FOSTERING THE NEXT GENERATION TO GANAWENJIGE (TAKE CARE OF THINGS)

For Immediate Release

Duluth, MN – September 4^rd, 2025 – During the week of August 4^th through the 8^th, 2025, ten Native American youth spent a week with the 1854 Treaty Authority exploring careers in natural resource management while participating in camp Nenda Gikendan Noopiming gaye Nibiing (seeking knowledge in the woods and place of water) at the Hubachek Wilderness Research Center in Ely, Minnesota.

This action-packed camp experience aims to recruit Tribal youth to pursue careers and/or college majors in the environmental sciences. "By exposing students to current management projects and meeting face-to-face with other Tribal professionals, these kids get to take part in the conversation", says 1854 Treaty Authority's Cultural Preservation Specialist, Marne Kaeske. "We hope this is the carrot for filling our shoes in the future with passionate professionals that have deep-rooted values."

Camp participants, ages ten to fifteen, spent time in classroom sessions, field trips, and working alongside biologists, engineers, and conservation enforcement officers in a variety of fish and game monitoring activities. Some of the highlights included electro-fish surveying a stream to assess the presence of fish species, visiting the International Wolf Center and discussing the cultural significance of ma'iingan (wolf) with a native Elder, meeting a conservation enforcement K9 and their handler, planning and implementing a mock prescribed burn, angling, as well as trapping and enjoying an invasive species Rusty Crayfish low-country boil.

"There are some really amazing protection and restoration programs targeting culturally significant species happening here in the 1854 Ceded Territory", says Kaeske. "Hats off to our organization staff and other agency professionals that contributed to the camp's successes and shared those stories," says Kaeske.

This endeavor could not have taken place without the support of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Tribal Youth Initiative project funding, of which 1854 Treaty Authority was a grant recipient in 2025. This funding is for the development of programs targeting Tribal youth that focus on science and pertain to conservation and resource management. Funds are distributed on a competitive basis between twelve regions, where Federally Recognized Indian Tribal Governments and Native American Organizations authorized by Tribal Governments are both eligible to apply for.

The 1854 Treaty Authority is an inter-tribal natural resource management organization that protects and implements the off-reservation hunting, fishing and gathering rights for the Grand Portage and Bois Forte bands in the lands ceded to the United States government under the Treaty of La Pointe, 1854.

For more information, contact Marne Kaeske, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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To view more photos from camp Nenda, see 1854's Facebook Page.