LdF tribal council banishes Mary Felzkowski

State Senator Mary Felzkowski has been banished from the reservation of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians.

A press release from the tribe issued Friday, Sept. 13, reports the tribal council passed a resolution on Sept. 9 banishing Felzkowski due to comments made during an Aug. 23 meeting at the Woodruff community center “in which she equated the Tribe to ‘terrorists’ amid discussions concerning the ongoing dispute between the Tribe and the Town of Lac du Flambeau regarding the Town’s trespass on tribal lands.”

“The Tribal Council condemned Senator Felzkowski’s remarks as particularly irresponsible given her role as co-chair of the current Special Committee on State-Tribal relations, a position that carries a responsibility to foster mutual understanding and respect between the State of Wisconsin and Tribal Governments,” the tribal press release said. “The Council further emphasized that her comparison of the Tribe to terrorists has deeply offended tribal members, descendants, and employees, who see this language as an attack on their sovereignty, identity, and heritage.”

In a statement, John Johnson, Sr., president of the tribal council, further emphasized what was referred to in the tribal press release as the “gravity” of Felzkowski’s remarks. 

“The comparison of the Lac du Flambeau Tribe to terrorists such as the Proud Boys and the Taliban, organizations with no sovereignty or treaty rights, and that seek to harm the United States, is not only offensive but dangerously misinformed,” he said. “It reveals a profound ignorance of the legal standing of our Tribe and the obligations owed to us under the 1837, 1842, and 1854 treaties. Those, which established our reservation as permanent homeland, recognize our sovereign right to protect our lands and people.”

Johnson stated the comments from Felzkowski were made during “an already tense discussion about the Town’s trespass on our lands, have only escalated tensions an further show how uninformed she is concerning Tribal communities and respect for the law.”

“We met with Senator Felzkowski months ago at a Tribal Council meeting and she had the nerve to tell our Council she did not represent us, and she instead represents the individual landowners and the Town Board that continues to trespass over our lands,” Johnson said in his statement. 

Though they had been invited to the Aug. 23 meeting by Lac du Flambeau town chairman Matt Gaulke, no members of the tribal council were in attendance, as far as town officials were aware.

‘Very antagonistic’

“We have been very involved in this from day one,” Felzkowski said at the beginning of her comments during the Aug. 23 special meeting of the Lac du Flambeau town board that was held at the Woodruff community center. 

The focus was things that could be done to try and resolve the expired tribal land easement dispute between the town of Lac du Flambeau and the Lac du Flambeau tribe regarding four roads: Annie Sunn Lane, Center Sugarbush Lane, East Ross Allen Lake Lane and Elsie Lake Lane. 

“When I say ‘we’ I mean Representative (Rob) Swearingen and I,” Felzkowski said at the meeting. “We met with the homeowners. We met with the town and we met with the tribe. I’m not going to tell you that went well.”

She said “at one time” she represented six of the 12 Native American tribes in the state. 

“I have great relationships with the Potawatomi, Mole Lake, Sokaogon Chippewa, Menominee,” Felzkowski said. “We worked with them and helped them do a lot of great things so I was really disappointed with how our meeting went with the Lac du Flambeau. It was very antagonistic and it delved into personal attacks which I was very sad about.”

She made the point others, such as Swearingen, have made regarding anything to be done at the state level to help resolve the road easement dispute and that is “the treaties were all done federally.”

“So, it was very hard for us to negotiate with the tribe or have much input,” Felzkowski said. 

Later, in her comments, she said legislators from the southern part of Wisconsin “don’t like what the tribe is doing holding people hostage.”

“They don’t like it at all and they think it’s wrong,” Felzkowski said. “It’s kind of like giving in to terrorism, I’ll be really honest and they’re going to push back hard on this. So any help with that is going to have to be federal help to solve this issue.”

Felzkowski couldn’t be reached for comment as of press time Friday. 

Latest on the roads

Regarding the road easement dispute, the end of the work day on Thursday, Sept. 12, was the deadline for the town to make the latest monthly access permit payment to the tribe, which would be $52,000. 

Neither the town or the title companies involved have made the latest payment. 

The tribal council indicated before the Aug. 23 meeting failure to make a payment “will result in restricted access” over the four roads. 

As of Friday, Gaulke told The Lakeland Times he’d heard nothing from the tribal council regarding any closure of the roads. 

Araia Breedlove with the tribal public information office told the Times Friday no decision had been made by the tribal council regarding a possible barricading of the roads. 

Brian Jopek may be reached via email at [email protected].