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MITW history - 1980-1990

A lot of building and implementing of new programs went on during the 1980’s. The following are a few of the events that took place during this time.

Chronology

1980
Groundbreaking ceremonies held in Keshena, for 20 units of elderly housing under the HUD program.

May
St. Joseph’s school closed as a parochial school.

August
Menominee Jr. High moved into old St. Joseph’s Elementary School.

December
Ground breaking for a new Neopit Elementary school. Soon after construction was also begun on the Jr/Sr High School.

1981
January
Court of Claims ruled in favor of the Tribe on their highway right-of-way claim.

Court of Claims ruled in favor of the Tribe on the power line right-of-way claim. The Court also upheld the Tribe’s claim for reimbursement for any termination expenses.

March
Tribe received a grant from the office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention to extend operation of the Tribal Court Juvenile Restitution project.

Tribal Bingo began operation.

October 1st
Centralized dispatch office opened for County and Tribal police, medical and fire emergencies.

November
New Neopit Elementary school completed.

1982
February
Legislature approved of a loan requested by the Tribal Economic Development program for 3 new tribally owned businesses.
  1. Cascade Lakes Menominee Tribal Division
  2. Wolf River Products
  3. Menominee Tube Corporation.
September 16th
Dedication of the new Jr/SR High School. By September both schools, Neopit Elementary and the Jr/SR High, were fully operational.

1983
April 27th
85 acres of dry woodland burned off Cty VV near the trailer courts. The conditions were so dry DNR crews from Keshena, Bowler, Oconto Falls, White Lake and Antigo were called in to assist the fire dept. Fire Depts from all surrounding towns also volunteered to fight the fire.

Summer
Rafting on the Wolf River was begun from Langlade County line to Smokey Falls.

December Three to four miles of "frazil" ice on the Wolf caused high water conditions in Keshena, flooding basements and Highway 55/47 at the corner of VV.

1984
April 27th
Two devastating tornadoes cut paths through the forest, knocking down about 9 million board feet of timber in the South Branch area. Also, several homes on Legend Lake were demolished.

May
"The Eagle and The Bear", a one act play was presented as a school/ community venture.

November
Menominee Tribal Court House and Jail complex dedicated.

The Tribe acquired and moved onto the Reservation an outdoor sports wear & backpack sewing business called "Wolf River Outer Wear", developed a construction company and a woodworking shop, Trend Products, Inc. and also what is known as Menominee Tubing.

Trend Products primary product was foundation insulation marketed under the trade name of Insulguard.

Menominee Tubing manufactures aluminum arrow shafts for hunting arrows and some target arrows.

December
Tribe received retraining funds from Job Training Partnership Act to retrain 30 dislocated workers for jobs in the Menominee Tube Corporation.

1985
August 24th
Music Festival hosted by the Tribe included both local and national performers.

October
Special parade commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the founding of Menominee Indian School District.

1986
May
The Wood-burning boiler plant that heats the Neopit Public School won 1st place in a 5-state regional competition.

March
US Dept of Energy proposed a study of the Wolf River Batholith as a possible burial site for high level radio active waste. The proposed site would have covered 10,000 acres including a large portion of both the Menominee and Stockbridge Reservations.

October
The new Highway 47/55 bridge over the Wolf River dedicated.

November
Dedication of the Memorial honoring Menominee Indian veterans. The 4 granite slabs containing 635 names are located in front of the Tribal Courthouse complex

1987 July 30th
A new million dollar addition to the Clinic was dedicated. The clinic also celebrated its 10 years of medical service.

September
The Tribal Casino opened for business.

The Wisconsin Sesquicentennial is a celebration covering 1848 to 1998. We have used these years as the basis for the Menominee History Guide but decided to stop at 1990. No special reason accept we are still living in the 90’s. However, some of the events that have occurred are:
  1. The Legislature created the Historic Preservation Department to handle the NAGPRA inquiries and to build a cultural museum.

  2. The first Menominee Gaming Compact was signed with the State of Wis.

  3. "NAMA ‘O USKIWAMIT", the annual sturgeon ceremony and feast was established.

  4. The Menominee Tribal/ County library was built.

  5. Mining Impact Committee was instituted to help protect the Wolf River from the proposed Crandon Mine.

  6. College of the Menominee Nation was founded.

  7. The Menominee Tribal School was developed to service students Kindergarten through 8th grade as an alternative to the Public School.

  8. Menominee Language & Culture Code was adopted in 1996 by the Tribal Legislature.

  9. Menominee Language & Culture Commission was created to oversee the implementation of the Language & Culture Code.

  10. The severe storm that devastated the forest near Zoar hit the same area in 1905 at the same time, 4:00 p.m. and the same date, July 16th.
We hope you have enjoyed reading the important events as well as little known facts in the Menominee Tribal History.
 
Last Updated: Tue March 27, 2007