1825R Lac du Flambeau Reservation Locator Map

The Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (called ''Waaswaaganing'' in

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

) is a federally recognized

Ojibwa The Ojibwe (; syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the northern plains, extending into the subarctic and thro ...

Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

tribe. It had 3,415 enrolled members as of 2010. The Lac du Flambeau Indian Reservation lies mostly in the Town of Lac du Flambeau in south-western

Vilas County Vilas County ( ) is a county in the state of Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,047. Its county seat is Eagle River. The county partly overlaps the reservation of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior C ...

, and in the Town of Sherman in south-eastern Iron County in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. It has a land area of and a 2020 census resident population of 3,518. Its major settlement is the unincorporated Lac du Flambeau, which had a population of 1,845. Located at ''Waaswaagani-zaaga'igan'' (French: ''Lac du Flambeau''; English: ''Torch Lake''), the

reservation __NOTOC__ Reservation may refer to: Places Types of places: * Indian reservation, in the United States * Military base, often called reservations * Nature reserve Government and law * Reservation (law), a caveat to a treaty * Reservation in India, ...

of the Lac du Flambeau Band was established under the

Treaty of 1854 A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

. The band had occupied this area since 1745, when it defeated the

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin ( ; Dakota/ Lakota: ) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations people from the Great Plains of North America. The Sioux have two major linguistic divisions: the Dakota and Lakota peoples (translati ...

in the last battle between the peoples, driving them to the west. The Ojibwe had gradually migrated over centuries from the Atlantic coast. With renewed self-government under a written constitution in the 20th century, the Lac du Flambeau Band have established enterprises to build on their natural resources.

Tribal settlement

The ancestors of the Lac du Flambeau Band and other bands moved west from the Michigan area in the 17th century into the interior of Wisconsin west and south of Lake Superior. They were called the ''Waaswaaganininiwag'' (the "Torch Lake Men"). French fur traders named the band and lake for the Ojibwe practice of catching fish at night on the lake by torchlight."Lac Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa"
Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, 2005, accessed 1 September 2012 According to the Lac du Flambeau Band, they settled permanently in the area in 1745, led by their Chief Keeshkemun. He helped them defeat the

(Dakota) that year, who had long occupied this area. The last battle between them and these Chippewa took place on Strawberry Island in the lake.Ana Davis, "Decade of deadlock on sacred Strawberry Island"
''Lakeland Times'', 31 August 2007, accessed 1 September 2012 The larger competition for resources between the Dakota and the

Lake Superior Chippewa The Lake Superior Chippewa (Anishinaabe: Gichigamiwininiwag) 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 ...

had begun in 1737 and continued for nearly 100 years before the Chippewa pushed out the

Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota ...

and the

Meskwaki The Meskwaki (sometimes spelled Mesquaki), also known by the European exonyms Fox Indians or the Fox, are a Native American people. They have been closely linked to the Sauk people of the same language family. In the Meskwaki language, th ...

tribes from the Wisconsin interior. The ''Waaswaaganininiwag'' constituted the eastern group of the ''Biitan-akiing-enabijig'' (Border Sitters), a sub-Nation of the ''Gichigamiwininiwag'' (the Lake Superior Men, also known as

). Others members of the eastern ''Biitan-akiing-enabijig'' included bands located on Pelican Lake, Lac Vieux Desert, Turtle Portage, Trout Lake and Wisconsin River. For centuries, the lake ''Waaswaagani-zaaga'igan'' served as the trade and transportation hub for Native Americans and later colonial traders, as it connected the waterways between

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

(via the Montreal River) and the

and Flambeau rivers. Traders used the lake and rivers to pass back and forth through their far-flung network. They also had to use the Flambeau Trail to portage from Lake Superior to the Lac du Flambeau District. The trail was 45 miles long, with 120 "pauses" created along the path to give portagers a break, an indication of the rough country. As part of the

and signatories to the 1854

Treaty of La Pointe 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 Tre ...

, the bands at Pelican Lake, Turtle Portage, Trout Lake and Wisconsin River were consolidated into the Lac du Flambeau Band (''Waaswaaganing'' in Ojibwe). As signatories to the Treaty of St. Peters of 1837, and the Treaties of La Pointe of 1842 and 1854, members of the Lac du Flambeau Band enjoy the traditional hunting, fishing and gathering practices guaranteed in these treaties. Like other tribes, the band had much of it land allotted to individual households under the

Dawes Act The Dawes Act of 1887 (also known as the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887) regulated land rights on tribal territories within the United States. Named after Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, it authorized the P ...

of the early 20th century, intended to encourage assimilation to European-American style property holding and farming. This led to the loss of tribal ownership of some of the land within the reservation.

