By Winona LaDuke
Darren Smedsmo ‘s plane was seized by Red Lake Nation police for trespassing on tribal airspace. That was October 15. I think we are all glad that he’s alive. But the story is being treated with some sensationalism by the media. The story deserves more discussion.
Now, to be clear, I am not a Red Laker, but I do have a few observations. First, Darren is flying a very old plane. That’s to say a single engine 1946 Stinson vintage airplane. That plane is a treasure, but vintage is not always great. I am vintage at 66. A plane that is eighty years old with a single engine is, well old.
Then, there’s Smedmo’s choices. He safely landed on a highway, within the reservation boundaries. It was a good landing, in a dangerous situation.
This is where ignorance of the law is no excuse, I believe is the way the law works, at least for Native people, and probably should for white people as well. Red Lake is a closed reservation, and this means that none of us, even tribal members from other reservations, really try to mess with Red Lake. Red Lake closed their airspace over the reservation in a resolution in l978, for a good reason.
In 1978, the U.S. Air Force asked the FAA for permission to set up low-altitude military training routes over the reservation. The routes would have “seriously adversely affected” wildlife, “upon which the residents of the reservation are dependent for their livelihood.” The tribe made a resolution opposing the military flights. Now to be clear, having military jets over your peaceful land is not a good thing in any era.
While most of the 1978 resolution was about preventing the Air Force from implementing training routes, the final paragraph covers the problem with Smedsmo’s Stinson. “Be it further resolved that there is hereby established an air ban prohibiting the flying of any airplane over the lands of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians at an altitude of less than 20,000 feet.”
Red Lake is known for confiscating planes that trespass. Mostly, this is about non-Natives who just want to see if they can fish on Lower Red Lake. Just do a little search on the internet. In 2022. Justin Fuhrer, from St. Cloud, flew a small plane onto the ice of Red Lake in northwestern Minnesota, hoping to sample the phenomenal crappie.
His plane was seized by Red Lake. Because that’s what a closed reservation means, and even if you have some of the best walleye in the world, those fish belong to the lake and the Anishinaabe. There’s a few of these cases. It’s almost like watching dumb tourists try and pet a buffalo at Yellowstone. None of us are surprised at the results, either at Red Lake or Yellowstone.
Smedsmo, because he wanted to take a quick route which saved him probably a half hour of flight time or so, took a shortcut across the reservation. And he was flying at 3500 feet. He was going for training in Bemidji, and it seems that training would cover airspace regulations. To be clear, 3500 feet is well below the 20,000 ceiling. Darrel Smedsmo told reporters, he had no idea of the restrictions. “If that were the case, it would have been marked on my VFR aeronautical chart, or my map so to speak.”
Most of us know the law, and in this case, I think that ignorance of the law is not really an excuse.
Aviation News reports, “the Minnesota Pilots Association warned members to “Be aware of the direction given by the Red Lake Tribal Council to ‘report low-flying planes,’ which means of altitudes less than 20,000 feet ‘If you observe a plane flying below this altitude, you should contact Red Lake Law Enforcement at 218-679-3313.’“Until this is clarified, please use discretion when considering flights near or over Red Lake Tribal Lands”. That’s some directions and I am going to keep that number handy.
Now I am pretty sure that people who hate Native people will use this to justify some nasty behavior, but what about respecting people’s boundaries? I hope that the guy gets his plane back for sure, but I also hope that the state of Minnesota and pilots put that airspace on the map.
