Ojibwe treaty rights ogichidaa and longtime Bikoganoogan community leader Lewis Zhinawise Taylor passed away Saturday, September 28 at age 80. Taylor was elected to the St. Croix Band tribal council after the 1983 LCO Voigt Decision and was reelected many times over the following decades—often serving as tribal chairman. Affectionately known by his nickname Peewee, Taylor represented the St Croix Tribe on both the Voigt Intertribal Task Force and GLIFWC Board of Commissioners.
In September 2023, at Lac Courte Oreilles (LCO) reservation, Taylor participated in a leadership panel session at GLIFWC’s LCO Voigt 40th Anniversary Celebration; the federal court ruling upheld Ojibwe reserved rights to fish off-reservation, sparking a widespread backlash. Zhinawise joined other prominent leaders to recall the volatile boat landing protest era (1986-1991) when Ojibwe fishermen were under siege by non-natives during the spring walleye season.
“There were many nights that should not have been,” Taylor said. “We had to band together.”
Taylor heralded the native groups that came to support spearfishermen at darkened boat landings populated by wrathful protestors—many fueled by alcohol. The Menominee Warrior Society stood in solidarity with the Ojibwe in the Lac du Flambeau region and American Indian Movement members from Minneapolis made their presence felt in the St. Croix region of northwest Wisconsin, especially Balsam Lake, Taylor said.
“I’m proud to be a part of this Anishinaabe group after 40 years,” he said. —CO Rasmussen