Sandy Lake, Minnesota

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Sandy Lake
Gaa-mitaawangaagamaag
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Sandy Lake
Location of the community of Sandy Lake
within Turner Township, Aitkin County
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Sandy Lake
Sandy Lake (the United States)
Coordinates: 46°47′57.5″N93°15′03.5″W / 46.799306°N 93.250972°W / 46.799306; -93.250972 Coordinates: 46°47′57.5″N93°15′03.5″W / 46.799306°N 93.250972°W / 46.799306; -93.250972
Country United States
State Minnesota
County Aitkin
Township Turner Township
Elevation
1,230 ft (370 m)
Time zone UTC-6 (Central (CST))
  Summer (DST) UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code
55760
Area code(s) 218
GNIS feature ID2419129 [1]

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.

Contents

History

The original village was seasonally mobile, located anywhere along the shores of Big Sandy Lake or along the Savanna Portage, fostering both trade along the portage and of hunting, fishing and gathering of foods, medicine and other materials. In 1850, without much notice Sandy Lake hosted the United States' annuity payments to the Ojibwe. However, due to intentional poor planning on behalf of the United States, Sandy Lake experienced the Sandy Lake Tragedy that led to the death of over 300 guests to the community.

In 1855, the Gaa-mitaawangaagamaag Ishkonigan (Sandy Lake Indian Reservation) was established under the 1855 Treaty of Washington (10 Stat. 1165), along with five other Indian Reservations for the Mississippi Chippewas and three Indian Reservations for the Pillager Chippewas. With the Dakota War of 1862, the Sandy Lake Band members maintained neutrality in the conflict. Consequently, the Sandy Lake Band members were not forced to relocate elsewhere. However, many were pressured to do so, with many members relocating to the White Oak Point Indian Reservation. Those who remained were in such a minority the Sandy Lake Indian Reservation allotments under the Nelson Act and forced land-sales illegally erased the Reservation off the maps. In 1915, with the assistance from the neighboring Fond du Lac Band, the Sandy Lake Cemetery was again secured. In 1940, the current village site was secured.

Related Research Articles

Ojibwe Group of indigenous peoples in North America

The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains.

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.

White Earth Nation

The White Earth Nation or White Earth Band of Ojibwe is a Native American band located in northwestern Minnesota. The band's land base is the White Earth Indian Reservation. Historically, the tribe was formed from the unification of Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) bands from the northern part of the state who were displaced by European settlement.

Leech Lake Indian Reservation Indian reservation located in north-central Minnesota

The Leech Lake Reservation is an Indian reservation located in the north-central Minnesota counties of Cass, Itasca, Beltrami, and Hubbard. The reservation forms the land base for the federally recognized Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, one of six bands comprising the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, organized in 1934. The Leech Lake Reservation has the highest population of any reservation in Minnesota, with a resident population of 10,660 indicated by the 2010 United States census.

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.

Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Federally recognized American Indian tribe located in east-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.

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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.

Treaty of La Pointe 1842 and 1854 treaties between the United States and Ojibwe

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.

Pillager Band of Chippewa Indians are a historical band of Chippewa (Ojibwe) who settled at the headwaters of the Mississippi River in present-day Minnesota. Their name "Pillagers" is a translation of Makandwewininiwag, which literally means "Pillaging Men". The French called them Pilleurs, also a translation of their name. The French and Americans adopted their autonym for their military activities as the advance guard of the Ojibwe in the invasion of the Dakota country. They settled first on Leech Lake and gradually pushed westward from that point.

Maude Kegg was an Ojibwa writer, folk artist, and cultural interpreter. She was a member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, located in east-central Minnesota.

Sandy Lake Tragedy

The Sandy Lake Tragedy was the culmination in 1850 of a series of events centered in 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 historically occupied the area. The Ojibwe defeated the Eastern Dakota and had their last battle in 1745, after which the Dakota Sioux migrated west into the Great Plains. While sharing a common culture and Anishinaabe language, this group of Ojibwe is highly decentralized, with at least twelve independent bands in this region.

Lake Lena, Minnesota Unincorporated community in Minnesota, United States

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.

Big Sandy Lake

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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.

The 1855 Treaty of Washington may refer to any of the four treaties signed between the United States and various Native American governments.

East Lake, Minnesota Unincorporated community in Minnesota, US

East Lake is an unincorporated community in Spalding Township, Aitkin County, Minnesota, United States.

References

  1. "Sandy Lake Reservation, Minnesota". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey.

Further reading