The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe (Ojibwe: Misi-zaaga'iganing Anishinaabeg), also known as the Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians, is a federally recognizedAmerican Indian tribe in east-central Minnesota. The Band has 4,302 members as of 2012. Its homeland is the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation, consisting of District I (near Onamia), District II (near McGregor), District IIa (near Isle), and District III (near Hinckley).
There are eight major doodem (or clan) types found among the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. They are Bizhiw (Lynx), Makwa (Bear), Waabizheshi (Marten) Awaazisii (Bullhead), Ma'iingan (Wolf), Migizi (Bald Eagle), Name (Sturgeon) and Moozens (Little Moose).
The State of Minnesota erected a monument to the Mille Lacs band at Fort Ridgely. The monument to the Mille Lacs band was dedicated in 1914 at the Fort Ridgely site as it was frequented by the public. The Fort Ripley site was abandoned and unused so the monument was placed where it would be seen. It is the same size as the monument the state put up for troops of the 5th Minnesota that died at Fort Ridgely
The first Europeans who arrived among the Ojibwe were French, British, and American fur traders. Some stayed and later competed with the Band for resources and to encroach on their land. Many settlers choose to ignore and violate the treaties the Mille Lacs Band made with the British crown and the United States.
When the Mdewakanton uprising broke out in 1862, Chief Hole in the Day made threats to take the north to war too. On September 6, 1862, the speculation[4] of his joining Little Crow prompted Zhaaboshkang(Shaw-bosh-kung), head chief of the Mille Lacs Band to lead 700-750 warriors waving a US flag[5]:p.114 and Mille Lacs made flag, to Fort Ripley to volunteer to fight the Sioux and support the garrison along with the Sandy Lake, Snake River, and Chippewa River bands.[5]William P. Dole, the Indian Commissioner happened to be at Fort Ripley, asked that they return to their reservation. He told them they would be informed if they were needed.[5] Dole told the Mille Lacs chiefs that they could remain on their reservation for a 1000 years for their actions.[5] However, war chief Mou-Zoo-Mau-Nee with 200 Mille Lacs warriors remained at the fort as did 100 from the Sandy Lake band.
According to Chief Mou-zoo-mau-nee's obituary the people of Little Falls asked for protection. The town was 15 miles downriver from Fort Ripley. He sent 150 warriors.[6] The town's woman prepared a welcome meal and the men smoked the peace pipe with the warriors.
On September 8, 1862, another Mille Lacs band chief with 100 warriors was met and stopped at Watab, Minnesota just north of St Cloud.[7] They wanted to join the government forces fighting the Sioux. Fort Ripley was informed and Capt. Hall, the fort's commander, invited the Chippewa to come to the fort as guests of the State to await a decision on their offer.[8] That same week the Fond du Lac band sent a letter to Gov. Ramsey to forward to President Abraham Lincoln offering to fight the Sioux.[9] Also that week the Red Lake band offered to fight too.[10] In both 1863 and 1864, Article 12 in two Chippewa treaties acknowledged the Mille Lacs band and Sandy Lake band for voluntarily providing security to a U.S. military installation and the civilian town without compensation during an ongoing war. For that service Lincoln repeated what Commissioner Dole had said, the Mille Lacs band could remain on their reservation for 1,000 years.12Stat.1249[11]
In 1864, 20 Mille Lacs warriors offered to scout for General Sibley's Dakota expedition. Sibley told them he already had some Ojibwe warriors and didn't need all 20, but he did accept a few.[12] One of those scouts, Chief Kegg, became a historic figure in the Mille Lacs Band[13]
In 1875 Chief Shaw-Bosh-Kung described his 1863 meeting with Lincoln when interviewed at the Chippewa Indian Agency:
"The President took our hands and promised us faithfully and encouraged us and he said we could live on our reservation for 10 years and if faithful to whites and behave ourselves [and are] friendly to whites you shall increase the number to 100 and you may increase it to 1,000 years if you are good Indians, and through your good behavior at the time of war (we were good and never raised our hands against the whites). The Secretary of the Interior and the President said that we should be considered good Indians and remain at Mille Lacs so long as we want. Shaw-Bosh-Kung"[14]
The news of Shaw-Bosh-Kung's passing, in 1890, made the newspapers across the state.[15][16] A few months later papers across the country and overseas remembered his wit, wisdom, and leadership.[17][18]
When Chief Mou-Zoo-Mau-Nee passed in 1897 the state legislature attempted to give his widow a pension, but failed.[19]
The State erected a granitemonument to Chief Mou-Zoo-Mau-Nee and the Mille Lacs band at Fort Ridgelycemetery in 1914 for their service to the State at Fort Ripley and their offer to fight the Sioux.[20][2]
Over the next century, Ojibwe/Chippewa bands in the Mille Lacs region struggled with poverty and despair. With the passage of the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act, the bands of the Mille Lacs region joined five others in forming the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, organized 1934–1936. The four historic bands of the Mille Lacs region:Mille Lacs band, Sandy Lake Band, Rice Lake Band of Mississippi Chippewa, and Snake and Kettle River Bands of St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Minnesota were reorganized/combined as the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.
