They Killed a Whole Wolf Family. The Tribes Found Out After.

To the Ojibwe, Ma’iingan is a brother. In the creation story, Original Man was the last being the Creator placed on Earth, sent to walk the land and name every plant, animal, and place. He grew lonely and asked for a companion. The Creator sent Ma’iingan, and together they walked the earth until they had found everything. When they were told to part, the Creator warned: what happens to the wolf will happen to the Anishinaabe.

That bond isn’t history. Pebaamibines Dennis Jones, a retired University of Minnesota professor, calls it a spiritual relationship, a brotherhood, still honored in ceremony today. “The wolf is still instructing us, if you listen,” he told Northern Wilds in 2022.

This fall, the DNR and USDA Wildlife Services trapped and killed nine of them in Price County. Almost an entire pack. The tribes, legally required co-managers in the ceded territory, weren’t asked. They were told after. And the DNR still hasn’t returned the remains of their relatives.

The “threats” cited in the prior year’s complaints? A wolf crossing a property at night. Wolves howling while people were in bed. A chicken. The property owners were told to clean up. They didn’t. The wolves paid.

The Natural Resources Board’s response? They praised the Secretary’s apology. Said no new rule was needed, just follow the plan. Then every one of them said this is why we need delisting, and admitted they don’t know treaty law.

The plan binds no one. The state argued that in court to beat our lawsuit.

Nine brothers are gone. We won’t let it be for nothing.

Your gift is triple-matched. Every dollar you give today goes three times as far for the wolves.

We take no corporate or government money. Your gift pays for the records requests and legal review that will drag the full Price County story into the light.

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Melissa Smith
Wildlife Policy & Government Affairs
Great Lakes Wildlife Alliance
msmith@wiwolvesandwildlife.org | (608) 234-8860
www.wiwolvesandwildlife.org