By Nicholas Wilson*
HOUGHTON -- On Friday, September 3, community members and Michigan Tech students gathered in Forestry's Noblet atrium to view artistic representations of carnivore species and to engage in a conversation about the complicated relationship shared by wolves and humans.
The exhibit, titled "The Spirit of the Hunt," is a collaboration between the Michigan Tech College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science (CFRES), the Department of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA), and Project Coyote. Its goal is to highlight the beauty of native carnivore species and call attention to the plight of the Michigan wolf population. The exhibit continues until October 15, 2021.
This event follows the January 2021 removal of wolves from the federal endangered species list and coincides with a number of lawsuits and state legislative actions concerning the management of wolf populations. Recent proposals in Michigan’s legislature, including Senate Bill 486 and House Bills 5078 and 5079, have the potential to impact wolf management decisions.**
The exhibit features multimedia artworks including photos, paintings, and poetry displayed throughout the atrium of the Noblet Building. The art pieces on display were created by both national and local artists including UP-based artists Joyce Koskenmaki and Ladislav Hanka. The exhibit was guest-curated by Catherine Plank, a graduate student in Ecosystems Science and Management at the University of Michigan.
The art pieces in the exhibit are for sale and proceeds will benefit Project Coyote, a nonprofit organization working to educate the public and enhance conservation of predator species in the United States.
The Friday afternoon event served as the opening for the exhibit and featured two speakers: Tanya Aldred of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLFWC) and Dr. John Vucetich, Michigan Tech professor and wolf expert.
Tanya Aldred: "Ma’iingan (wolf): An Ojibwe Perspective"
Tanya Aldred, a member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) and a GLFWC biologist, began the event with a presentation titled "Ma’iingan (wolf): An Ojibwe Perspective."
She explained the significance of wolves to the Ojibwe people, providing an abridged account of the Anishinaabe creation story. In this story, Original Man was assigned the task of naming all species by the Great Spirit. When Original Man became lonely and asked the Creator for a partner, the wolf became his companion.
When the task was complete, the Creator told Original man that it was time for him and the wolf to part ways: "But from this time forward you will always be brothers," Aldred recounted. "What happens to one will happen to the other."
Aldred explained this proclamation had proven true. She noted similarities between the histories and treatment of both Native Americans and wolves in the United States. Aldred described how the mistreatment and abuse of native peoples in the United States coincided with the near extermination of wolf populations and how the movement among tribes to fight for treaty and civil rights was concurrent with wolf population recovery.
With their deep respect for and connection with wolves, Native American tribes have been strong opponents of recent wolf hunts such as Wisconsin’s February 2021 hunt during which 216 wolves -- about 20 percent of the state’s population -- were killed in just 3 days.
"The tribes were very upset about the hunt -- what they call slaughter," said Aldred. "I was devastated."
She described performing necropsies on wolves killed during the hunt and discovering that, in the case of some females, as many as 14 pups were found inside a single pregnant wolf.
"This is a bad time to be taking wolves and it's never happened this late in the season," she said.
Aldred also described her own background as a tribal member, a lifelong wildlife enthusiast, and a biologist working with fishers, otters, bobcats, and pine martins.
"I’ve always been interested in wolves, but that was someone else’s job," she said. "And then, in January during the recent delisting, it hit me."
As a member of the Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota wolf committees, Aldred called for a "bottom up" approach to wildlife and natural resources management.
"I’m here to be a voice for those who can’t defend themselves -- the plants and animals and air and water," she explained. "Because we depend upon all of them. It’s our responsibility to take care of them."
Aldred concluded on an optimistic note: "I don’t feel alone in the battle. People need to be educated about this and understand that it’s not a lost cause," she said. "There will be battles, there will be turmoil and politics that we can’t control; but participating in events like this, talking to people and having good healthy conversations -- I think that’s what brings us all together."
John Vucetich: "On the relationship between humans and wolves"
In the second presentation, Dr. John Vucetich wrestled with the legislation, government structures, lawsuits, and cultural factors that compose the complicated relationship shared by humans and wolves.
Throughout his presentation, Vucetich emphasized that recent developments in wolf management have changed the way that he thinks about, and tells the story of, the human-wolf relationship: "The idiosyncratic nature of the comments that I have really does speak to the fact that I don’t know how to tell the story anymore."
He began by noting that six US states -- Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming -- have sizeable wolf populations and that some of these states, especially Wisconsin and Idaho, are pursuing aggressive wolf hunting, while Michigan is currently evaluating how to manage and hunt wolves.
Vucetich then set out to help answer the questions "Why is this happening?" and "How did it happen?"
"America has a really rich hunting tradition," he noted. "But never in our American history have we decided to hunt something because we hate it. If what I’m proposing is true, then this is the first time in our history that we have decided that we want to hunt something because we hate it."
He added, "That is a stain on the American hunting tradition that will not easily be washed away. That’s going to be with us for a long time."
Vucetich then discussed the legal and political factors that shape wildlife management decision making in the US and stressed the importance of states.
"Wildlife is managed at the state level with few exceptions," he said. "How do you work in the states' politics environment to make things better for the natural environment?"
Vucetich explained that most state agencies that manage wildlife receive a large portion of their revenues from hunting, especially through the sale of hunting licenses.
"The people who work in these agencies have a strong tendency to see hunters as their primary constituency, not the residents of their state," he said. "This relationship will be difficult to change unless you can change the funding structure of state agencies."
He also noted while many hunters do not support the extremely aggressive wolf hunting measures, a small group of very vocal hunters do.
Vucetich then considered the American public’s perception of wolves and the larger public relationship with the natural world. He noted concern over climate change seems to be becoming increasingly prevalent among citizens and politicians alike, but pointed out that the global climate has a direct effect on human wellbeing.
"We exterminated wolves from most of the US and for the most part human wellbeing has gotten better and better," he said. "Our human wellbeing does not fundamentally depend upon whether wolves are around. So, if we’re going to keep them around it’s an act of charity, generosity and compassion. We haven’t reached that stage with our relationship with nature."
He also explored the cultural forces shaping wolf management, posing the question "Are wolves part of a culture war?"
When an audience member asked a question about wolves killing livestock, Vucetich ruminated on the position of wolves in American culture.
"Wolves do kill livestock, but if you look at [that] from an industry perspective, the killing that wolves do is absolutely trivial," he responded. "However, if you are the livestock owner whose sheep or cattle got killed, it’s a big deal."
Vucetich then noted while problems in rural communities are things like "crappy internet connection, poor schools, poor health care," people sometimes use something else as a symbol of their problems.
"I think sometimes wolves are that," he said. "This isn’t really about wolves; it’s about much more than wolves, I think."
At the conclusion of the presentations, curator Catherine Plank encouraged audience members to continue learning about wolves and wolf management and to consider donating to wolf protection organizations like Project Coyote.
"The Spirit of the Hunt" ecological art exhibit can be viewed in the Noblet atrium Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. until October 15.
Editor's Notes:
* Keweenaw Now guest writer Nicholas Wilson is a Keweenaw resident and free-lance journalist. See also his March 18, 2021, article, "An Uncertain Future for Michigan Wolves."
** Michigan Senate Bill 486 and Michigan House Bill 5079 concern membership on the Wolf Management Advisory Council. Michigan House Bill 5078 concerns membership on the Michigan Wildlife Council.
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