January 30 - February 5, 2023

Gichimanidoo-Giizis (Great Spirit Moon)

The Red Cliff Boys & Girls Club of Gitchi Gami will host its first ever youth pow wow this coming April 8th and 9th at Legendary Waters Resort & Casino. Youth Club members chose the theme "Smoke Fish Not Drugs." Be sure to mark your calendars and save the date.

The Club is expected to release more details soon. Please contact the Club with any questions at 715-779-3722.

Anyone interested in participating in the upcoming spring spearing season is invited to attend this meeting hosted by the Red Cliff Wardens. The meeting will begin at 5 PM on Tuesday January 31 at the Red Cliff Tribal Historic Preservation Office, located at 36750 Hwy 13.

Join to learn about regulations, dates, and anything spearing related!

Please contact the Red Cliff Wardens with any questions at 715-779-3732.

Red Cliff Chippewa Housing Authority is offering free tax preparation services for the community through Friday April 14.

Those interested can drop off their tax documents at the RCCHA front office located at 37645 New Housing Road in Gaa-Miskwaabikaang. Photocopies of social security cards for all household members is required. There will also be a short intake form to complete.

Please contact RCCHA with any questions at 715-779-3744.

Giwiidosendimin Circle of Healing and Zaagichigaazowin Home Visiting Program will host a Full Moon Ceremony beginning at 5 PM on February 5 at Tina Peterson's residence, located at Dock Road in Gaa-Miskwaabikaang.

Please call Amanda Peterson-Teschner at 715-979-1555 or Carolyn Gouge-Powless at 715-779-3747 with any questions.



Bring ribbon skirt, yellow cloth, tobacco, and dish to pass if you wish.

The Red Cliff Water & Sewer Department has issued an emergency notice to take preventative steps to avoid freezing pipes during these extremely cold temperatures.

-Run both hot and cold water at a pencil-lead size stream in the kitchen sink, bathroom sink, bath tub, and shower.

-Leave faucets dripping until high temperatures are back above 10 degrees.

-Do not turn your heat completely off when you leave for the day or for an extended period of time. Instead, leave the heat on and turned down. Leave cabinet doors open under kitchen and bathroom sinks to allow heat to reach the plumbing.

Damage from frozen pipes can be substantial. If the pipes in your home freeze and burst, water may damage your clothes, furniture, TV, carpets, walls, and even your ceilings.

Red Cliff Water & Sewer is not responsible for thawing out private frozen pipes, or repairing private burst pipes. The homeowner will need to call a plumbing service to handle repairs.

Please contact the Red Cliff Water & Sewer Department with any questions at 715-779-3700.

The next Badger Box food giveaway is scheduled for Thursday February 9 at the Red Cliff Food Distribution program. The giveaway is scheduled to start around 10:00 AM. This giveaway is open to everyone.

The boxes are expected to include:

apple cider; bagged apples; potatoes; onions; harvest butter; cheese; milk; eggs; greek yogurt dip; popcorn; cherry salsa; corn tortillas; trail mix; wild rice blend; beef sausages; pork/beef skinless wieners; bacon.

Please call Red Cliff Food Distribution with any questions at 715-779-3740.

Conner Pliss, an Eagle Scout candidate from Boy Scout Troop 350 out of Cable, has donated backpacks and supplies to Gaa-Miskwaabikaang youth in need. Pliss dropped off over 100 backpacks last week at the Red Cliff Indian Child Welfare Office. Howah!

Pliss said he was inspired to collect bags and items for his Eagle Scout service project after hearing about a family member's struggles while in foster care. Pliss collected bags and donations from businesses and from people he knows.

Red Cliff ICW Interim Director Juliet Means and ICW Investigator/Case Manager Kimberly Gurnoe presented Pliss with a certificate during his visit to Red Cliff. Pliss also donated bags to Bad River youth.

Chi-Miigwech to Conner Pliss, aho!

Boozhoo Elders! Here is the meal calendar for February. Please call 715-779-3706 with any questions. You can also access this at any time online HERE.

Ginanda Gikendaasomin Red Cliff Library's next Agindaasodaa Book Club is set for February 23 at 6 PM. This month's host will be Louise Robbins, a long-time supporter of the Red Cliff Library.

This month's book is "Murder on the Red River" by Marcie R. Rendon.

