File:Leech Lake Tribal Seal.jpg

LOCATION AND LAND STATUS:

Greater Leech Lake Indian Reservation encompasses approximately 600,000 acres, most of which lies within the Chippewa National Forest. Of this land, 29,646 acres are held in trust and 332,804 acres are controlled by federal, state, and local governments. The reservation lies 225 miles from Minneapolis/St. Paul and 135 miles from Duluth.

The reservation was established by the treaties of February 22, 1855 and May 1, 1867, and the Executive Orders of October 28, 1873, and May 26, 1874. The original acreage was gradually reduced in size by congressional acts including the General Allotment Act of 1887.

CULTURE AND HISTORY:

The Lake Leech Ojibwa, or Chippewa, speak an Algonquian language and originally lived in small self-governing villages in Canada. The name Ojibwa is favored in Canada and by the Leech Lake people, but "Chippewa" is commonly used in the United States. The tribe first encountered French explorers in the 1600s near Sault Sainte Marie, Canada. Later, they prospered in the fur trade and expanded their population and territory.

By the late 18th century the Iroquois had driven the Ojibwa out of the Ontario peninsula and they began to move into western Wisconsin and northeastern Minnesota. Arriving in what is now Minnesota, the Ojibwa encountered the powerful Santee Sioux. Conflicts between the two tribes persisted until the Ojibwa successfully drove the Sioux westward.

When the Euro-American settlers arrived, the Ojibwa occupied more than half the state. The Minnesota Ojibwa lived in four great divisions, each containing a number of bands. Living in isolated villages throughout the early 19th century, the Ojibwa were able to avoid the increasing number of westward moving settlers.

By the Treaty of March 19, 1867, the ten chiefs of the Chippewa of the Mississippi ceded their treaty rights to land that extended northwest to the Thief River and north to Turtle Lake. They retained land in an area quite similar to the present Leech Lake Reservation boundaries. The 1889 Nelson Act designated that all Chippewa living in Minnesota be moved to the White Earth Reservation. The native people resisted this decree, and finally the U.S. Chippewa Commission was directed to negotiate for the complete cession of all lands belonging to the different bands except for the Red Lake and White Earth Reservations. Moreover, it attempted to break-up these reservations into allotments, thereby decreasing their size. Yet despite these numerous attempts, past and present, Leech Lake Reservation has not been eliminated.

The Leech Lake Band of Chippewa have, in the past ten years, been able to reverse the trend which was leading toward the reservation’s termination. Instead, the band has actively pursued a policy of self-determination, using the court system to restore its treaty rights and jurisdiction. Notably, the hunting and fishing suit argued in Federal Court in 1969 not only guaranteed the band these rights but also asserted its right of self-governance and recognized the validity of its treaty rights.

Today, the Ojibwa of the area continue their traditional autumn harvest of the wild rice beds, which are plentiful in the area’s lakes, streams, and rivers. They also maintain many other traditional practices, such as woodcraft skills and the use of birchbark canoes.

GOVERNMENT: