Menominee Tribe Sparknotes

Patricia K. Ouranda published a manuscript in 1926 entitled The Menominee Indians: A History. This book covers the innumerable conflicts between the Menominee tribe and the federal government, other tribes, and itself, and invariably references the grandson of the Great Chief, Reginald Oshkosh. While the text refers to Chief Oshkosh the Brave with active language, such as stating he “ascended” to his position, “earned his title”, and “gained prestige within the tribe”, the language used to describe Reginald Oshkosh starkly contrasts the spirited language. The only characterization attributed to Reginald is his “quiet ability to confound those who asked him foolish questions”, and twice more is his “quiet” and “unassuming” nature commented upon.

The lengthiest description of Reginald Oshkosh and his impact on the Menominee tribe revolves around this presidential interaction, as Ouranda quotes from a February New York Times article that fixated on Reginald. Ouranda inserts a block quote stating that “‘Oshkosh is of the purest Indian blood and a superb type of redman… It is doubtful if any garb could conceal the ancestry of which he is so proud… he looked like a composite picture of all the chiefs whom it took the flower of the federal army to subdue’”. This block text remains without any analysis or contingent historical admonishments for the uninformed language of the reporter or blatant American-centric perspective, instead further using the article to enumerate a ‘quote’ from Reginald himself. Ouranda clearly tries to convey Reginald’s unique perspective on American policies when she inserts part of the New York Times article where Reginald had explained to the reporter that “‘The Menominees were always loyal to the government under which they

Once more, this block quote is unaccompanied by any analysis, Ouranda instead moving on to detail the other Native American representatives at the inauguration, leaving the reader to believe that the quote stands for itself. Regardless of the accuracy of which the New York Post journalist transcribed and published Reginald’s quote, Ouranda declines to address the cognitive dissonance of a Menominee leader that echoes the sentiment of white supremacists. Moreover, Ouranda’s treatment of Reginald Oshkosh de-legitimizes him as a leader, never once referring to him as a chief (as he was at the time of the inauguration) and allowing quotes that describe his defining feature as distinctly indigenous to be reprinted without skepticism. Later on when referring to a socio-economic crisis the Menominee Indians attempted to solve (which was not identified to be under the leadership of Chief Reginald Oshkosh as it truly was), Ouranda shifts the leadership capacity of Reginald to the tribe as a whole, recounting that ““Following the Meriam Commission’s recommendation[s of strategies to improve conditions among the tribe], the Menominees quickly issued a press release, prepared by Chief Reginald