Ojibwe Heritage: The Indigenous Foundation of Price County

The Flambeau River got its name from French fur traders who saw Ojibwe fishermen holding torches over the water at night to attract walleye. That’s just one of the Ojibwe words still embedded in Price County’s map: Flambeau (from waabooz, torch), Butternut (named after the Ojibwe bagaan for nut trees), and Kennan (named after a local Ojibwe family). Long before European settlers arrived in the 1850s, the Ojibwe called this land home for over 400 years.

By Price County Fun Editorial Team | Price County, Wisconsin

Centuries of Presence Before the Treaties

The Ojibwe, who call themselves Anishinaabe (“original people”), arrived in what’s now northern Wisconsin sometime around 1500 CE. They migrated west from the Atlantic coast following a prophecy to find “the food that grows on water,” which was wild rice, or manoomin in Ojibwemowin. Wild rice beds along the Flambeau River and Butternut Lake became the centerpiece of Ojibwe seasonal life in what’s now Price County.

The Ojibwe didn’t live in one spot year-round. They followed seasonal cycles across the Northwoods. Spring meant maple sugaring in hardwood forests, where families tapped sugar maple trees and boiled sap into sugar and syrup. Summer brought fishing camps along the Flambeau River and its chain of lakes. Fall was manoomin harvesting time in shallow wetlands. Winter meant hunting camps in sheltered valleys for deer, bear, and small game.

Ogimaa Weigiizhig, also known as Chief Big Sky or Old Jackson, was the most prominent Ojibwe leader in the Price County area during the early 1800s. He mediated between Ojibwe communities and early French and British fur traders, and he worked to preserve traditional knowledge as European influence spread through the region. His leadership helped his community navigate a period of enormous change without losing their cultural foundation.

The Fur Trade and First European Contact

French fur traders arrived in Ojibwe territory in the late 1600s. The Flambeau River became a key trade route connecting Ojibwe communities to French posts at La Pointe on Madeline Island, about 80 miles northwest of Price County. The trade relationship worked because the Ojibwe controlled the terms: they decided where to trap, what to trade, and which goods they’d accept.

Metal tools, firearms, and wool blankets changed daily life, but the Ojibwe didn’t abandon their seasonal round. They incorporated trade goods into existing practices rather than replacing them. That changed in the 1800s as American settlers pushed west and the U.S. government wanted the land for logging and mining.

The Treaties That Shaped Price County

Three treaties between the Ojibwe and the U.S. government directly shaped Price County’s land ownership. The 1837 Treaty of St. Peters ceded roughly 13 million acres across what’s now northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. The 1842 Treaty of La Pointe ceded another 12,000 square miles, including the copper-rich Lake Superior region. Both treaties explicitly reserved Ojibwe rights to hunt, fish, and gather on ceded territory — rights that federal courts have upheld multiple times, most notably in the Voigt decision of 1983.

The 1854 Treaty of La Pointe established permanent reservations for several Ojibwe bands, including the Lac Courte Oreilles Band near Hayward (about 45 minutes west of Phillips) and the Lac du Flambeau Band to the east. Price County itself doesn’t contain reservation land, but it sits squarely within the ceded territory where Ojibwe treaty rights remain legally enforceable.

What matters here is that the Ojibwe never gave up their right to use this land. They ceded ownership to the U.S. government, but they kept their right to hunt, fish, and gather. Those rights aren’t a gift from the government. They’re a reservation of rights the Ojibwe always had. If you see Ojibwe members spearfishing on Butternut Lake or harvesting wild rice on the Flambeau River, they’re exercising treaty rights that predate Wisconsin statehood.

How Ojibwe Traditions Shaped the Land

The Ojibwe managed Price County’s forests and waters for centuries before the logging boom of the 1880s stripped the landscape. Their practice of selective harvesting (taking only what they needed, rotating harvesting areas, and using fire to manage blueberry production) kept the Northwoods ecosystem healthy for generations.

Ojibwe place names dot the Price County map. The Flambeau River comes from the French word for torch, referencing the Ojibwe night-fishing practice. Butternut Creek and the town of Butternut take their name from the butternut trees (bagaan-atig in Ojibwemowin) that grew along its banks. The town of Kennan was named after a local Ojibwe family. These aren’t just names on a map. They’re a record of who lived here first.

The Ojibwe word manoomin means “good berry” and refers to wild rice, which grows in shallow lakes and rivers throughout Price County. Wild rice isn’t just food. It’s a cultural touchstone, a gift from the Creator, and the reason the Ojibwe migrated to this region in the first place! Harvesting wild rice in the traditional way, with two people in a canoe (one poling and one knocking rice into the boat with cedar sticks), is still practiced on Price County waters today.

Ojibwe Communities Connected to Price County Today

Three Ojibwe bands maintain historical and cultural connections to Price County lands. The Lac Courte Oreilles (LCO) Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, based on their reservation near Hayward in Sawyer County, is the closest, about 45 minutes west of Phillips. LCO operates the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University, the only tribal college in the region, and runs cultural programs open to the public.

The Lac du Flambeau Band, located in Vilas County to the east, manages the Lac du Flambeau Museum and cultural center. The Bad River Band, located on the Lake Superior shore in Ashland County to the north, maintains ties to the Flambeau River watershed that runs through Price County. None of these reservations sit inside Price County lines, but the ceded territory that includes Price County guarantees their members can still hunt, fish, and gather here.

What Tribal Sovereignty Means for Price County Residents

Tribal sovereignty means Ojibwe nations operate their own governments, pass their own laws, and maintain jurisdiction within reservation boundaries. Off-reservation, in ceded territory like Price County, treaty rights apply. That means Ojibwe members can spear walleye during spring runs, harvest wild rice in fall, and hunt deer and grouse on public lands where treaty rights are reserved.

Non-Native residents sometimes question these rights, but they’re not special privileges. They’re constitutional rights reserved in treaties that the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld. The Voigt decision of 1983, in which federal judge Barbara Crabb ruled that Ojibwe treaty rights survived in ceded territory, settled the legal question. What matters here isn’t whether the treaties are fair to everyone. It’s that they’re legally binding agreements between sovereign nations, and they don’t expire.

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Cultural Preservation and What Comes Next

Ojibwe cultural preservation is alive in the Northwoods, not stuck in a museum. The Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University offers language courses in Ojibwemowin. The LCO Harvest Camp teaches traditional wild rice harvesting techniques to both Native and non-Native students. The Lac du Flambeau Museum displays traditional birch bark baskets, beadwork, and quillwork alongside contemporary Ojibwe art.

Ojibwe communities face real challenges:

• Environmental threats to wild rice beds from mining runoff and climate change
• Language preservation, as fluent Ojibwemowin speakers age and immersion programs race to train new generations
• Economic development on rural reservations, where unemployment often runs double the national average

These aren’t abstract problems. They’re pressing issues that three Ojibwe bands are actively addressing through cultural programs, legal advocacy, and partnerships with state agencies.

But the Ojibwe presence in Price County isn’t going anywhere. The treaties are permanent. The cultural practices continue. The place names aren’t changing. When you drive across the Flambeau River or pass through Butternut, you’re passing through Ojibwe homeland, and that history is as much a part of Price County’s present as its future.

See also: our complete Price County fishing guide, what makes Price County communities special, and our guide to every town in Price County

Sources: 1837 Treaty of St. Peters, 1842 Treaty of La Pointe, 1854 Treaty of La Pointe, Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa tribal website, Lac du Flambeau Band tribal website, Wisconsin Historical Society Ojibwe records, Voigt v. Hill (1983) federal court decision, Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University course catalog.

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