Who We Are

Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin

Menominee are Woodlands People. Their history begins at the mouth of the Menominee River, a mere 60 miles east of the present Menominee Indian Reservation. This is where the five clans were created: Bear, Eagle, Wolf, Moose, and Crane.

For over 10,000 years, the Menominee way of life has been derived from the natural environment. "Kiash Matchitiwuk," the Ancient One’s understanding of the sacred oneness of life and reverence of Mother Earth forms the essence of Menominee culture and spiritual foundation. The Alqonquin word “Omaeqnomenewak means “people of the wild rice.” The name Menominee was given by other tribes who observed their extensive use of the wild rice. Menominee legends say that when the tribe moved from an area, the wild rice would leave with them.

The Menominee occupied a vast 10 million acre territory, of what is now Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. In a forty year period of the 19th century, the Menominee lost over 9.75 million acres as a result of U.S. Treaties. The Menominee however continue reside on their traditional lands, and in the 1854 Treaty the current reservation was established. The Menominee continue to have strong leadership and it was this type of leadership that has taken them through much adversity. Today, there are over 8,000 tribal members.

Menominee Sustainable Forest Management Tradition

The Menominee has long been recognized for their achievements in sustainable forest management practices. The Menominee people understand the social, ecological, and ethical practices and responsibilities in sustaining its natural resources for future generations. Menominee culture and traditions teaches never to take more resources that are produced within natural cycles so that all life can be sustained. These traditional beliefs are the foundation of the management practices and principles employed on the Menominee forest. This concept of sustainability in the management of the Menominee forest allows for the tribe to experience a traditional quality of life from an intact, diverse, productive, and healthy forest ecosystem.

For more information please visit the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin website.

College of Menominee Nation

College of Menominee Nation (CMN) is a leading tribally controlled college, linking the Menominee Nation to the world through learning, discovery, and service. Providing quality educational opportunities in post-secondary education, the College’s mission is drawn from the traditions of the Menominee to provide quality learning experiences that foster responsibility and excellence.

College of Menominee Nation, chartered in 1993 by the Menominee Indian Tribe infuses this education with American Indian culture, preparing students for careers and advanced studies in a multi-cultural world. As a land grant institution, the College is committed to research, promoting, perpetuating and nurturing American Indian Culture, and providing outreach workshops and community service.

The College of Menominee Nation is one of 36 tribally controlled community colleges in the United States. As an accredited institution, College of Menominee Nation offers Associate of Arts and Sciences degrees in over 16 programs. College of Menominee Nation is one of only a few higher education institutions with an academic degree program in sustainable development. This Associate of Arts and Science Degree in Sustainable Development provides students with a broad-based understanding of the Menominee approach to sustainable development and focuses on multidisciplinary approach designed to foster awareness and responsibility for community and environmental resources.

College of Menominee Nation main campus is located in Keshena, Wisconsin on the Menominee Indian Reservation, and an auxiliary site located in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The College serves over 550 students, 80-plus% of whom are American Indian students, representing 20 or more different tribes.

For more information please visit the College of Menominee Nation website.

Sustainable Development Institute

Prompted by the success of the sustainable forestry practices of the Menominee, in 1993 tribal leaders created the Sustainable Development Institute under the foliage of the College of Menominee Nation. The Sustainable Development Institute was organized to look at sustainable development through the prism provided by Menominee efforts to sustain their forest, culture, traditions, values, society, and people for the past centuries. The Institute has the directive to guide the Menominee Nation in exploring and enhancing the relationship of the Menominee to sustainability. Research, education, and outreach associated with the achievements of the Menominee Nation in sustainable forestry is the focus of the Institute.

The Institute’s mission is two-fold: to reflect upon, refine, and strengthen the critical interconnected dimensions which define Menominee sustainable development and to disseminate and advance the tenets of sustainability of what is learned, known, or valued of the Menominee approach to sustainability to those who wish share this knowledge and wisdom. Central to the mission is illustrating the impact of a vision of Menominee leaders some 150 years ago of responsible stewardship of a limited resource for future Menominee generation’s survival and gift of life.

As in the past, today, and future, Menominee survival and sustainability depends on the forest that is so closely tied to Menominee culture. Menominee believe that all living things are created in the same way-and that each life is to be respected. The Sustainable Development Institute applies these values, wisdom, and practices to a comprehensive approach of sustainability that supports and balances the needs of the Menominee Nation.

For more information please visit the Sustainable Development Institute website.

Menominee Approach to Sustainable Development

Menominee approach to sustainable development is an integration of tribal wisdom, knowledge, values, understandings, and practices that views sustainability as a continual process by which Menominee affinity to place balances six dimensions of community life. These dimensions illustrate the inextricable linkage amongst the historical, social, cultural, and spiritual foundations of Menominee life.

This theoretical model conceptualizes sustainable development as the process of maintaining the balance and reconciling the inherent tensions between the various dimensions of sustainability. Each dimension is understood to be dynamic, both in respect to its internal organization and in relationship to each o the other five dimensions of the sustainable development process. The model takes its point of departure that change within one dimension will impact other dimensions in an ever-unfolding diffusion of responses to change, whether externally driven or inherent to the dynamism of a specific dimension.