Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Minnesota Department of Forest Resources. Likewise, the University of Minnesota Department of Forest Resources does not guarantee the accuracy of information presented in these pieces. 

LAND MANAGEMENT CAN TAKE ON many different forms and priorities with a variety of tools for implementation. However, Tribal communities take on a different approach to land management from their state and federal counterparts. Tribal communities in northeastern Minnesota value land management that sustains and enhances ecological communities while also sustaining their lifeways including hunting, fishing, and gathering.  Their Indigenous practices for stewardship and mutual benefit are formed through a deeply rooted relationship with the land and ecosystem, where humans are part of that ecosystem.

Fond Du Lac, Bois Forte, and Grand Portage Tribal communities survived and thrived in what is now Minnesota long before Europeans settled in North America.

Indigenous communities are part of the ecosystem, using their resources and tools to enhance their food sources such as moose, blueberries, wild rice, and many more. The philosophy behind this stewardship is deeply rooted in a relationship with the land that is prevalent in the language and culture of these communities. Jaylen Strong, director of the Bois Forte Heritage Center and Tribal member of the Bois forte Chipewa band, spoke of what it means to be Native. “Elders, as our knowledge holders, are grounded in spiritual teachings that are connected to the earth.” Indigenous elders embody the knowledge of the 7th generation philosophy depicted in the image below, and why it personifies what it means to be Native. Strong explained that it's an ancient philosophy where decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future. So kids seven generations down should be able to live here with the decisions made today about how resources are used.  Strong describes how their cultural identity and their language are tied to the land. It's an Indigenous view of sustainability, one where everyone is responsible to use, benefit, and protect. 

Native Tribal communities steward the land in a way that benefits both human and non human beings. At the Grand Portage Trust lands, Tribal natural and cultural resources management prioritize managing landscapes to enhance their food sources by using culturally significant tools such as fire to benefit the ecosystem, with humans being part of that ecosystem. Different microhabitats are created due to natural disturbance regimes and the cultural use of fire to enhance various food sources for Tribal communities. The use of this fire benefits both humans as well as the native flora and fauna. Fire on the landscape in Northeastern Minnesota is an important cultural tool to open up dense fire dependent forested areas and enhance understory vegetation, such as rejuvenating culturally significant blueberry patches. Fire also creates a natural disturbance that benefits moose populations, a food source for Tribal communities, by providing increased forage to moose such as aspen saplings that tend to be early succession species after a large disturbance. Dave Grosshuesch, U.S. Forest Service Wildlife Biologist, also gave examples of how they manage forests in the Superior National Forest for moose habitat. Without their ability to incorporate fire on the restoration site, Grosshuesch and his team used a silviculture prescription to simulate what a natural fire disturbance would look like to promote moose habitat. 

Indigenous practices for stewardship and mutual benefit are formed through a deeply rooted relationship with the land and ecosystem, where humans are part of that ecosystem. We see that western culture has strayed away from these traditional practices and is prevalent in the language of the 1964 wilderness act. The language in this document emulates an exclusive nature of humans in the environment or humans being a natural part of ecosystem changes. For example, the  Kawishiwi Ranger Station at the U.S. Forest Service Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness follows the philosophy of the Wilderness Act in their practice of LAC (Limits of Acceptable Change). This is a monitoring system that looks at monitoring ecological character over time to understand degradation impacts of humans. The management ideal inherently leaves out humans as being part of the ecosystem. Moreover, in the Minnesota State Parks system, Tettegouche State Park land management is focused on visitorship, accessibility, and trail maintenance. The ecological management component of the park takes a back seat largely due to time and resource constraints (mainly staff), according to the Park manager, Kate Foshay. Additionally, Indigenous cultural land management and practices on the land are absent, despite being on 1854 treaty territory. 

Western view of land management has lost touch with how to listen and relate to the natural environment and truly steward the land with mutual respect, with seven generations in mind. Tribal communities are keeping that holistic stewardship alive and integrating more resources to incorporate these philosophies into practice would greatly benefit state, federal, and private land management.

It seems as though the Northeastern Minnesota State Parks system and U.S. The Forest Service defaults the western approach in some circumstances to land management as embodied in the 1964 wilderness act. However, focusing more resources to incorporate more Traditional Ecological Knowledge and cultural land management into strategic planning and implementation moving forward would be mutually beneficial. Indigenous language and culture are an important components of cultural land stewardship and is an important piece in the proposed approach. The question is, however, how does this happen? A first step would be to build or rebuild relationships to guide a meaningful weaving of these approaches as well as educating the public on these practices by re-visioning with Tribal knowledge holders as teachers. Alongside this, further stakeholder analysis and focus group surveys with compensation and reciprocity would be a valuable, yet simple resources to implement for success in this realm. By incorporating more Traditional Ecological Knowledge into State, Federal, and private land management, we can further guide meaningful approaches and deeper public understanding of sustainable stewardship on the land.

~Annie Gunness