In the early 1990s, the Band opened Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley. Since then, casino revenues have allowed the Mille Lacs Band to strengthen its cultural identity, return to economic self-sufficiency, rebuild its reservation, and increase the prosperity of the entire region.
Tribal government
The Mille Lacs Band has a separation-of-powers form of government, making it one of the few Native American governments with three branches of government, similar to the government structure of the United States.
Executive branch
The current Chief Executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe is Melanie Benjamin.
The Chief Executive, who is elected by Band members every four years, is the head of the executive branch. She appoints commissioners who are ratified by the Band Assembly to oversee the various departments in the executive branch.
Department of Justice, headed by the Solicitor General
Office of the Solicitor General
Office of Public Safety
Canine Registration
Child Passenger Safety Seat Program
Emergency Management
Project Jumpstart
Motor Vehicle Licensing
Tribal Police Department
Tribal Conservation Enforcement
Band-member Legal Aid
Administration Department, headed by the Commissioner of Administration
Aanji-Bimaadizing
Career Development and Training
Adult and Youth Support Services
Gotaamigozi Flex Labor
Tribal Employment Rights Office (TERO)
Veterans and Veteran families Services
WiiDu Youth Activities
Youth Career and Work Exploration
Child Support Enforcement Program
Facilities
Neyaashiing Community Center
[new] Community Center
Chi-minising Community Center
Minisinaakwaang Community Center
Aazhoomog Community Center
Meshakwad Community Center at Gaa-zhiigwanaabikokaag
Urban Office
Grants Management
Human Resources
Information Services
Notary Services
Self-Governance
Department of Community Development, headed by the Commissioner of Community Development
Facilities Maintenance
Housing Department
Housing Loans
Housing Maintenance
Resident Services
Project Management
Public Works Department
Planning and Zoning
Roads
Sanitation
Water and Sewer
Corporate Commission, headed by the Commissioner of Corporate Affairs
Corporate Ventures
Maadaadizi Investments
Philanthropy
Adopt-a-School Program
Donation
Wewinabi, Inc.
Department of Health and Human Services, headed by the Commissioner of Health and Human Services
Ne-Ia-Shing Clinic
District II Clinic Services
Aazhoomog Clinic
Public Health Department
Behavioral Health Services
Family Services
Community Support Services
Department of Natural Resources, headed by the Commissioner of Natural Resources
Office of Natural Resource Management
Agriculture
Community Gardens
Wildrice Management
Land Management
Resource Management
Fisheries
Forestry
Licensing and Permitting
Wildland Maintenance
Office of the Environment
Air
Brownfield
Energy and Eco-systems
General Environmental Assistance
Water and Septic
Office of Culture
Cultural Resources
Enrollments
Tribal Historic Preservation Office
Department of Education, headed by the Commissioner of Education
The legislative branch of the Band's government, known as the Band Assembly, consists of one Representative from each of the reservation's three districts and a Secretary/Treasurer who presides over the Band Assembly as its Speaker. Each Representative is elected by the people of his or her district to serve a four-year term in the Band Assembly. Band members who live off the reservation select a home district and vote only for a Representative from that district. The Secretary/Treasurer is elected by all Band members.
The current Secretary/Treasurer of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe is Sheldon Boyd, Speaker of the Band Assembly elected in April 2018.
Band Assembly
Legislative Administration
Office of Budget and Management, headed by the Commissioner of Finance, appointed by Band Assembly
Employee Payroll Services
Insurance Services
Revolving Loan Fund
Burial Insurance
Discretionary Loans
Office of Revisor of Statutes
Judicial branch
The Chief Justice of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe is Rhonda Sam. The judicial branch includes the Chief Justice and the Court of Central Jurisdiction, which consists of three appellate justices and one district judge.
Vineland is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation portion of Mille Lacs County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 869 as of the 2020 census, down from 1,001 in 2010. Its name in the Ojibwe language is Neyaashiing, meaning "on the point of land" due to its location on Indian Point of Mille Lacs Lake. It serves as the administrative center for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.
The Red Lake Indian Reservation covers 1,260.3 sq mi in parts of nine counties in Minnesota, United States. It is made up of numerous holdings but the largest section is an area about Red Lake, in north-central Minnesota, the largest lake in the state. This section lies primarily in the counties of Beltrami and Clearwater. Land in seven other counties is also part of the reservation. The reservation population was 5,506 in the 2020 census.
