As part of our ongoing equity interview series, we spoke with Jordan Shananaquet, a citizen of the Waganakising Odawak — the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians — about Sovereignty Day on September 21st. The day honors when the United States reaffirmed what the Odawa people have always known: that they are a sovereign Tribal Nation with inherent rights and responsibilities.

Jordan Shananaquet:
When we talk about reaffirmation, it’s important to be clear: we say federal reaffirmation. Our sovereignty was never granted to us—it has always existed. On September 21, 1994, through Public Law 103-324, the United States acknowledged that reality. We were the first Tribal Nation, alongside the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, to be reaffirmed through an act of Congress rather than an administrative process.

That moment came after generations of struggle. In the 1836 Treaty alone, the Waganakising Odawak and neighboring Tribal Nations ceded over 13 million acres of land — land that directly enabled the establishment of the State of Michigan. Those treaties were not acts of surrender; they were nation-to-nation agreements that guaranteed our rights to land, resources, and self-governance. Yet, despite those promises, federal policies of termination and assimilation tried to erase us. Even within living memory, our people endured policies designed to strip away language, culture, and identity. Reaffirmation did not grant us sovereignty — it acknowledged and began to correct generations of injustice.

And it matters because it opened doors: to education, health care, housing, and economic development — resources that directly support our citizens. More than that, reaffirmation publicly recognized what our people had always carried: our identity, our governance, and our rights.

Sovereignty Day, to me, is about continuity. We never stopped being a nation. Even when governance and ceremonies were under attack, our people carried them forward. Sovereignty isn’t just a political term. It’s how we live with the land and water, how we care for one another, and how we pass on language, culture, and teachings to the next generation.

That connection to the land and water is central to sovereignty. Our treaties were not only about territory; they were about our ability to sustain ourselves and future generations. The 1836 Treaty guaranteed hunting, fishing, and gathering rights that remain vital to our people today. Those rights mean little, however, without clean water, healthy forests, and the beings that feed and sustain our people. Protecting the environment is not separate from sovereignty — it is sovereignty in practice.

This is why issues like Line 5 matter so deeply to us. The aging oil pipeline that cuts through the Straits of Mackinac threatens the very waters our people depend on. For us, this isn’t an abstract debate about infrastructure. It’s about protecting a sacred place that sustains life. It’s about ensuring that our treaty rights — rights to fish, to gather medicines, to practice our way of life — remain real and not just words on paper.

On a deeper personal level, I think about spearing ogaa, or walleye. That practice connects me not only to my ancestors but to the water itself. It’s a tradition that ties together identity, food sovereignty, and responsibility. But I can’t do that without clean water. I can’t pass that practice to the next generation if the lakes are polluted or the fish are unsafe to eat. For me, protecting the water is inseparable from protecting who we are as Odawa people.

Our sovereignty has always existed, but in the 31 years since the United States reaffirmed it, we’ve expanded our governance structures and built economic foundations that benefit not only our citizens but also the wider community we share geography with. That’s powerful progress in such a short time. Yet, sovereignty also comes with responsibility. Recognition requires us to govern wisely, to defend our treaty rights, and to make decisions that safeguard the future.

At its core, sovereignty is about living in a good way — shaping our government, our programs, and our future through our own values rather than someone else’s. And part of living in a good way is caring for the land and water that sustain us all. When we talk about sovereignty, it’s not only a legal or political concept. It’s a lived responsibility to relatives — human and non-human — and to the generations yet to come.

That is why Sovereignty Day matters to me. It’s a reminder that sovereignty is not something we were given. It is who we are as Waganakising Odawak. It is visible in our council chambers and court systems, but also in the way we still harvest manoomin, spear fish at night, sing our songs, and care for our homelands. Like, did you know Torch Lake got its name from this practice? Our ancestors called it Waswaaganing — the “Lake of the Torches” — because at night, our people would go out in jiimaanan (canoes) to spear fish by torchlight. That history is literally written into the names of the places we live in today.

For people who are not Odawa, I think Sovereignty Day also offers an invitation. It’s a chance to understand that our fight for sovereignty is not separate from the shared work of protecting this place we all call home. The same waters that carry our jiimaanan (canoes) carry your boats. The same fish we spear are fish that feed families across Michigan. The health of the land and the future of this state are tied to how seriously we all take our responsibilities.

So, when I celebrate Sovereignty Day, I celebrate our resilience as a people — but I also celebrate the opportunity to keep building relationships that protect what matters most: our rights, our communities, and the land and waters that give us life.