Cultural Fire Returns to Stockton Island

Cultural Fire Returns to Stockton Island. . "This is the best combination of cultural heritage and land management that I can think of." , Bob Krumenaker, Superintendent , , In October 2017, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, in collaboration with the Red Cliff Band, Bad River Band and other Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission member bands, conducted a prescribed burn on Stockton Island. Fire specialists from the National Park Service, U. S. Forest Service, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs burned five acres on the northern end of Stockton Island's tombolo to reduce shrubs and hardwood trees encroaching in the pine barrens, promote the growth of blueberries and other native plants, improve wildlife habitat, and, perhaps most importantly, to reintroduce the cultural practice of burning this landscape. , , TEK and a Management (R)evolution , Park ranger Damon Panek, a White Earth Ojibwe, tapped into traditional ecological knowledge, or TEK, to establish how local Ojibwe interacted with the land. "I knew native people had traditionally picked blueberries out on Stockton Island from oral stories. They maintained good picking by rotational burning. There are fire scars and charred stumps everywhere, which backs up everything people have said." Apostle Islands National Lakeshore superintendent Bob Krumenaker said that the pine barrens is a globally significant ecological system that is slowly disappearing without fire. "But what's really unique, what makes it so special, is that it got this way because of humans." , , A Celebration , More than 60 tribal members and park staff traveled to Stockton Island on October 11, 2017 for a ceremonial feast and tour of the proposed burn area. Leon Boycee Valliere from Lac du Flambeau presided over the ceremony saying, "We're looking to do this in a good way.” Valliere explained to the island and its spirits in Ojibwemowin that the fire would help cleanse and refresh the landscape, restoring plant communities that have faded after years of fire suppression. This burn marks the beginning of a connection to the landscape that reflects a parallel between Native cultural practices and the mission of the National Park Service. With this success, the lakeshore plans to implement more burning on the Stockton Island tombolo.