Strawberry Island

In the 20th century under the

, Strawberry Island was assigned to a tribal member as part of the allotment of tribal lands to individual households, a federal attempt to force assimilation. When he died, a non-Native family bought the island in 1910, using it for years for summer camping vacations. It has remained undeveloped since the 18th century. The Lac du Flambeau Band consider Strawberry Island sacred, and call it "the place of the little people" or spirits according to tribal tradition. They consider it the heart of their reservation. As the island was used by

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

cultures for more than 2,000 years, the tribe wants to keep it undeveloped for its historical, cultural and spiritual significance. The band believes that warriors were buried there as the island was the last battle site between these Ojibwe and the Lakota Sioux in 1745. In 1966, an

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

survey by a professor at

Beloit College Beloit College is a private liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1846 when Wisconsin was still a territory, it is the state's oldest continuously operated college. It has an enrollment of roughly 1,000 undergradua ...

revealed that the island has human remains, and layers of artifacts dating to 200 BC. Listed in 1978 on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

, it is described as "one of the most important

archeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology ...

sites in northern Wisconsin" by Robert Birmingham, as state archeologist in 1995. From the 1990s onward, the tribe tried to buy the island. As lakefront property is valuable, the family and tribe were unable to agree on a price for the , which has of lakefront. The

Trust for Public Land The Trust for Public Land is a U.S. nonprofit organization with a mission to "create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come". Since its founding in 1972, the Trust for Public Land has compl ...

has assisted the tribe. The owners did not concede that the island may never be developed, although one development proposal was stopped in 1996 by a building permit challenge. The tribe owns all the land surrounding the island and controlled access to it. An appeals court in 2003 affirmed the denial of the building permit, with the judge ruling that, as the island was within the boundaries of the tribe's reservation, the band should determine its future. The case continued, as the tribe and owners sought mediation but were still unable to agree on a price. In 2008, Bonnie Mills-Rush, manager of the LLC that owns the island, assigned a lease and control to Bill Poupart, a member of the Lac du Flambeau Band. While at time the tribe did not own the land, Poupart was given authority to determine its use and agreed on its sacred nature.Douglas Etten, "Local descendant stakes claim to Strawberry Island"
''Lakeland Times'', 13 June 2008, accessed 1 September 2012 On December 23, 2013, the tribe purchased the island from the Mills family for $250,000. The tribe held a "Strawberry Island Closing and Drum Ceremony" at the William Wildcat Sr. Community Center on December 30, 2013, in celebration of the acquisition. The deed was signed at the ceremony, bringing to an end years of uncertainty and contention surrounding the island.

Government

In the 20th century, the tribe re-established its own government under a written constitution. It elects a council and president. The council establishes membership rules for the tribe, and provides government services to the reservation. It has developed a number of businesses: LDF Industries (pallet manufacturing), Ojibwa Mall, campground, fish hatchery, gas station, and cigarettes and tobacco shop. Together with the resort described below, it is working to develop enterprises that preserve and build on the natural resources of the reservation. The tribe established the Lake of the Torches Economic Development Corporation to develop and operate the Lake of the Torches resort and casino, intended to generate revenue and also provide employment to members of the tribe. When the casino did not yield expected profits, the tribe encountered repayment difficulties with the creditors it had engaged to help finance the casino. A dispute with the casino's creditors ensued, as they tried to take control of its assets by receivership, under the terms of the bond indenture. When the case went to court, "the district court denied the motion to appoint a receiver and dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that the trust indenture was a "management contract" under the

IGRA Igra (; , ''Egra'') is a rural locality (a settlement) and the administrative center of Igrinsky District of the Udmurt Republic, Russia, located north of Izhevsk at the European route E22, which changes there from M7 to the main Siberian route ...

ndian Gaming Regulatory Actwhich lacked the required approval of the NIGC Chairman." The creditors appealed the decision. In ''Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Lake of the Torches Economic Development Corporation'' (2011), the

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, courts in the following United Stat ...

agreed that the bond indenture constituted a management contract and was invalid. It contained provisions that permitted lenders to influence the management of a tribal casino, for instance, preventing the tribe from changing operating officials without bondholder approval, and others that encroached on tribal authority, without having gained required approval of the indenture/contract by the

National Indian Gaming Commission The National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC; ) is a United States federal regulatory agency within the Department of the Interior. Congress established the agency pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988. The commission is the only ...

