A friend of mine has recently written a book some of you might be
interested in. It is Walleye Warrior: An Effective Alliance against
Racism and for the Earth (Philadelphia, PA: New Society Press, 1994).
It tells the story of a multi-racial alliance of people who gathered here
in Northern Wisconsin to practice a nonviolent witness to Native Americans
as they exercised their treaty rights to spear fish in lakes. The Indians
were *greeted* at the boat landings by angry and scared white people who
taunted them, threw rocks at them, and tried to block their access to the
lakes. The witness started five years ago, when a white woman with Indian
roots (who was a student of mine) went to the landings to observe what was
going on. The whites had formed into hate groups and were getting a lot
of publicity. Thousands of people from the upper midwest and around the
country received nonviolent training, and went to the boat landings early
in April to stand between the people opposed to the Indian fishing and the
Indians. The indigenous people determined early that they were not going
to fight back against the taunts that were being hurled at them, but went
about their business in a determined and respectful way, trying as best
they could to ignore the hundreds if not thousands of hecklers dressed in
flame orange, screaming obscenities at them. Over time this witness
diffused the hatred and dispelled the problem. The Indians now peacefully
enjoy their treaty rights
granted them in the U.S.Constitution.
However, not all is wonderful for the five indigenous nations that reside
in Northern Wisconsin. Large multi-national corporations are planning
mining activities which would destroy much of the native environment.
These corporations have the full support of the Republican Governor.
The book Walleye Warrior describes how Indians and Whites worked together
nonviolently to protect the wilderness.
-- Ian Harris University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Department of Educational Policy & Community Studies Enderis 529 (414) 229-4724 P.O. Box 413, Mil. WI 53201 imh@csd4.csd.uwm.edu