and the Treaty of 1854. These agreements ceded large areas of land under severe duress while reserving certain rights such as Tribal Nation governance and sovereignty, access to education, and management of wenji-bimaadiziyaang (from where we get life) or natural resources by hunting, fishing, and gathering; however, many of the original promises were not honored. Today, Tribal Nations continue to practice and advocate for sovereignty and access to land, water, and resources on which Anishinaabe lifeways depend.