Month: March 2023

Fond du Lac County tribe seeks federal recognition

by Kat Griffith, Fond du Lac Country District 1 supervisor   Mar 24, 2023

At the first County Board meeting I attended I was intrigued to hear a request from the Brothertown Indian Tribe asking Fond du Lac County to support its petition for federal recognition.

Embarrassing confession: Until that night I did not know there was a tribe based in our county!

Here’s a brief primer on the Brothertown and its important request.

Who are the Brothertown Indians?

The Brothertown are descendants of the residents of seven Christianized tribal villages in Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York. The seven original tribes were decimated by the diseases, famines and wars that accompanied European settlement.

Missionaries gathered some survivors together into seven “Praying Towns” and many of the young men and women attended a mission boarding school. There, they reimagined a shared future and decided to form a single community together.

They requested and received land from the Oneida Tribe of New York, where they founded the Brothertown community in 1784. Eventually they prospered there. However, between 1796 and 1815, unscrupulous land speculators and the state of New York — via fraudulent and illegal treaties, leases and acquisitions — dispossessed both the Oneida and the Brothertown Tribes of most of their land.

Read the entire interesting article here on he Ripon Press newspaper

The May 2023 Tribal election is fast approaching – nominations are made this Saturday March 18th! This year, the Secretary position, two Council seats, and a Peacemaker position are on the ballot. Per the Tribe’s constitution, the Elections Committee will provide a report at the March Council meeting, identifying nominees. Nominations may also be taken from the floor at that meeting.

If you would like to learn more or express interest, you can contact Shaun Nadolny at shaunnadolny@hotmail.com or (414-403-3339) . The March Council meeting will take place this Saturday, March 18th at 10am CST at the BINCC.

These are an important way to show how we all come together as a Tribal Family. Celebrating as a family no matter where we are or come from. While centered in our ancestral home in Brothertown, Wisconsin, all members are vital to our Brothertown family. When we come together to celebrate or join in an event, the miles melt away. You can feel the fun, inclusiveness and respect for each other in the following photos. Enjoy these and they will continue to grow as our Tribe does.

The website and communications committee ask if anyone has photos of any event (past or present) to please forward them to webmaster@brothertownindians.org. These galleries are both for members and also showcase who we are as a tribe to the outside world.

• Here is a list of our recent Gallaries:
  • Celebrate commUNITY 2023 February 18, 20230 images
  • Brothertown Indian Nation Homecoming 2022 October 26, 2022
  • Pacific Northwest Gathering – July 2022 August 1, 2022
  • Tribute to Mark Baldwin – June 12, 2022 July 13, 2022
  • Lake Winnebago Water Walk 2022 June 18, 2022
  • Dartmouth College repatriate Samson Occom papers to the Mohegan Tribe April 27, 2022
  • Minnesota Gathering 2022 April 30, 2022
  • Water Walk 2019 June 20, 2019
  • New York Brothertown Cemetery Clean Up June 14, 2018

Yesterday’s 2023 State of the Tribes Address delivered from the State Capitol in Madison was  given by Sokaogon Chippewa Community Chairman Robert VanZile.  Many topics were covered and called on state lawmakers to help improve rural health care, fight the opioid crisis and tackle environmental issues. Additionally, Chairman VanZile   called on state lawmakers Tuesday to work with tribal leaders as they craft their budget this year. “Every budget cycle, there is an opportunity for local, county, state, and tribal governments to collaborate on critical services and investments to bring greater efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of those services,” VanZile said.

Another moment of pride for the Brothertown Indian Nation was the recognition of the Tribe by Chairman Robert VanZile to Jessica Ryan Vice -Chair who was in attendance. Also attending and representing the Tribe were Dawn Kraintz-Council and Melissa Kavonius-Secretary   The entire State of the Tribes can be viewed here…

Building Brothertown: March 13, 1773 – March 13, 2023

Used with permission from A Brothertown Citizen read the complete blog here…

250 years ago today, on March 13, 1773, our ancestors gathered in Mohegan to discuss plans to form their own Native town, away from the decimating and demoralizing influence of the Europeans. Joseph Johnson (Mohegan/Brothertown), “the first mover of this design”1, called the Indians of Mohegan, Montauk, Narragansett, Niantic, Farmington, Stonington, and Groton together.