Please contact the Library with any questions at 715-779-3766.

Join the Noojimo'iwewin Center's Chili Cook-Off series! The next date is February 18, 2023 from 1:00-3:00 PM.

Every third Saturday through March, Noojimo'iwewin Center will be hosting a chili cook-off. Come enjoy some chili and renew your recovery.

Please call the Noojimo'iwewin Center for more information at 715-779-3508.



The Noojimo'iwewin Center is located at 37450 Water Tower Rd in Red Cliff.

Details for this year's Biboon Gabeshiwin (Winter Camp) will be released soon!

Winners of the youth t-shirt / visual art contest will be announced during Camp on February 22 at the Sugar Bush Feast.

Biboon Gabeshiwin is set for Namebini giizis (February) 20-26. Keep an eye out for all Biboon Gabeshiwin details on Facebook or online HERE.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will hold a public listening session for the proposed Wolf Management Plan on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023 at 4 PM as part of the public review and comment period.

This listening session is an additional opportunity for anyone interested to provide input on the proposed plan while the public review and comment period remains open until Feb. 28.

Registration is required by noon CST on Feb. 6 for anyone wishing to provide comment on the proposed plan during the listening session. Registrants will speak in the order of which they’ve signed up, and each speaker will have two minutes. Speakers are also encouraged to review the plan on the DNR’s Wolf Management Plan webpage before joining the listening session.

Register to speak HERE.

Review the plan HERE.

Members of the public who do not wish to provide testimony during the hearing and only want to listen can watch a live feed of the hearing on the DNR’s YouTube channel. After the event, the recording will be accessible on YouTube for on-demand viewing.

Watch the hearing live HERE.

DNR staff will give a brief overview of the plan, and the public comment period will immediately follow. To make sure staff hear from everyone who registers to speak, staff will not be addressing questions.

In addition to the public listening session, the DNR will continue to accept comments through the Online Comment Tool, email (DNRWildlifeSwitchboard@wisconsin.gov) or through the mail until 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 28, 2023.

Please mail comments to:

Wolf Management Plan Comments

101 S. Webster St.

PO Box 7921

Madison, WI 53707-7921

Interested in learning more about budgeting and managing your personal / family finances, how to save, and how to build credit?

Join this free community workshop from 5:00-7:00 PM on Wednesday February 15 at the New Hope Commons, located at 37580 Pageant Rd in Red Cliff.

Dinner will be provided along with gift cards and raffle prizes. Child care will be available. You do not need to register -- simply show up!



Please contact RCCHA with any questions at 715-779-3744.

Howah! Various wildlife on a beaver dam in Gaa-Miskwaabikaang (Red Cliff, WI). Footage from November 2022 through January 2023.

Wiisagi-ma' iingan (Coyote)

Maa'ingan (Wolf)

Makwa (Black Bear)

Amik (Beaver)

Gidagaa-bizhiw (Bobcat)

Nigig (Otter)

Waagosh (Fox)

Contact the Red Cliff Treaty Natural Resources Department with any questions at 715-779-3750.

A variety of wildlife in Gaa-Miskwaabikaang (Red Cliff, WI). Footage from September - December 2022.

Contact the Red Cliff Treaty Natural Resources Department with any questions at 715-779-3750.

Click image to access the entire Behavioral Health newsletter

FoodWIse Nutrition has released its February 2023 newsletter!

FoodWIse is federally funded statewide by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) and the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). FoodWIse advances healthy eating habits, active lifestyles and healthy community environments for Wisconsin residents with limited incomes through nutrition education at the individual, community and systems levels.

Click HERE to view the full February 2023 FoodWIse newsletter.

Boozhoo families with the Red Cliff Early Childhood Center! Week 17 of the Second Step Curriculum will teach your children how to manage anger. Teachers will be implementing this curriculum and families will also receive these exercises to continue practicing at home.

Contact the ECC with any questions at 715-779-5030.

Dear Early Head Start Families,

I hope that the New Year finds you and your family happy and healthy.

I would like to let you know that we will be reducing our service hours for Early Head Start. We will be closed for students eight extra Fridays through the end of the school year, beginning January 27th.

Below are dates of closure that were regularly scheduled for services. We will also be sending out amended calendar pages to assist with keeping track of the changes.

