This is Chief Oshkosh (ca. 1795-1858) of the Menominee Indigenous Americans, who occupied 10 million acres of land around Wisconsin until the US government forced a takeover. The Menominee had sided against the US in the War of 1812, but later helped the American government in a confrontation with the American Indigenous leader Black Hawk in 1832. Regardless, the US government leaders weren’t actually concerned about fairness towards the Menominee when they negotiated the Treaty of the Cedars in 1836.
At this treaty, the Menominee leader Oshkosh was pressured into signing away 4 million acres of his people’s homelands for the paltry sum of 17 cents per acre. Had Oshkosh not yielded, the terms would have been much worse. As it was, Oshkosh was able to use his negotiation skills to keep just under 300,000 acres in Wisconsin (near Keshna Falls) for the Menominee. This was much better than being forced to move his people far away, which was what the US government was promoting.
Oshkosh promoted sustainable silviculture, and up through today the Menominee have managed 230,000 acres of forest in line with this legacy. In Chief Oshkosh’s words: “Start in the west, make your circle by taking only the sick and mature trees, yet, keep in mind by taking care of the other creatures and leaving it as you first came, as so when you make your circle to the point of the start, you then will again have another stand ready for you on your next circle. For it is truly this circle, if we take care of her, Mother Earth, for it is true that she will always be there to take care of you!”
Source(s): Www.wisconsinfirstnations.org “Chief Oshkosh: leader in troubled times.” UW Oshkosh today, (uwosh.edu), “Moments in history: Treaty of the Cedars ceded land that became Oshkosh,” Jan 20, 2021 by Stephen Kercher. Www.wisconsinhistory.org, “Chief Oshkosh.”
