Place of THE Pike:
Ginoozhekaaning
Ginoozhekaaning (Place of the Pike) features the Bay Mills Chippewa Indian Community, located in present day northern Michigan. In 1971, A.B. LeBlanc set a gill net in Pendills Bay on Lake Superior. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) arrested LeBlanc, and he was later convicted of fishing commercially without a license and for fishing with an illegal device. This story highlights the struggle for Ojibwe people, communities, and nations to maintain their identity through treaty reserved rights asserted in the signing of the 1836 treaty with the United States.
LEARNING QUESTIONS
• What is Treaty Recognition Week, and why is it important?
• How does treaty law (and its constitutionally protected supremacy) impact the relationship between local, county, state, and tribal governments?
• Why is it important to recognize that treaties are not just official or legally binding documents between nations but also a sacred pledge of trust?
• How is the test case of Albert “Big Abe/A.B” LeBlanc similar to that of Fred and Mike Tribble in Crossing the Lines?
• How is the oil pipeline under the bay a threat to the treaty rights of the Ojibwe?
CREDITS
Director and Producer
Finn Ryan
Associate Producer
Dylan Jennings, Charlie Rasmussen
Cinematographer
Mike Palzkill
Editor
Lukas Korver
Score
Sean Carey, Ben Lester, Zach Hanson
Sound Mix
Justin Perkins
Special Thanks:
Dwight “Bucko” Teeple
Kathryn “Candy” Tierney
Jaques LeBlanc Jr.
Tony LeBlanc
Albert “Big Abe/A.B” LeBlanc