Sandy Lake Band of Mississippi Chippewa are a historical Ojibwa tribe located in the upper Mississippi River basin, on and around Big Sandy Lake in what today is in Aitkin County, Minnesota. Though politically folded into the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, thus no longer independently federally recognized, for decades, Sandy Lake Band members have been leading efforts to restore their independent Federal recognition.
The White Earth Indian Reservation is home to the White Earth Band, located in northwestern Minnesota. It is the largest Indian reservation in the state by land area. The reservation includes all of Mahnomen County, plus parts of Becker and Clearwater counties in the northwest part of the state along the Wild Rice and White Earth rivers. The reservation's land area is 1,093 square miles (2,830 km2). The population was 9,726 as of the 2020 census, including off-reservation trust land. The White Earth Indian Reservation is one of six bands that make up the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, their governing body for major administrative needs. It is about 225 miles (362 km) from Minneapolis–Saint Paul and roughly 65 miles (105 km) from Fargo–Moorhead.
The White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, also called the White Earth Nation, is a federally recognized Native American band located in northwestern Minnesota. The band's land base is the White Earth Indian Reservation.
Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is an Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) band located near Cloquet, Minnesota. Their land base is the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation, located mainly in Carlton and Saint Louis Counties, Minnesota, 20 miles west of Duluth.
Mille Lacs Indian Reservation is the popular name for the land-base for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in Central Minnesota, about 100 miles (160 km) north of Minneapolis-St. Paul. The contemporary Mille Lacs Band reservation has significant land holdings in Mille Lacs, Pine, Aitkin and Crow Wing counties, as well as other land holdings in Kanabec, Morrison, and Otter Tail Counties. Mille Lacs Indian Reservation is also the name of a formal Indian reservation established in 1855. It is one of the two formal reservations on which the contemporary Mille Lacs Band retains land holdings. The contemporary Mille Lacs band includes several aboriginal Ojibwe bands and villages, whose members reside in communities throughout central Minnesota.
The St. Croix Chippewa Indians are a historical Band of Ojibwe located along the St. Croix River, which forms the boundary between the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Minnesota. The majority of the St. Croix Band are divided into two groups: the federally recognized St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, and the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Minnesota, who are one of four constituent members forming the federally recognized Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. The latter is one of six bands in the federally recognized Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
The Mille Lacs Indians, also known as the Mille Lacs and Snake River Band of Chippewa, are a Band of Indians formed from the unification of the Mille Lacs Band of Mississippi Chippewa (Ojibwe) with the Mille Lacs Band of Mdewakanton Sioux (Dakota). Today, their successor apparent Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe consider themselves as being Ojibwe, but many on their main reservation have the ma'iingan (wolf) as their chief doodem (clan), which is an indicator of Dakota origins.
Mississippi River Band of Chippewa Indians or simply the Mississippi Chippewa, are a historical Ojibwa Band inhabiting the headwaters of the Mississippi River and its tributaries in present-day Minnesota.
The Sandy Lake Tragedy was the culmination in 1850 of a series of events centered in Big Sandy Lake, Minnesota that resulted in the deaths of several hundred Lake Superior Chippewa. Officials of the Zachary Taylor Administration and Minnesota Territory sought to relocate several bands of the tribe to areas west of the Mississippi River. By changing the location for fall annuity payments, the officials intended the Chippewa to stay at the new site for the winter, hoping to lower their resistance to relocation. Due to delayed and inadequate payments of annuities and lack of promised supplies, about 400 Ojibwe, mostly men and 12% of the tribe, died of disease, starvation and cold. The outrage increased Ojibwe resistance to removal. The bands effectively gained widespread public support to achieve permanent reservations in their traditional territories.
The Lake Superior Chippewa are a large number of Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) bands living around Lake Superior; this territory is considered part of northern Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota in the United States. They migrated into the area by the seventeenth century, encroaching on the Eastern Dakota people who had historically occupied the area. The Ojibwe defeated the Eastern Dakota, who migrated west into the Great Plains after the final battle in 1745. While they share a common culture including the Anishinaabe language, this highly decentralized group of Ojibwe includes at least twelve independent bands in the region.
Lake Lena is an unincorporated community and Native American village in Ogema Township, Pine County, Minnesota, United States, located along the Lower Tamarack River. It currently is the administrative center for the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation, District III.
Treaty of St. Peters may be one of two treaties conducted between the United States and Native American peoples, conducted at the confluence of the Minnesota River with the Mississippi River, in what today is Mendota, Minnesota.
Sandy Lake is an unincorporated community Native American village located in Turner Township, Aitkin County, Minnesota, United States. Its name in the Ojibwe language is Gaa-mitaawangaagamaag, meaning "Place of the Sandy-shored Lake". The village is administrative center for the Sandy Lake Band of Mississippi Chippewa, though the administration of the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation, District II, is located in the nearby East Lake.
