People v. LeBlanc
Jondreau's victory, however, inspired various other Chippewa and Odawa bands to consider the possibility of legal action. Bay Mills Chippewa Albert LeBlanc, with the assistance of Upper Peninsula Legal Services pushed forward a far more significant case, based upon rights found in the Treaty of Washington signed in 1836. In December 1976 the State Supreme Court ruled in People v. LeBlanc that Odawa and Chippewa bands party to the 1836 treaty retained treaty-based fishing rights that could be limited by the state only if the state could demonstrate that Indian fishing endangered the fishery itself. Having found treaty rights to be relevant, the Supreme Court remanded the case back to district court to determine if the state could produce the necessary evidence to demonstrate that Indian fishing endangered the resource.