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The Mille Lacs Indians (Ojibwe: Misi-zaaga'iganiwininiwag), 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.
Mille Lacs Indians, because of their mixed Chippewa-Sioux heritage, have become the cultural lynch-pin linking the two former warring nations into a single people, providing Ojibwe culture and customs to the Dakota just as providing Dakota culture and customs to the Ojibwe. All of the drums held among the Mille Lacs Indians are of Dakota origins, singing Dakota melodies but translated into Ojibwe.
Previous to Ojibwe settlement after their prophetic migration from the Atlantic coast, this area was occupied for centuries by the Bdewaḳanṭuŋwaŋ ("Mdewakanton") Dakota, the western sub-division of the Isanti Dakota. The Bdewaḳanṭuŋwaŋ lived primarily on the three ricing chain of lakes (Ogechie, Shakopee and Onamia) at the head-waters of the Rum River and along the southern and southwestern shores of Mille Lacs Lake (citation?). With the Battle of Kathio, the Bdewaḳanṭuŋwaŋ were forced south and west. One independent historian has claimed that, despite resource access hardship due to conflicts between the Dakota and Ojibwe peoples, the Mille Lacs Band of Bdewaḳanṭuŋwaŋ Dakota remained in the area. According to this claim, a Dakota Council came to meet with the Ojibwe on terms of territorial control shifts, and the Mille Lacs Band of Bdewaḳanṭuŋwaŋ Dakota chose to remain and forgo their Dakota identity to become Ojibwe and remain at mde waḳaŋ (Spiritual/Mystic Lake). As Ojibwe, Mille Lacs Band of Bdewaḳanṭuŋwaŋ Dakota ensured the ceremonies associated with the Mille Lacs Lake were continued, forming the "Wolf Clan". This claim has, however, been refuted by Dakota and Anishinaabe tribal historians, and there is no documentation to support it.
Second group forming the Mille Lacs Indians were the Mille Lacs Band of Border-sitter Chippewa, Band of the Border-sitter sub-nation of the Lake Superior Chippewa. The Mille Lacs Band of Border-sitter Chippewa were part of the western division of the Border-sitter Chippewa known as the Manoominikeshiinyag or the "Ricing Rails" or the "St. Croix Division". Mille Lacs Band of Border-sitter lived primarily along Groundhouse River, Ann River, Knife River (all located south of Mille Lacs Lake, and tributaries of the Snake River), the portage ways connecting these three rivers to Mille Lacs Lake and the Rum River, and along the southeastern shores of Mille Lacs Lake. This group already were a mixed Dakota-Ojibwe entity, identifying themselves equally as Dakota and as Ojibwe.
Third group forming the Mille Lacs Indians were the Mille Lacs Band of Mississippi Chippewa, a band associated with the powerful Mississippi Chippewa. Mille Lacs Band of Mississippi Chippewa lived primarily along Nokasippi River, Cedar River and Ripple River (all located north and northwest of Mille Lacs Lake), the portage ways connecting these three rivers to Mille Lacs Lake, and along the northwestern and northern shores of Mille Lacs Lake.
The unification process among the three component historical bands began in ernest after the Battle of Kathio in which the Mille Lacs Band of Mississippi Chippewa gained majority control of the Mille Lacs Lake. In the Battle of Kathio, majority of the Dakota peoples were removed from the Mille Lacs Lake area and generally forced southward and westward from Lake. However, due to the sacredness of mde wáḳaŋ (Mille Lacs Lake), a peace council ending the territorial conflicts between the Ojibwe and Dakota was held on Mozomanie Point on the south end of the Lake, according to oral traditions, about 1750. At this peace council, the Ojibwe and the Dakota present were given a choice, where the Dakota peoples remaining would be peacefully incorporated as Ojibwe, but the Ojibwe would have to maintain all the rites associated with the Lake to maintain the sacredness of this body of water. In agreement, the Ojibwe learned all the Dakota ceremonial dances and songs over the course of the entire summer, while the remaining Dakota became "Ojibwe". As the distinct "Ojibwe" and "Dakota" identification no longer was appropriate, the unified entity became the Misi-zaaga'iganiwininiwag or the "Mille Lacs Indians". The traditional location for the joint council of the many sub-bands of the Mille Lacs Indians was maintained at Zaagawaamikaag-wiidwedong (or Zaagawaaming, for short), just as it was with Mdewáḳaŋtuŋwaŋ Oyate before. Zaagawaaming, recorded as "Sagawamick" or "Sagawahmick" in various Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of American Ethnology documents, still exists to this day but evolved into the Village of Lawrence and later as the City of Wahkon. However, with the establishment of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, the center of tribal government shifted to north and west to Vineland.
