MN DNR cites tribal members for Lake Bemidji netting

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources conservation officers cited two White Earth members Friday for gillnetting during a treaty rights demonstration on Lake Bemidji, the day before fishing opener.

A few dozen White Earth and Leech Lake tribal members gathered on the shore in the morning to watch Leonard Thompson and Joe Dan Rousu paddle out into the lake, and set a single gill net.

Officers seized the net within a few minutes, then came ashore. Thompson and Rousu were waiting.

"We suffered at the hands of you people," Thompson said, as an officer wrote out the citations. "When are you going to learn that we have treaty rights?"

"We're just doing our jobs here," said conservation officer Demo Regas.

Getting cited was a main goal of the demonstration. The strategy is to use those citations, and a series of court appeals, to force Minnesota to recognize fishing rights they believe were guaranteed by an 1855 treaty.

But a court battle might not happen at all.

A similar netting demonstration was held on Lake Bemidji nearly eight years to the day. Roughly 200 Ojibwe tribal members gathered for that event.

The DNR seized their nets then as well, but the demonstration later fizzled out when Beltrami County prosecutors refused to bring a case against the tribe members.

According to White Earth member and attorney Frank Bibeau, the same thing might happen this time around.

"It wouldn't surprise me if Beltrami County doesn't want to prosecute," he said. "They have to decide if they want to spend the time and money arguing treaty rights, or just let it roll off."

He hopes for a court hearing within the next 30 days.

Correction (May 12, 2018): An earlier version of this story contained a photo caption that incorrectly spelled Leonard Thompson's name.