First lady Jill Biden learns about Menominee Nation's sustainable forestry

KESHENA – First lady Dr. Jill Biden visited the Menominee Nation on Tuesday to learn about and commend the tribe’s sustainable practices.

This marked the first time any first lady of the United States visited the reservation.

“They just reached out to us if we were willing to host the first lady and, of course, we said ‘yes,’” tribal spokesman Randal Chevalier said. “The purpose of the visit is for the first lady to learn more about Menominee sustainable forestry and other practices that preserve and protect our resources for years to come.”

The Menominee Tribe is renowned by students, ecological scientists and environmentalists from around the world for its sustainable forestry practices through selective harvesting that maintains the health of the tribe’s forest of more than 200,000 acres.

As Biden’s motorcade made its way through the reservation, hundreds of Menominee schoolchildren lined the road, cheering and waving welcome signs and flags.

She made an unscheduled stop to greet some of the children, autograph their signs and wave the Menominee Nation flag.

Biden was joined on her visit to the reservation by U.S. Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland, who also hugged several of the children and autographed their signs.

Haaland is very popular throughout Indian Country for being the first Native American to hold the post and for instituting changes throughout the U.S. favoring tribes.

This includes changing the place names of dozens of waterways throughout Wisconsin that had been previously named after an offensive term for a Native woman.

Biden and Haaland made their first stop at the Menominee sawmill in Neopit, where they were greeted by Michael Skenandore, president of Menominee Tribal Enterprises, which operates the tribe’s lumber business.

“Our MTE family is honored and excited for Dr. Biden’s visit,” Skenandore said in a statement.

Then Biden and Haaland made their way to the College of Menominee Nation after another unscheduled stop at Keshena Primary School to greet more children.

At the college, Biden and Haaland learned about the tribe’s research and experiments with sustainable agriculture after being greeted with a performance by tribal dancers and a drum circle.

Biden asked Frank Kutka, a staff researcher at the college, about what they've learned.

For one, he said they’ve learned that an organic, environmentally friendly mix of charred wood and emulsified fish works just as good as fertilizer as the commercial fertilizers that are full of harmful chemicals for the environment.

The practice is similar to what many Indigenous tribes had been using for agriculture in pre-colonial times.

Biden and Haaland completed their visit at the Menominee Hotel, where they spoke at the Women’s Empowerment Summit.

There, they were greeted by Menominee Chairwoman Gena Kakkak.

“We appreciate the Biden Administration for all their support in our many initiatives and look forward to building strong partnerships with each of them,” she said in a statement.

Haaland also addressed summit attendees.

She said the Biden Administration’s $40 billion investment in Indian Country is long overdue by the federal government and said Jill Biden has long been an advocate for tribes.

There are 11 federally recognized Indigenous tribes in Wisconsin. There are more than 500 throughout the U.S.

Haaland mentioned a recently announced federal investment for a new schoolyard at a Menominee tribal school.

Then Biden addressed the attendees with “Posoh” (Menominee for "hello").

She paid homage to Ada Deer, a Menominee trailblazer, who died — "walked on," in Indian Country — this summer at the age of 88.

Deer had helped regain federal recognition status for Menominee Nation and was an advocate for all tribal nations in the country.

She was the first woman to head the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the first woman to serve as chairperson of the Menominee Nation and the first Native American woman to run for Congress in Wisconsin.

“Ada’s legacy lives on in each of you,” Biden said.

She said the Biden Administration is committed to working with tribal nations in managing the land and water and credited her husband as making the largest ever investment in Indian Country.

This year, the Menominee Nation received about $1 million in funding from the Biden Administration to strengthen and expand the tribe’s sustainable forest management practices.

After Biden had left the summit with her entourage of Secret Service agents, Haaland stood behind and met with and took selfies with dozens of attendees individually.

Frank Vaisvilas is a former Report for America corps member who covers Native American issues in Wisconsin based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact him at fvaisvilas@gannett.com or 815-260-2262. Follow him on Twitter at @vaisvilas_frank.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: First Lady Jill Biden learns about Menominee Nation's forestry