200 Protesting Indian Spearfishing Arrested

Police arrested about 200 protesters who gathered at Trout Lake to oppose a judge’s decision extending the spearfishing season of the Chippewa Indians.

More than 1,000 people staged a protest at the northern Wisconsin lake, objecting to U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb’s decision not to halt the spearfishing at midnight Friday. The state of Wisconsin had sought an injunction to stop the spearfishing season as the general season opened today.

Provisions of 19th-Century treaties give the Chippewa wide latitude to gather food throughout much of Northern Wisconsin.

For the first time in five years, the spearfishing and non-Indian fishing seasons overlapped, largely because the late winter left waters frozen and too cold for the spawning of the walleye.

In Madison, Gov. Tommy G. Thompson appealed for peace between Indian and non-Indian fishermen.