Marjorie Ann "Marge" Anderson was an Ojibwe Elder and politician for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, located in east-central Minnesota.
Hole-in-the-Day was a prominent chief of the Mississippi band of Ojibwe/Chippewa/Anishinaabe in Minnesota. The native pronunciation has been written with different spellings due different speakers variance in their enunciation, such as Bagone-giizhig, Bagwunagijik, Bug-o-nay-ki-shig, Pugonakeshig or Puk-O-Nay-Keshig. Hole-in-the-Day has also been called Hole-in-the-Sky. The name refers to a dream in which the guardian spirit was seen through an opening in the clouds. It also refers to the Anishinaabek name for the constellation of the same name, also known as the Pleiades.
Fort Ripley was a United States Army outpost on the upper Mississippi River, in mid-central Minnesota from 1848 to 1877. It was situated a few miles from the Indian agencies for the Ho-Chunk and Ojibwe in Iowa Territory and then the Minnesota Territory. Its presence spurred immigration into the area and the pioneer settlement of Crow Wing developed approximately 6.75 miles (10.86 km) north of the fort. The post was initially named Fort Marcy. It then was renamed Fort Gaines and in 1850 was renamed again for distinguished Brigadier General Eleazer Wheelock Ripley of the War of 1812. It was the second major military reservation established in what would become Minnesota.
Nay Ah Shing School, also known as Mille Lacs Band K-12 Schools, is a K-12 tribal school system headquartered in unincorporated Mille Lacs County, Minnesota, with an Onamia postal address. It is affiliated with the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). It is on the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation.
Onamia Public Schools is a school district headquartered in Onamia, Minnesota.
↑ Chief Hole-in-the Day and the 1862 Chippewa Disturbance a Reappraisal, Mark Diedrich, Minnesota History Magazine, Spring 1987, p.194-5 Minnesota Historical Society, 345 Kellogg Blvd, St Paul, MN
1 2 3 4 "Tell the Mille Lacs what Danger they are in", Chapter 5, Reminiscences of Life among the Chippewa (Part III),"A Social History of the Mille Lacs Ojibwe 1640-1993", Anthony Godfrey, U.S. West Research, POB 2172, La Cross, WS, Minnesota Historical Society Contract #92-C-2763, 1973, p. 100-115
↑ About Mou-zoo-mau-nee, Little Falls Herald, 4 Sept 1914, p.2, Newspapers.com, 2023
↑ Mille Lacs Indians, The Weekly Pioneer and Democrat 12 Sept 1862, p. 1, Newspapers.com, 2023 <
↑ Chippewas on the War Path, Goodhue Republican Vol. 6 No. 3, Sept 12, 1863, Minnesota Historical Society, 345 Kellogg Blvd, St Paul, MN
↑ Lake Superior Chippeways, Mankato Semi-weekly Record. Vol. 4, No. 22, p. 2
↑ News from Abercrombie, The St. Paul Daily, Sept. 9, 1862, Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub, 2023, MNHS, 345 Kellogg Blvd, St Paul, MN
↑ Article 12, 1863 & 1864: Land Cession Treaties with the Ojibwe (Mississippi, Pillager, Lake Winnibigoshish Bands), Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, 161 Saint Anthony Ave, St. Paul, MN
↑ The Saint Paul Press May 6, 1864 Vol. IV, No. 20, Minnesota Media hub, Minnesota Historical Society, 345 Kellogg Blvd, St Paul, MN,
↑ Kegg, Mille Lacs scout for Sibley, Kegg's Message Helped Preserve Reservation, June 1, 2017, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, 2023
↑ Shaw-bosh-king,(obit), The Great West(St Paul, Minn.) 14 Feb 1890, p.3, Newspapers.com, 2023
↑ Shaw-bosh-king,(obit) New Ulm Review, 12 Feb 1890, p.3, Newspapers.com, 2023
↑ Shaw-bosh-king, Indian Keeness, Manchester Weekly Times and Examiner(England), 14 Jun 1890, p.14, Newspapers.com, 2023
↑ Shaw-bosh-king, Not to be Gulled, The Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald(Kent England), 15 Nov 1890, p.6, Newspapers.com, 2023
↑ Mou-Zoo-Mau-Nee's widow Legislation to provide a $120/year pension, The Princeton Union April 8, 1897, Minnesota Media hub, 2023, Minnesota Historical Society, 345 Kellogg Blvd, St Paul, MN,
↑ Chief Mou-Zoo-Mau-Nee State Monument, The Historical Marker Database, John Smith, May 4, 2005
Buffalohead, Roger and Priscilla Buffalohead. Against the Tide of American History: The Story of Mille Lacs Anishinabe. Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (Cass Lake, MN: 1985).
A Comprehensive Guide to The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Government. Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe General Assembly (Vineland, MN: 1996).
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