It was decided to ask the Oneida, our northwestern brethren, for a tract of land upon which we and our children could live in peace. Then, as now, our Oneida brothers welcomed us. In 1774, a land agreement was signed.

In March and April of 1775, the ablest individuals left their homes in Farmington, Montauk, and Narragansett, and went on ahead to forge the new town. They built homes and planted corn. Among them were Joseph Johnson, Elijah Wampy (Tunxis/Brothertown), David Fowler (Montauk/Brothertown) and Samuel Niles (Narragansett/Brothertown)². More people followed.

A couple of years later, forced to flee for their lives amidst the dangers of the Revolutionary War, the majority of our people found temporary shelter with the Stockbridge in Massachusetts. After seven years, when the fighting had ceased, we returned to our Oneida home, bringing our Stockbridge brethren with us. Since then, our two tribes have been inseparable.

Shortly after their return, through the help and pen of Reverend Samson Occom (Mohegan/Brothertown), our formal naming and founding was memorialized. On Monday, November 7, 1785 Occom wrote in his journal, “But now we proceeded to form into a body politick, we named our Town by the Name of Brotherton, in Indian Eeyawquittoowauconnuck.”

For a more in-depth look at the formation of the Brothertown Indians, please see “Building Brothertown:  From Farmington To Brotherton” at https://brothertowncitizen.files.wordpress.com/2022/12/tunxis-project-final-draft-122922.pdf or find the video presentation at the bottom of this page:  https://brothertowncitizen.com/stories-of-the-brothertown-indians-podcast-episodes/

Used with permission from A Brothertown Citizen read the complete blog here…

To research more on the Brothertown Indian Nation, use this link to access all their extensive historical and ancestral information…

Be sure to tune in to the State of the Tribes address next Tuesday, March 14, which will be delivered by Robert VanZile Jr., Chairman of the Sokaogon Chippewa Community Mole Lake Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

The State of the Tribes address will be held Tuesday, March 14, 2023, at 1:00 pm in the Assembly Chambers of the Wisconsin State Capitol. 

The Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, Inc. (GLITC) has announced that Chairman Robert Van Zile of the Sokaogon Chippewa Community will provide the 2023 address. The State of the Tribes address is open to the public and will be livestreamed on WisconsinEye (https://wiseye.org/) and Wisconsin Public Radio (https://wpr.org/).

The May 2023 Tribal election is fast approaching! This year, the Secretary position, two Council seats, and a Peacemaker position are on the ballot. Per the Tribe’s constitution, the Elections Committee will provide a report at the March Council meeting, identifying nominees. Nominations may also be taken from the floor at that meeting.

If you would like to learn more or express interest, you can contact Shaun Nadolny at shaunnadolny@hotmail.com. The March Council meeting will take place on Saturday, March 18th at 10am at the BINCC.

The Free Congregation of Sauk County will host its Free Thought Forum featuring Dr. Renee Gralewicz, Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women outreach coordinator, on March 19 read the full announcent with time and location details here….

April 4 race for open seat on state Supreme Court likely to sway court’s ideology

FRANK VAISVILAS Green Bay Press-Gazette

Although most laws in Indian Country are determined by tribal and federal courts, voting advocates are trying to inform Native voters about the importance of the April 4 Wisconsin Supreme Court election.

Indigenous analysts estimate about 71,000 Native voters are in Wisconsin and the race for the open seat on the Supreme Court between Janet Protasiewicz and Daniel Kelly will likely sway the ideology of the seven-justice court.

Native Americans were not granted the right to vote in the U.S. until 1924.Allison Neswood, who is Navajo and a staff attorney for the Native American Rights Fund, went on to say ” state laws still made it difficult — or impossible — for Indigenous people to vote in many places until the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Read the entire article on the FDL Reporter here..