The White Earth Band is located in Northern Minnesota. The Tribe protects Ma’iingan through a proclamation which establishes the reservation as a wolf sanctuary.
Wolf Conference
In 2013, the Tribe hosted a wolf conference in opposition to Minnesota’s wolf hunts (Quam, 2013).
“Residents on White Earth are preparing for the Reservation’s first ever White Earth Wolf Conference, as enrolled members there continue the fight for the right to ban wolf hunting on that land.
“The gray wolves, which are sacred to Native Americans, were taken off the federal endangered or threatened species list last January after roughly 37 years of protection.
“Although some legislators and many Native Americans fought for a five-year moratorium on wolf hunting, that never happened as the Minnesota DNR deemed the wolf population strong enough to withstand a hunting season and the majority of Minnesota legislators agreed. The wolf was being viewed as a game animal whose population should be controlled just like deer, and last fall it was open season on wolves in Minnesota.
“‘Governor Dayton could have stopped this with an executive order, but he didn’t, and I think in Indian country there was a sense of betrayal,’ said Bob Shimek, an enrolled member of the White Earth Indian Reservation and an activist in preserving the wolves. ‘The wolves are our brothers…to shoot at them is like shooting at your brother.'”
White Earth Land Recovery Project
“The mission of the White Earth Land Recovery Project is to facilitate the recovery of the original land base of the White Earth Indian Reservation while preserving and restoring traditional practices of sound land stewardship, language fluency, community development, and strengthening our spiritual and cultural heritage”
Part of White Earth’s Land Recovery Project is to protect Ma’iingan.
Works Cited
Quam, P. (2013, February 27). White Earth prepares for first wolf conference. Detroit Lakes. Retrieved April 24, 2019, from https://www.dl-online.com/news/573947-white-earth-prepares-first-wolf-conference
Know Ma'iingan 