Gnoozhekaaning Ogichidaa Bucko Teeple served on the treaty rights frontline.
8/14/2026
Dwight Bucko Teeple of Bay Mills Indian Community began his journey Wednesday at age 78. From the Gichigami beaches to Washington DC, the Ojibwe elder served Bay Mills and the wider Indigenous community for decades. Teeple was born in a cabin on the Lake Superior shoreline on July 8, 1948, into a commercial fishing family and given the name Waabananang by his great grandmother. On the ice and in an open boat, he grew up fishing all-seasons with his dad and grandfathers. Honorably discharged from the United States Army in September 1971 two weeks before Big Abe LeBlanc’s seminal arrest by Michigan officers for violating state fishing laws, Teeple joined the movement to restore treaty-reserved harvest rights. His advocacy for Ojibwe bands extended to helping guide regulatory frameworks for Great Lakes fishing under tribal laws.
A respected elder, cultural leader and environmental authority, Teeple served as a resource developer at Chippewa Ottawa Fisheries Treaty Management Authority and represented Bay Mills at GLIFWC events, including 2009’s Minwaajimo celebration. GLIFWC salutes Bucko and extends heartfelt condolences to the Teeple family, Bay Mills community, and everyone impacted by this deep loss.