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Menominee - Wisconsin (U.S.)

Native American

image by Donald Healy, 14 January 2008

The band
The flag

See also:

The Band

map image by Peter Orenski based on input from Don Healy

Menominee- Wisconsin

The Menominee of Wisconsin, a Tribe terminated by the federal government in the 1950s and restored in the 1970s, control about 222,000 acres (AID, 44). Their name derives from the Algonquin term manomin, "good berry". The English understood it to mean "Wild Rice Men", from their harvesting of the wild rice growing in the lakes of the region.

The Flag

Today the Menominee celebrate their lands and culture on their tribal flag, which bears the circular seal of the Menominee Nation on a white background (seal provided by the Menominee Nation, Tribal Headquarters). The seal depicts a red thunderbird, one of the paramount creatures in Native American lore. The thunderbird is often drawn as an eagle, but the Menominee use a more traditional design. A white upward-pointing arrow splits its tail as a symbol of the bright future facing the Menominee people.

Two other images are placed on the seal in black, one over each of the thunderbird's shoulders. To the left appears a map of the reservation; on the map is a pine forest. To the right is a cross-section of a log. Both the pine forest and the log symbolize the timber industry that sustains the Menominee way of life.

In a white ring around the outside of the seal are "GREAT SEAL OF THE" above, and "MENOMINEE NATION" below. The seal is edged with a narrow red band to separate it from the white field of the flag.

© Donald Healy 2008
information provided by Peter Orenski, 14 January 2008