IS THERE MORE TO THE WOLF THAN JUST ITS ROLE IN THE ENVIRONMENT?

Over a year ago I was sitting at Maria's Cafe in Minneapolis flipping through the The Circle and I came across this article titled "Some Ojibwe Tribal Members Object to Wolf Hunting and Trapping".  I knew our wolves had been removed from the endangered species list, which I wasn't happy about, but I wasn't aware of the significance it held for Ojibwe (Anishinaabe).  It was after reading the article linked above and attending the first 2012 Wolf Walk in Duluth  that I really understood what it meant to the Ojibwe to know 400 wolves would be slaughtered in Minnesota's first wolf hunting season since they were put on the endangered species list back in the 1970's.

According to the Ojibwe creation story whatever happens to the wolf will also happen to the Ojibwe. Their lives run parallel to one another, their fate is the same.  Even if you don't share the same beliefs as the Ojibwe, once you examine history there is no denying the correlation.  Both Native Americans and wolves have been persecuted from the moment white men set foot in "the new world."  Both existed all across the U.S. and now both exist in tiny pockets across the nation, areas they were forced into by white people.  The Ojibwe felt they were doing better economically and socially over the past couple decades in comparison to the many decades before and the wolf too had done much better, their numbers growing and thriving since being put on the endangered species list in the 1970's.  Now we've slaughtered 400 in 2012 and have set another hunting and trapping season to begin in the next week.

Although the media has somewhat highlighted what this wolf hunt means to the Ojibwe, the original owners of this land, they've not done the best job at conveying to the public the depth of the issue.  The best analogy I've seen someone make was on facebook and when they posted "If the bible grew legs and we hunted it, there would be huge outcry by the public." That isn't an insult to those who follow the Christian bible, that's just a statement of fact about how we choose to respect one belief over another.

The wolf isn't just an apex predator that is a necessary part of this planet because it helps create a healthy balance in the ecosystem, the wolf is a spiritual animal, worshipped, honored, respected and loved by the original people of this land.  Do we continue to commit the same crimes as our forefathers by ignoring the pleas of the Ojibwe or do we start proving that we actually learned something from history?

Please join Lisa Fabish, owner of Blackwolf Kennels and Howling for Wolves on Saturday, November 9th at 1:30 pm in Ely Minnesota at Whiteside Park for a rally to stop Minnesota's second wolf hunting and trapping season.


Please follow this >  LINK  for more information about the relationship between the Anishinaabe and the wolf.