. The provisions together gave a "great deal of authority in an entity other than the tribe to control the Casino's operations," which was not in keeping with the law on Indian gaming. The Seventh Circuit decision requested additional guidance from the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

and /or the

regarding the "rules of the road" for tribal casino financing.

Lending business

In 2012, the Lac du Flambeau Band entered the lending business, and has subsequently set up at least 24 lending companies and websites under the corporate umbrella of LDF Holdings. As of 2024 LDF Holdings employed 170 people on or near the reservation, of whom 70% were enrolled tribal members, and profits from the tribe's lending business are distributed to the tribe's general fund. An annual gathering of lending staff, vendors, and prospective partners known as the Tribal Lending Summit is held each year on reservation land. A 2024 analysis by ''

ProPublica ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit investigative journalism organization based in New York City. ProPublica's investigations are conducted by its staff of full-time reporters, and the resulting stories are distributed to ne ...

'' found that approximately 4,800

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

cases per year, one percent of all bankruptcy cases in the United States, involved a company owned by the Lac du Flambeau Band, the highest frequency of any Native American tribe involved in the

payday loan A payday loan (also called a payday advance, salary loan, payroll loan, small dollar loan, short term, or cash advance loan) is a short-term unsecured loan, often characterized by high interest rates. These loans are typically designed to cover ...

industry. Companies owned by the Lac du Flambeau Band have also accumulated more than 2,200 consumer complaints routed to the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

since 2019, more than any other tribe. Since 2019, the Lac du Flambeau band has been subject to at least 40 civil lawsuits involving its lending practices, with most suits being quickly settled. In 2020, a federal

class-action A class action A class action is a form of lawsuit. Class Action may also refer to: * ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio * Class Action (band), a garage house band * "Class Action" (''Teenage R ...

lawsuit was filed in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

against members of the Lac du Flambeau Band governing council, high-level employees of the Lac du Flambeau Band's lending companies, as well as nontribal business partners, with the plaintiffs alleging that the defendants conspired to violate state lending laws, following a 2021 federal appeals court ruling that found that tribal lending constitutes off-reservation conduct to which state law applies. In 2024, a settlement was reached in the suit, calling for the cancellation of $1.4 billion in outstanding loans affecting approximately 980,000 people who were customers of the tribe's lending companies, with tribal officials and their associates agreeing to pay an additional $37.4 million in cash to the plaintiffs and their lawyers.

Reservation demographics

As of the census of 2020, the population of the Lac du Flambeau Reservation was 3,518. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 3,202 housing units at an average density of . The Lac du Flambeau Reservation has a significant non-native population due in part to the allotment and sale of reservation lands in the early twentieth century. The racial makeup of the reservation in 2020 was 58.6%

, 37.3%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.2%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.3% from other races, and 3.5% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 2.7%

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. According to the

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

estimates for 2016-2020, the median income for a household in the reservation was $41,095, and the median income for a family was $51,538. Male full-time workers had a median income of $42,155 versus $27,563 for female workers. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the reservation was $26,048. About 16.9% of families and 20.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 29.5% of those under age 18 and 8.4% of those age 65 or over. Of the population age 25 and over, 89.8% were high school graduates or higher and 24.5% had a bachelor's degree or higher.

Notable members

* Ah-moose (d. 1866), chief * Thomas St. Germaine (1885–1947), American football player

References

Lac du Flambeau Reservation, Wisconsin
United States Census Bureau
Stephanie Hor-Chen, "Troubled Domestic Sovereign Debt: What Every Commercial Professional Should Know"
''National Law Review''
Jonathan Wry, "Lake of Torches Appellate Decision: 'Management Contracts' Are Still a Burning Issue in Tribal Gaming Financings"
''National Law Review''

External links

Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Official website

town website
Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission
representing eleven Ojibwe tribes with reserved hunting and fishing rights

Unpublished Masters Thesis, 1987, prepared under supervision at

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

Wiigwaasi-Jiimaan: These Canoes Carry Culture
��Short documentary featuring the building of an Anishinaabe-Ojibwe birchbark canoe in Wisconsin.

- ''New York Times'' article about a property dispute between the Town of Lac du Flambeau and the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
A Wisconsin Tribe Built a Lending Empire Charging 600% Annual Rates to Borrowers
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lac Du Flambeau Band Of Lake Superior Chippewa Ojibwe in the United States Ojibwe governments Native American tribes in Wisconsin Native American history of Wisconsin Populated places in Iron County, Wisconsin Populated places in Vilas County, Wisconsin Populated places in Price County, Wisconsin