The Mille Lacs Indians entered the treaty period by sending Chief Nayquonabe (from the Ojibwe Negwanebi, "'Tallest' [Quill]feather") to the 1825 Council for the First Treaty of Prairie du Chien (7 Stat. 272). Mille Lacs Indians participated in the 1826 Council for the Treaty of Fond du Lac. As part of the Biitan-akiing-enabijig Ojibwe, Mille Lacs Indians ceded great tract of land in Minnesota and Wisconsin in the 1837 Treaty of St. Peters (7 Stat. 536), but retained usufruct rights for hunting, fishing and gathering. As part of the Mdewakanton Dakota, Mille Lacs Indians ceded lands in the 1837 Treaty of Washington. Together with the Lake Superior Chippewa, the Mille Lacs Indians ceded lands in northern Wisconsin and western Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the 1842 Treaty of La Pointe, then in central Minnesota in the 1847 Treaty of Fond du Lac.
Together with the Pillager Chippewas and other Mississippi Chippewas in the 1855 Treaty of Washington (10 Stat. 1165), Mille Lacs Indians ceded large tract of land in northern Minnesota, excluding the Arrowhead Region (which its claim was rescinded in the 1854 Treaty of La Pointe) and the northwesternmost corner of Minnesota; in exchange, the Mille Lacs Indian reserved for themselves the south shore of Mille Lacs Lake, becoming the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation. However, as this land reserved was previously ceded to the United States in the 1837 Treaty of St. Peters, this caused a dispute between the lumbermen in the area and the Mille Lacs Indians. As the lumbermen had constructed a dam in Ericksonville, [and that location near the outlet of Lake Onamia was called Gibakwa'iganiing (By the Dam) or Gibakwa'igaansing (By the Little Dam) by the Ojibwe] to regulate the water flow of the Rum River for floating logs down the river, but the damming of the water threatened the wild rice in Lake Onamia, the Mille Lacs Indians removed the dam. This became the first court case for the Mille Lacs Indians, in 1856, the US Supreme Court judged in favor of the tribe.[ citation needed ]
With the Dakota War of 1862, many Chippewa Bands aided the Dakota people. When Mille Lacs Indians Chief Máza-mani (Iron-Walker) learned of the plans of Gull Lake Band Chief Bagonegiizhig (Hole in the Day) to attack Fort Ripley, Chief Máza-mani raised a party of 200 men and they set out to aid the fort in advance, thus averting Chief Bagonegiizhig's attack on the fort.
In the 1863 Treaty of Washington (12 Stat. 1249) and again in 1864 (13 Stat. 693), while most all other Chippewa Bands were being forced to relocate due to their aid to the Dakota people, Mille Lacs Indians, due to their aid to the United States, were not. As stated in the Treaties, "That owing to the heretofore good conduct of the Mille Lac Indians, they shall not be compelled to remove so long as they shall not in any way interfere with or in any manner molest the property of persons of the whites."
