Will a Wisconsin town's $1.8M offer to use Ojibwe tribe's roads end a years-long dispute? What to know.

After a land dispute stretching back more than a year, officials for the non-tribal town of Lac du Flambeau, located on the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe reservation in northern Wisconsin, have offered the tribe $1.8 million to use tribal roads.

Tribal officials, who had been seeking about $10 million, have not announced whether they will accept the town’s offer to settle the roads dispute.

The town's offer includes $502,000 the town has already paid the tribe for using the roads.

Here's what to know about the history of the issue, and what could come next.

Why non-tribal residents own property on the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe reservation

Non-tribal residents own property in Lac du Flambeau and on reservations across the country because of the 1887 Dawes Allotment Act, which allowed for the sale and acquisition of tribal land, though the land was supposed to be protected and guaranteed to the tribes by treaty.

Congress reversed the course of Dawes with the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act, but by that point, large swaths of tribal treaty land, or reservations, now belonged to non-tribal residents.

Tribal governments have since been working to buy back the land on their reservations and apply for that land to become federal trust, which frees it from local county and state jurisdiction and taxation.

Negotiations over road use, compensation stalled

The roads were built decades ago in a way that Lac du Flambeau Tribal President John Johnson has characterized as being without the tribe's permission.

Title companies managed access and compensation for the roads, but tribal officials have said those agreements are long expired and negotiations for new agreements fell short of the compensation the tribe sought.

Lac du Flambeau tribal authorities set up road blocks in early 2023

On Jan. 30, 2023, tribal authorities set up roadblocks on four roads on the reservation, cutting off access to about 65 properties belonging to non-tribal residents within the borders of the reservation.

Tribal officials argued that the easement agreement for the roads on tribal land had expired more than 10 years prior, and the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and the title insurance companies that represent the properties hadn’t negotiated in good faith to extend the agreements.

Lac du Flambeau Tribal President John Johnson said tribal officials acted how they did about the roads in order to protect what land they have left.

Roads open as town pays monthly fee

In March 2023, Lac du Flambeau town officials accepted the tribe’s offer to remove the barricades and allow access to the roads for 90 days in exchange for $60,000 while negotiations for a more permanent solution could be found.

Negotiations have stalled while politicians, including Gov. Tony Evers, have called for an end to the stalemate.

The roads remain open as the town pays the tribe a fee that increases by $2,000 each month.

Town officials had informed the tribe that they would be reverting to the lower original payments from the spring of 2023 for use of the roads, but tribal officials said they would not accept the lower payments.

The town’s latest payment of $48,000 keeps the roads open from July 12 through Aug. 12.

Tribal council meeting is next step in lands issue

Town officials are expected to meet with tribal officials at a tribal council meeting this month to discuss the issue. A date has not yet been set.

Tribal officials have not indicated whether they will accept the $1.8 million, but said they may consider town land to be given back to the tribe in exchange for the use of the roads.

Sign up for the First Nations Wisconsin newsletter Click here to get all of our Indigenous news coverage right in your inbox

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.

More: Lac du Flambeau leader disappointed by Evers, Baldwin call for mediation in roads dispute

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Town of Lac du Flambeau offers $1.8M to use Ojibwe tribe's roads