January 27, February 24, March 10, March 24, May 5, May 19, June 2, July 14 

This is only through this school year and will impact 8 scheduled Fridays. We know that this may cause challenges for some families and for that we apologize!

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Jamie, Center Director, at 715-779-5030 ext. 2527 or Jenn, Center Administrator, at 715-779-5030 ext. 2561.

The Red Cliff Education Department is offering additional financial support for those who have already applied for the Higher Education and Job Training Program.

Click HERE to learn more and access an application.

Red Cliff Chippewa Housing Authority is accepting applications for housing and housing assistance!

RCCHA provides clean, safe, adequate, and affordable housing for qualified families and elders.

Housing options to apply for include low rent, 6-plex, 4-plex, Elderly, Tax Credit, Tax Credit Rehab.

Oski-Ombendaam New Hope Supportive Housing

The Oski-Ombendaam New Hope housing contains efficiency, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom units. The goal of New Hope housing is to provide supportive services to those individuals and families while providing clean, safe, adequate, and affordable housing.

Click HERE to access an application for Housing Assistance.

Click HERE to access an application for New Hope Housing Assistance.

Red Cliff Chippewa Housing Authority tenants have access to a Residential Resource Coordinator. The coordinator will help tenants get connected with various resources.

This service is available to Housing tenants Monday through Friday at New Hope Building A, at 37580 Pageant Road.

Please call 715-779-3744 extension 3514 with any questions.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has extended the public comment period for their draft wolf plan through the end of February 2023. Read the plan and submit a comment HERE.

The public review and comment period is a key opportunity for the public to share their thoughts on the proposed wolf management plan. The DNR will review and consider all feedback submitted during the review period while preparing the final draft of the proposed wolf management plan.

The draft management plan lays out a holistic approach to ensuring the state’s wolf population remains healthy and secure while balancing the diverse interests of the public.

The proposed plan was developed in consideration of many factors, including public input, consultations with Wisconsin's tribal nations, scientific literature reviews, a study on current public attitudes towards wolves and potential outcomes of various management decisions.

The draft plan aims to effectively balance the tradeoffs between three main objectives:

• Ensuring a healthy and sustainable wolf population to fulfill its ecological role.

• Addressing and reducing wolf-related conflicts.

• Providing multiple benefits associated with the wolf population, including hunting, trapping and sightseeing.

In addition, the draft plan details proposals to increase public understanding of wolves, identify important scientific research to be conducted and outline steps to ensure collaboration on science-based wolf management in Wisconsin.

More details about the plan’s objectives and metrics for evaluation are described in the implementation section of the management plan. The descriptions and metrics provided give a clearer understanding of the intent behind each objective, how the DNR plans to measure it and what conditions constitute satisfactory progress toward the objective.

What’s Staying The Same?

The draft plan provides that DNR staff will continue to monitor wolves each year and address wolf-related conflict (consistent with current law). The DNR will continue supporting and conducting scientific research and science-based decision-making. Collaboration with other agencies, tribal nations, stakeholder groups and the public on items of mutual importance remains a department priority.

What’s Changing?

The plan proposes several changes to align the DNR’s wolf management strategy with the current state of the wolf population, the available science and the perspectives of a diverse public, such as:

• Moving away from a single numeric population goal and instead using an adaptive management process focused on balancing the three main objectives (above).

• Reducing harvest registration times and issuing zone-specific wolf harvest permits to improve the department's ability to effectively meet harvest quotas.

• Adding mechanisms to address localized concerns, including wolf harvest concerns near tribal reservation boundaries and focused wolf harvest in areas with a history of wolf-livestock conflict.

• Revising wolf management zone boundaries to better reflect current wolf distribution and habitat.

The public is encouraged to review the updated plan in detail to learn more.

Click HERE to order online!

By Paul Barnes

From the Ashland Daily Press

Bay-Area sports archives reveal that now-defunct high schools such as the Ondossagon Aggies as well as teams from Cable, Iron River, and Glidden, were claiming Indianhead Conference championships against surviving members Washburn, Bayfield, and Mellen – and others who departed such as Bessemer and Ironwood – as early as 1950.

Starting this fall, however, that will change when the longstanding Indianhead switches its name to the Northern Lights Conference. The move has been under consideration by member school districts for some time, and is in stride with other schools, programs, amateur and professional sports teams that have also made such changes, said Ashland-based Cooperative Educational Service Agency (CESA) District 12 administrator Dominick Madison, who was chosen by fellow superintendents to discuss the break.

