The ceremony was only a short distance from the Supreme Court

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Representatives from the Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians lighted a sacred fire at sunrise Saturday in Washington in advance of a Supreme Court case that deals with off-reservation hunting, fishing and gathering rights.

The case, Minnesota v. Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians, is scheduled to be heard December 2.

The suit against Minnesota was brought in 1990 when the Mille Lacs Band claimed the right to hunt, fish and gather without regulation on non-reservation land that the band sold to the federal government in 1837.

The sacred flame lighting took place at the National Indian Gaming Association building courtyard, blocks away from the Supreme Court.

The flame will remain lit for four days, leading up to a Wednesday sunrise ceremony, a walk to the Supreme Court building and a ceremony in front of the courthouse -- all meant to provide strength and support to tribal attorneys as they put forth the tribes' case.

The suit by the Mille Lacs Band has been joined by the federal government and seven other Chippewa bands, including six in Wisconsin.

"This is a case about an Indian treaty right to hunt and fish on lands that were ceded to the United States in the 19th century," said Mille Lacs Band attorney Marc Slonin.

"There are a number of treaties made around the country, principally in the Great Lakes region and the Pacific Northwest, where Indians sold their lands to the United States but reserved rights to hunt and fish on the lands that they ceded," said Slonin.

He said treaty rights have become an issue in recent times.

"In the late 19th and early 20th century, many states began to regulate fish and game harvests, and they gave great priority to sport hunting and sport fishing. They set very short seasons, they restricted the kind of gear that could be used and that interfered with Indian subsistence patterns that had been going on for centuries," said Slonin.

The state argues that the privileges were extinguished by a later 1850 presidential order, by Minnesota's becoming a state and by an 1855 treaty. Minnesota has been joined in the case by eight other states who have filed "friend of the court" briefs.

Chippewas won earlier rulings

Lower court rulings upheld the Mille Lacs argument that the tribes never lost their special privileges to hunt, fish and gather on the land they sold to the government, but Minnesota successfully lobbied the Supreme Court for an appeal.

If the high court upholds the lower courts, the eight bands of Chippewa could lay claim to half of the safe-harvest levels of game and fish in all 12 east-central Minnesota counties.

A broad decision in favor of the tribe could reaffirm Indian treaty rights. A more narrow decision in the tribe's favor would probably stay within the territories of Minnesota and Wisconsin where these tribes hunt, fish and gather.

If the court reverses the ruling, control of the land could revert to the state. Such a ruling also could impact treaty rights nationally.