When the White Earth Indian Reservation was established, like the rest of the Mississippi Chippewa, the Mille Lacs Indians were also encouraged to relocate. Many Mille Lacs Indians became homeless so under 30 Stat. 745, homesteading and cemetery lands were secured for the Mille Lacs Indians. After the signing of the "An act for the relief and civilization of the Chippewa Indians in the State of Minnesota" (51st-1st-Ex.Doc.247) and a removal bill on May 27, 1902, many Mille Lacs Indians did remove themselves to the White Earth Inidan Reserveration, becoming the Removable Mille Lacs Band. Others remained on the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation, becoming the Non-removable Mille Lacs Band. Within few years, many of the Removable Mille Lacs Band left White Earth and returned to Mille Lacs, splitting the group onto two separate Indian Reservations.
When the BIA asked for a consultation council to be held in Hayward, Wisconsin, regards to the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act, Mille Lacs Indians sent delegates there without signature authority to gather information.
When the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe was established in 1936 under the authority of the Indian Reorganization Act, the Non-removable and Removable Mille Lacs Bands of the Mille Lacs Indians became the core Band of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, joined together with the Non-removable Sandy Lake Band of Mississippi Chippewa, Rice Lake Band of Mississippi Chippewa, and the communities of the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Minnesota.
The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. They are Indigenous peoples of the Subarctic and Northeastern Woodlands.
The Rum River is a slow, meandering stream that connects Minnesota's Mille Lacs Lake with the Mississippi River. It runs for 151 miles (243 km) through the communities of Onamia, Milaca, Princeton, Cambridge, Isanti, and St. Francis before ending at the city of Anoka, roughly 20 miles northwest of Minneapolis. It is one of the six protected Wild and Scenic rivers in Minnesota.
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 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.
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 Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, also known as the Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians, is a federally recognized American Indian tribe located 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, District II, District IIa, and District III.
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 Treaty of La Pointe may refer to either of two treaties made and signed in La Pointe, Wisconsin between the United States and the Ojibwe (Chippewa) Native American peoples. In addition, the Isle Royale Agreement, an adhesion to the first Treaty of La Pointe, was made at La Pointe.
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 Mdewakanton or Mdewakantonwan are one of the sub-tribes of the Isanti (Santee) Dakota (Sioux). Their historic home is Mille Lacs Lake in central Minnesota. Together with the Wahpekute, they form the so-called Upper Council of the Dakota or Santee Sioux. Today their descendants are members of federally recognized tribes in Minnesota, South Dakota and Nebraska of the United States, and First Nations in Manitoba, Canada.
The Snake River is a 104-mile-long (167 km) tributary of the St. Croix River in east-central Minnesota in the United States. It is one of three streams in Minnesota with this name. Its name is a translation from the Ojibwa Ginebigo-ziibi, after the Dakota peoples who made their homes along this river. Kanabec County's name is derived from the Ojibwe word for this river.
Mille Lacs Kathio State Park, also known as Kathio Site, is a Minnesota state park on Mille Lacs Lake. The park preserves habitation sites and mound groups, believed to date between 3000 BC and 1750 AD, that document Dakota Indian culture and Ojibwe-Dakota relationships. The park contains 19 identified archaeological sites, making it one of the most significant archaeological collections in Minnesota. The earliest site dates to the Archaic period and shows evidence of copper tool manufacture. The Dakota lived in this area roughly until the 18th century, when many bands of them were moving southward into the prairies and river areas of southern Minnesota. At the same time, Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) were moving in from the east. Ojibwe oral tradition, published by William Whipple Warren, suggests that there was a battle in which they successfully took control of the area from the Lakota.
The Treaty of Fond du Lac may refer to either of two treaties made and signed in Duluth, Minnesota between the United States and the Ojibwe (Chippewa) Native American peoples.
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.
An act for the relief and civilization of the Chippewa Indians in the State of Minnesota, commonly known as the Nelson Act of 1889, was a United States federal law intended to relocate all the Anishinaabe people in Minnesota to the White Earth Indian Reservation in the western part of the state, and expropriate the vacated reservations for sale to European settlers.
Mille Lacs Lake is a large but shallow lake in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is located in the counties of Mille Lacs, Aitkin, and Crow Wing, roughly 75 miles north of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area.