“This issue came up as a result of this name (Indianhead) being dropped from many references in recent years, including WITC (Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College) changing its name to Northwood Technical College,” he said. “Superintendents of the conference discussed this topic informally at their meetings and then called a special meeting to initiate this change. The term ‘Indianhead’ is a reference to how the northwestern border of Wisconsin represents the profile of a Native American wearing a headdress. The consensus amongst district leaders is that reference is, at best, a pejorative reference and needed to not be used any longer.”

Read the full article online HERE.

For the full job description and how you can apply, please visit wisc.jobs and search Job ID# 9007.

Invitation to artists and craftspeople to demonstrate cultural traditions

The 28^th Portage County Cultural Festival (PCCF) is scheduled for Saturday, May 13, 2023, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm at The Stevens Point Area Senior High (SPASH), 1201 North Point Drive, Stevens Point, Wisconsin. In past years, this event, which is free to the public, has attracted as many as 14,000 people of all ages and cultural backgrounds to sample food, music, folk dances, crafts, and games from around the world and here in Wisconsin.

The Portage County Cultural Festival (PCCF) is a community initiative celebrating Central Wisconsin’s rich cultural heritage. It began in 1992 and brings together area residents to showcase their cultures and learn about multiculturalism in a fun and festive environment. Dubbed; ”a landmark event for the community run completely by volunteers” by the Portage County Gazette, the PCCF brings together people of all ages from Central Wisconsin and beyond for a day of celebration and enjoyment of each other’s cultures. More information about the Portage County Cultural Festival can be found at the festival website, http://www.portagecountyculturalfestival.org/.  

We are seeking members of ethnic/cultural groups to demonstrate a traditional art, craft, or other cultural activity. Demonstrators are expected to share information about their cultures and are welcome to bring examples of their art for sale if they wish, although this is not required. Participants are expected to comply with all applicable copyright and trademark laws.

Thanks to the generosity of donors to the PCCF, there are limited funds available to offset travel expenses for demonstrators. 

Those interested in participating as demonstrators should send a request for an application form as soon as possible to PCCF, P. O. 739, Stevens Point, WI 54481 or via email to pccf92@gmail.com. When you receive the form, please read the information on application, policies, and expectations of demonstrators carefully. To ensure mutual understanding, applicants are asked to sign or initial on the space provided on the completed application form before submitting it to PCCF, P. O. 739, Stevens Point, WI 54481 or via email to pccf92@gmail.com by February 15, 2023.



Anyone with interest in participating in other aspects of the festival (vendors, dancers, musicians, native language speakers) can express this interest by contacting the PCCF organizers at pccf92@gmail.com.

The Eiteljorg Museum Indian Market & Festival is scheduled for June 24-25, 2023. Artists can apply to be featured!

Learn more and apply online HERE.

Greetings! We have exciting news! Native American Tourism of Wisconsin will be hosting the Native Wisconsin Arts Festival in June 2023 at the Menominee Nation Casino Resort/Powwow Grounds. Our goal is to raise $75,000 in support of NATOW’s tourism initiatives throughout the state.

But we can’t meet this goal without your help.

Below are the details for this year’s sponsorship levels:

1. $5,000 - Bear Level: Your company name and logo on our event signage; Your company/org name on our Golf Tournament Signage; Listed as event sponsor in all PR, marketing and outreach for the conference; Your logo on event T-shirt; Complimentary 1-year Associate Membership; 2 Conference Registrations; VIP Reception.
2. $2,000 - Eagle Level: Your company name and logo on our event signage; Your logo on event T-shirt; Complimentary 1-year Associate Membership; 1 Conference Registration; VIP Reception; Listed as an even sponsor on social media and website.
3. $1,000 - Wolf Level: Your company name and logo on our event signage; Complimentary 1-year Associate Membership; Your logo on event t-shirt; VIP reception.
4. $500 - Manoomin Level: Logo on event T-shirt; Complimentary 1-year Associate Membership; VIP Reception.
5. $150 - Booth Spaces for vendors.

If your organization would like to participate in this year’s event as a sponsor, please contact us to donate or for more information. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Respectfully,

Suzette Brewer

Executive Director

Ph: 715-861-1212

Email: director@natow.org