Sokaogon Chippewa Community
Encyclopedia
The Sokaogon Chippewa Community, or the Mole Lake Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, is a band of the Lake Superior Chippewa
Lake Superior Chippewa
The Lake Superior Chippewa were a historical band of Ojibwe Indians living around Lake Superior in what is now the northern parts of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.-Origins:...
, many of whom reside on the Mole Lake Indian Reservation, an Indian reservation
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
located at 45°29′52"N 88°59′20"W in Mole Lake, Wisconsin
Mole Lake, Wisconsin
Mole Lake, Wisconsin is an unincorporated census-designated place located in the town of Nashville in Forest County, Wisconsin, United States. The community is located on Wisconsin Highway 55 in the Mole Lake Indian Reservation. As of the 2010 census, its population is 435. Mole Lake has an area of...
, in Forest County
Forest County, Wisconsin
Forest County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2010 census, the population was 9,304. Its county seat is Crandon.-Indian Reservations:...
near Crandon
Crandon, Wisconsin
Crandon is a city in Forest County, Wisconsin, United States; it is in the northeastern part of the state, about north of Green Bay. The population was 1,920 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Forest County and is the only incorporated community in the county...
.
The Mole Lake Indian Reservation is 4,904.2 acres (1984.7 ha) in size, and includes land around Rice Lake, Bishop Lake, and Mole Lake. About 500 members of the tribe live on the reservation, while an additional 1,000 members of the community live off it. The tribe is active in the harvest of wild rice
Wild rice
Wild rice is four species of grasses forming the genus Zizania, and the grain which can be harvested from them. The grain was historically gathered and eaten in both North America and China...
in the swampy areas on and off their reservation.
The area was the site of the 1806 Battle of Mole Lake
Battle of Mole Lake
Battle of Mole Lake 1806 was a battle between Sioux and Chippewa warriors fought over ancient wild rice beds which exist to this day in Forest County north east Wisconsin, just south of Crandon in the community of Mole Lake, home to the Sokaogon Chippewa Community....
between Chippewa and Sioux warriors.
The 1983 decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts:* Central District of Illinois* Northern District of Illinois...
in the Lac Courte Oreilles v. Lester B. Voigt case, commonly called the Voigt decision, reaffirmed that the Sokaogon and other Chippewa tribes in northern Wisconsin should be allowed to exercise their treaty rights even off their reservations. This allowed the Sokaogon to harvest rice even on areas that the tribe did not own.
Mole Lake is the site of one of Wisconsin's oldest surviving log cabins, now referred to as the Dinesen Log House. This special piece of historic American architecture built in the late 1860s–early 1870s was listed on Wisconsin's most endangered properties in 2003 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Properties in 2005. It has undergone a complete restoration and opened to the public in April 2010.
In the early 1870s, Wilhelm Dinesen, a Danish adventurer, traveled to northern Wisconsin and took residence in the cabin and became friends with the Mole Lake Chippewa. He called the cabin "Frydenlund", or "Grove of Joy". After 14 months of hunting, fishing, fur trapping, and roaming the wilderness, went back to Denmark. He fathered a daughter when he returned to his homeland, who grew up as the author Karen Blixen
Karen Blixen
Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke , , née Karen Christenze Dinesen, was a Danish author also known by her pen name Isak Dinesen. She also wrote under the pen names Osceola and Pierre Andrézel...
, or Isak Dinesen and wrote a book entitled Out of Africa
Out of Africa
Out of Africa is a 1985 romantic drama film directed and produced by Sydney Pollack, and starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. The film is based loosely on the autobiographical book Out of Africa written by Isak Dinesen , which was published in 1937, with additional material from Dinesen's book...
, which went on to become a major Hollywood motion picture.
As stated in the April 2003 issue of Wisconsin Trails
Wisconsin Trails
Wisconsin Trails magazine is a bimonthly regional magazine that covers life around the state of Wisconsin, from people, history and culture to travel, nature and environmentalism. Its circulation as of mid-2007 was about 50,000.-History:...
magazine, "Wilhelm Dinesen's legacy among the Chippewa is assured. A few months after he left Denmark, you see, Kate, the Chippewa woman who had been his cook and housekeeper, bore a daughter, Emma, who went on to have children of her own."
The log cabin will be the center of an annual August event and visitors may see and hear history, folk music, enjoy traditional Native American food, Native American arts and crafts, Woodland Indian beadwork, birch bark basketry, and buckskin moccasin demonstrations, wild rice soup, introduction to the Ojibwe language, walk-through of historical displays, early fur trappers and traders camp and more. This event promises to be the beginning of a new era of opportunity for Wisconsin and its citizens.
In the late 60s, a metallic ore deposit was found near Mole Lake. This deposit was determined to be one of the richest ore deposits of its kind in North America. The proposed mining of the site spurred a controversy lasting three decades. Along with the neighboring Forest County Potawatomi Community
Forest County Potawatomi Community
The Forest County Potawatomi Community is a band of the Potawatomi, many of whom live on the Forest County Potawatomi Indian Reservation, most of which lies on numerous non-contiguous plots of land in southern Forest County and northern Oconto County, Wisconsin, USA. There is also a small 6.95 acre...
, the Sokaogon took over ownership and bought the nearby Crandon mine
Crandon mine
The proposed Crandon mine in Northeastern Wisconsin, USA near the town of Crandon and the Mole Lake Ojibwe Reservation in Forest County was the site of multi-decade political and regulatory battle between environmentalists, American Indian tribes, sportfishing groups, and the State of Wisconsin and...
at a price of sixteen and a half million dollars to prevent its reopening. The tribes argued the opening of the zinc and copper mine would harm the environment. The land is now in control of the two tribes and no mining is planned into the future.