A tribe of Algonquian Indians who have lived in almost the same locality in Wisconsin since they first came in contact with the white man in 1634. They have given the whites little trouble. The beliefs and rituals of these Indians are almost the same as those of the Chippewa. Their chief vegetable food is wild rice, and their name means "Wild Rice Men." But they refuse to cultivate wild rice for fear of wounding "Mother Earth." They live today on the Menominee Reservation near the head of the Wolf River in Wisconsin.
Some years ago this tribe won a $9, 500,000 lawsuit against the Government on a charge of mismanagement of tribal affairs. The money was placed in a trust fund. In 1954 the first payment was made, each of the 3,254 adult Menominee on the tribal rolls receiving $1,500 - a total of $4,881,000. When the final payment was made in 1959 these Indians were freed from Government control.
The name Menominee was given to a Michigan county and towns in Michigan and Illinois. In the form of Menomonee it has been applied to a river and falls in Wisconsin, and as Menomonie to a city in the same state.
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[ Chippewa ][ Man
Being ][ Wild Rice ]