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Tribal Gathering Rights

Levi Brown, Environmental-Land Department
February 18, 2014

Recently there have been concerns over Band member’s right to gather firewood. It is important for Band members to remember that our rights are not granted by any government. The Leech Lake Division of Resource Management has been delegated the authority to enforce tribal laws within the exterior boundaries of the Leech Lake Indian Reservations.

A treaty is “not a grant of rights to the LLBO but a grant of rights from them.” The purpose of a treaty was not to give rights to the LLBO but to remove rights they had. LLBO have many rights in addition to those described in treaties. In fact, any right not expressly extinguished by a treaty or federal statute is reserved to the tribe. This fundamental principle of Indian law is known as the “reserved rights doctrine.”

When Band members exercise their rights we are also preserving those rights and it is the responsibility of all Leech Lake Band members to protect these rights. The LLDRM has always had the policy of developing laws that are relevant to tribal use and impacts to our resources that make sense to the way we are using our resources.

The Division of Resource Management has received calls from citizens asking if they can harvest firewood for personal use. The ANSWER to that question is tribal members can lawfully gather firewood for personal use on all public lands (LLBO, State, National Forest, County, Etc…) within the exterior boundaries of the Leech Lake Indian Reservation. If any individual has any questions  about this issue or is interfered with while exercising these rights please contact Levi Brown at (218)308-0806 or Jaime Mitchell (218) 368-4767.

 

Tribal Gathering Rights Article, printable pdf

Division of Resource Management (218) 335-7400