[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 113 (Monday, July 11, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3198-S3199]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF HONOR THE EARTH HOMECOMING CELEBRATION AND POWWOW

  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, today I rise to recognize the 50th 
anniversary of the Honor the Earth Homecoming Celebration and Powwow. 
The story of Honor the Earth begins with a small group of Lac Courte 
Oreilles who wanted a better future for their tribe and their people.

[[Page S3199]]

  The Lac Courte Oreilles Tribe--Ojibwe: Odaawaa-zaaga'iganiing--is one 
of six federally recognized bands of the large Ojibwe Nation that 
originally occupied the upper eastern woodlands area of the North 
American continent. The Treaty of 1854 established the LCO reservation.
  In 1971, the LCO community, and other people from neighboring bands 
and Tribes took over Winter Dam in protest of flooding lands, broken 
treaties, and desecration of LCO land, people, and traditional 
livelihood. Eddie Benton-Benaim, supported by the American Indian 
Movement, helped lead the 5-day effort to take over the dam. This 
effort led to the renegotiation of the dam license which helped the 
tribe recover several hundred acres of land, compensation for damages, 
and the development of Tribal hydro generating project.
  The following year, 1972, there was a reunion of the people who had 
occupied the dam; they called it Honor the Earth powwow. Every year 
since, the Ojibwa people come together as they have always done; they 
celebrate with prayers, feasting, songs, dances, and honoring. The 1972 
and 1973 powwows were organized as contest powwows and were sponsored 
by a handful of individuals and then by LCO AIM, LCO Tribal Governing 
Board, and the St. Paul Red School House, of which Benton was director. 
In 1974, grounds were broken for what would eventually become one of 
the largest traditional gatherings of Tribal peoples in the region.
  In 1982 the first annual Miss Honor the Earth's ladies competition 
began at the powwow to showcase the strong and beautiful 
Anishinaabekwewag--Ojibwe ladies--perform a woodland dance while 
wearing historical deer dresses.
  This year, 2022, we celebrate the 50th Honor the Earth Powwow and the 
40th Miss Honor the Earth ladies competition. In so doing, the 
Anishinabeg, the Lac Courte Oreilles or ``Ottawa Lake'' Tribe continues 
to sustain heritage, preserve and utilize the strong Ojibwe language, 
honor strengths of the past, and embrace a good future. Please join me 
in celebrating this historically and spiritually important community.

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