Superior supports transfer to band

The Superior City Council voted July 20 to support the transfer of burial lands on Wisconsin Point to the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

According to a story by Wisconsin Public Radio, the strip of land was once home to a vibrant Ojibwe community and represents the end of the Ojibwe migration story. At least seven generations were laid to rest at a cemetery on Wisconsin point.

In 1918 nearly 200 graves were removed (and reburied at St. Francis Cemetery), followed by living tribal members several years later forced off by U.S. Steel, which wanted to erect ore docks there that were never built.

Fond du Lac RBC Chairman Kevin Dupuis addressed the Superior council — which includes Jenny Van Sickle, the first Native American to serve on the council — in support of the move. Superior Mayor Jim Paine urged the state’s burial sites board to support the land transfer in a letter July 1.