While other tribes migrated centuries ago to what is now Wisconsin, primarily from the east, the Menominee people have always lived here. They have no migration story. The first clans were established at the mouth of the Menominee River where it meets Green Bay. And so, the Menominees called themselves "The Ancient Ones". But the migrating tribes began calling them "People of the Wild Rice" which, later translated, became Menominee.

The Menominees have fought for centuries to keep their land, their language and their way of life. They refused to move when the government wanted them to relocate in Crow Wing, Minnesota. They battled with the government for the right to cut and mill timber from the trees growing on their own reservation. They've been working hard to preserve their language and culture that was nearly lost during the government boarding school generation. And they lobbied for recognition and won after the federal government "terminated" them as a federally recognized tribe.

Today, the fight to pass on the language and culture to the Menominee youth goes on. Proud of their past, the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin is planning for its future in order to remain a strong, sovereign nation.

Length: 30 mintues